Wolfgang Joop (born 18 November 1944) is a German fashion designer. He is the founder of the fashion and cosmetics company JOOP! as well as the fashion brand Wunderkind.
Early life
Joop was born in
Potsdam to editor and author and his wife Charlotte. He grew up on his grandparents' farm in Bornstedt until 1954, when his family moved to
Braunschweig, where his father had been hired as chief-editor of cultural magazine
Westermanns Monatshefte.
During the
East Germany period, Ulla Ebert, the sister of Joop's mother, lived in the property and was financially supported for its preservation by the family from the West.
After the German reunification, Joop's parents moved back to Bornstedt.
After getting his Abitur in 1964 at the Wilhelm-Gymnasium in Braunschweig, Joop began studies in advertising-psychology in 1966 at the Braunschweig University of Technology, which he did not finish.
Fashion career
Career beginnings
Joop began his career in 1970, when he took part to a competition by German women's magazine
with his then-wife Karin Benatzky
and they were awarded all three first prizes.
This success landed him a job as fashion editor at the
Hamburg-based women's magazine
Neue Mode in 1970,
from which he resigned in 1971 to continue working independently, including as a
Freelancer journalist and designer.
Joop achieved international success in 1978 with his first fur collection.
JOOP!
In early 1982, Joop presented his first
ready-to-wear women's collection, followed by his first men's collection in 1985. Two years later, with the launch of his first perfume collection, he made his name a
trademark, with capital letters to symbolise energy along with an exclamation mark. Clothes, shoes, jewelry, eyeglasses, and perfume were immediately available under this brand. The "JOOP!" label became available for licensing, and Joop's company no longer produced any of its own goods for sale. Since 1997, Joop's products have been sold through JOOP! GmbH with the exception of Parfum JOOP!, which was sold to Coty/Lancaster in 1991 followed by licensee contracts. In 1998, Joop sold 95% of his JOOP! shares to Wünsche AG for 150 million
Deutsche Mark, but remained the brand's creative director.
In 2001, he sold the remaining 5% and left the company.
Wunderkind
In 2003, Joop and his partner Edwin Lamberg founded the high-end couture fashion label Wunderkind. Joop first presented Wunderkind with the Fall/Winter collection 2003 in Potsdam to an audience of press and retail guests. Wunderkind made its international début in New York City in September 2004, when it was invited by the CFDA to premiere the collection at New York Fashion Week, and moved to Paris in 2006.
Boutiques were opened in Berlin, London, and
Sylt. In January 2011, it was reported that Wunderkind faced restructuring, with the dismissal of almost all its staff, and its March Paris Fashion Week show was cancelled.
That same year, Joop designed the
wedding dress worn by Princess Sophie of Isenburg for her marriage to Prince Georg of Prussia in August.
After over a year of inactivity, Wunderkind presented a new show in Potsdam on 10 May 2012.
A new general manager was put in place and there are plans to open another store in Berlin and for steady but slower growth.
Other activities
Independently from his labels, Joop released two men's perfumes in collaboration with Coty Prestige: Wolfgang Joop (2008) and Wolfgang Joop: Freigeist (2010). In late 2009, he began a collaboration with the
Bayreuth-based healthcare company medi, for which he designed a series of high-priced compression stockings that he also presented at the Paris show of his label Wunderkind in late 2009.
He worked with medi again in 2012.
In October 2010, Joop became a creative consultant for
Galeria Kaufhof.
In September 2011, the collection "GALERIA 1879 by Wolfgang Joop", named after the founding year of the chain, was made available for sale in all Kaufhof stores.
Art
Joop has diverse interests and is involved in many activities beyond fashion and design, including illustration. Over 100 of his works are on show at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in
Hamburg.
Since 2009, he has been selling some of his drawings through the gallery Lumas.
He also creates sculptures, one of which can be found in the cemetery of Bornstedt.
Joop also collects art, particularly contemporary paintings and sculptures, as well as furniture.
Writing
Joop has written several books, including the gift book
Das kleine Herz (2001), the cookbook
Hectic Cuisine (2002), the autobiography
Stillstand des Flüchtigen (2002), the novel
Im Wolfspelz (2003), and
Wolfgang Joop, Wunderkind: 14467 Potsdam, published by Rolf Heyne Collection (2009). His second autobiography
Undressed. Aus einem Leben mit mir (2013) was written in collaboration with journalist and author Rebecca Casati.
He also authored numerous articles for publications such as
Der Spiegel,
Stern, and
Welt am Sonntag.
Acting and television
Joop had a main role in
Oskar Roehler's satirical film
(2001). He also had roles in various other films such as (1984),
(1986), and (2002). In 2014 and 2015, he was a judge on
Germany's Next Topmodel alongside
Heidi Klum and
Thomas Hayo.
He also reappeared on the show as a guest judge in 2017
and 2018.
Philanthropy
Joop supports the organisation Dunkelziffer e. V. for sexually abused children
as well as the Hamburg Leuchtfeuer for people with
AIDS.
He also has been volunteering for the Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei.
Awards
-
1983: Fil d'or (award by the Confédération Internationale du Lin, Monte Carlo)
-
1984: Das Goldene Spinnrad (fashion prize by the city of Krefeld and of the European Silk Commission)
-
1995: Forum-Preis (award by the magazine Textilwirtschaft)
-
2005: Osgar (media prize by Bild)
-
2009: Bambi Awards in the category "Sonderpreis der Jury"
-
2011: Radio Regenbogen Award in the category "Medienmann"
-
2012: Designpreis der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in the category "Lebenswerk"
Personal life
In 1970, Joop married Karin Benatzky, then an art student. They divorced in 1985.
They have two daughters, fashion and jewel designer Henriette, known as (born 1968), and painter and author (born 1973). Joop came out as
bisexual in a January 1996 interview with
Der Spiegel.
Since separating from Benatzky, he has been in a relationship with Edwin Lemberg. They entered a
civil union in 2013 in Potsdam, which only became known in 2017.
In 2001, Joop caused controversy with a statement regarding the September 11 attacks, saying: "I do not regret that the symbol of the Twin Towers is not standing anymore, because they represented capitalism arrogance."
External links
