Joop GmbH, branded JOOP! (pronounced in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, roughly: ''yope''; known in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

as ), is a German luxury

fashion house Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and place. "A fashion designer creates ...

specializing in contemporary

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials ...

and

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protec ...

History

The company was founded as a

designer label The term designer label refers to clothing, luxury automobile manufacturers and other personal accessory items sold under an often prestigious marque which is commonly named after a designer, founder, or a location-like where the company was fo ...

by German fashion designer

Wolfgang Joop 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. He is the father of fashion and jewel designer Jette Joop as well as writ ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, Germany, in 1986. Joop, who had been selling designer clothing under his last name since 1981, established a successful

license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

business that eventually offered upscale womenswear, menswear, kid's clothing,

accessories Accessory may refer to: * Accessory (legal term), a person who assists a criminal In anatomy * Accessory bone * Accessory muscle * Accessory nucleus, in anatomy, a cranial nerve nucleus * Accessory nerve In arts and entertainment * Accessory ...

and home articles. To distinguish the brand from himself as an artist he added an

exclamation mark The exclamation mark, , or exclamation point (American English), is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or to show emphasis. The exclamation mark often marks the end of a sentence, ...

to the name. A secondary

denim Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This twill weaving produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. While a denim predecessor known as dungaree has been p ...

and sportswear collection, ''Joop! Jeans'', was created in 1988. The company is most notable for its vast

fragrance An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavoring, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficiently vol ...

range originally launched in 1987. In the mid-1990s, Joop! fragrances were introduced to the American market while its fashions were presented at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

and sold by American retailers such as

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washing ...

. In 1998, Wolfgang Joop and his estranged business partner sold 95% of their Joop shares to an investor while Joop remained the brand's creative director. In 2001, Joop sold the remaining 5% and left the company. The conglomerate company, Wünsche AG of

, itself heavily in

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The d ...

and unable to turn the Joop! brand into a global player as it had planned, declared bankruptcy in the end of 2001. In 2003, Joop was sold by Wünsche AG's liquidator to three of Joop's former

licensee A licensee can mean the holder of a license or, in U.S. tort law, a licensee is a person who is on the property of another, despite the fact that the property is not open to the general public, because the owner of the property has allowed the li ...

s in equal shares and business units (fashion, accessories/leather and fragrance/cosmetics). In 2006, the fashion licensee,

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

-based Holy Fashion Group, paid off the accessories/leather licensee, Egana Goldpfeil, and now owns Joop's clothing and accessories business. The fragrance and cosmetics business remains with Coty, Inc. of New York. The ''Joop! Jeans'' and kidswear lines were discontinued in the late 2000s. Holy Fashion Group, whose owners are descendants and former owners of

Hugo Boss Hugo Boss AG, often styled as BOSS, is a luxury fashion house headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, accessories, footwear, and fragrances. Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing compani ...

, is based in

Kreuzlingen Kreuzlingen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second-largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of about 22,000 ...

, Switzerland. Joop offers contemporary womenswear and menswear under the ''Joop! Collection'' and ''Joop! Casual'' labels as well as shoes and accessories, underwear (''Joop! Bodywear''),

jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry ( U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a we ...

watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached ...

es (''Joop! Time''), fragrances and a home collection (''Joop! Living'') at a mid-range price level primarily in the German,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n and Swiss markets. The company maintains retail stores in Hamburg and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

, an

online store Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the ...

as well as several

outlet store An outlet store, factory outlet or factory shop is a brick and mortar or online store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allo ...

s. In Germany, Joop! is a well-known brand; its

brand awareness Brand awareness is the extent to which customers are able to recall or recognize a brand under different conditions. Brand awareness is one of two dimensions from brand knowledge, an associative network memory model. Brand awareness is a key consi ...

among the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...

reaches 82%. In 2020, Joop! announced it will be expanding its men's collection to the UK, aiming to double its revenues . The brand will be opening a showroom at Wappng Wall Street in London.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://joop.com/ (English version) 1986 establishments in Germany Clothing brands of Germany Companies based in Hamburg Cosmetics companies of Germany Fashion accessory brands Retail companies established in 1986