Happy to be fashionably late, Wolfgang Joop is gearing up for his first Wunderkind show in Paris on Sunday after four seasons on the New York runway.
“Logistically, we’ve won two weeks, which helps so much,” the designer said in his Potsdam, Germany, headquarters. “We can now target the right stores and the right markets, and many more [international] retailers are coming to Paris.”
The Paris move accompanies significant changes in Wunderkind’s business structure. New commercial commitments include opening a year-round showroom and sales headquarters on Via Verri in Milan, as well as a London office; installing an international sales team; working on a freestanding store in Berlin due to open in mid-November; negotiations for Wunderkind eyeglasses and fine jewelry, and plans for a Wunderkind men’s wear collection next summer.
Whereas New York was like a second home for Joop, “with Paris, everything is new. Everything is important, with no compromises. We’re emptying our brains, our hearts and our pockets,” the designer said with a laugh.
The spring Wunderkind collection has a purposely faded touch, using a new Solaris technique à la Man Ray that partially bleaches parts of the garments. The heavy Richelieu laces were designed in-house, as were the floral wallpaper and sofa prints.
And the faded gold of Frederick the Great’s Potsdam summer palace, Sanssouci, burnishes the gold-leafed shoes as well as the collection’s gold-plated zippers, eyelets and buttons.
Joop said he continues to “believe in dresses. There’s a new idea of a summer coat that’s close to a dress.
“My concept is not to show too much of a concept. It’s all about spirit,” he continued. “I want to see heart blood, and that’s what people are missing. They don’t want so much calculation.”