Wolfgang Joop: The design change of the fashion designer

Star designer Wolfgang Joop (75) is in the fashion business for more than half of his life. It seems to have been inevitable that his creations have changed over time. In an interview with the trade magazine "Textilwirtschaft" at the beginning of 2020, he himself said about the change: "I used to make large collections for a small clientele. Today we make a small collection for a large clientele." The 75-year-old no longer wants to see his designs only on the catwalks of this world, but also "on the street".

Review: With "Joop!" it all started

In 1970 Joop and his wife Karin won a fashion competition advertised by a magazine. However, it took several years before he started as a great designer. It wasn't until 1982 that he presented his first collection, four years later the Joop! GmbH founded. The label "JOOP!" Developed within a very short time. to a coveted fashion and lifestyle brand, for both women and men.

How does the designer explain his success? In the ZDF documentary "Die Joop-Story" (March 10th at 8:15 pm) he says: "That was something that did not exist before. A German with a face that could be multiplied, a name that sounded foreign. It wasn't so clumsy German. " At this point, the 75-year-old had realized what he wanted to do in the future. "That was when I was born professionally," he says.

His euphoria about "JOOP!" but not during. In 1998 the designer left the company, which now sells bathroom carpets and table lamps, and founded "Wunderkind" a new label five years later.

Approachable and sustainable: Joop sets priorities

Colors, patterns, playful cuts: the models who walked the catwalk for Joop's new brand from 2004 to 2017 mostly presented creations that could be clearly assigned to a gender. Ruffles, ruffles and floral prints were not uncommon in the women's collections of the fashion designer. Today it looks different.

At the Berlin Fashion Week in January this year, Joop appeared for the first time with his new fashion project "Looks by Wolfgang Joop". A look at the autumn / winter 2020 women's and men's collection presented there quickly showed that the new designs of the 75-year-old have little to do with gender stereotypes. The loose cuts – in the form of bomber jackets, trench coats, knitted dresses or pleated skirts – appeal to a much younger and more modern target group.

Why did the star designer choose such a change? He wants to serve the mass audience with fashion that is rather affordable and approachable by his standards, but at the same time he wants to bring his motto to man and woman: "The three R: reduce, recycle, reuse", he told the newspaper "Potsdamer Latest News" in January this year.