Joop Reigns Suprematism

I like style.com, I really do, but sometimes their catwalk reviews just seem very off. Take for example, their rather cold reception of Wolfgang Joop's Wunderkind collection for fall 2009. The standout collection, inspired by Suprematism, an early 20th century Russian art movement, and German artist Gregor Törzs, is definitely one of my favourites of the season.

Joop pasted a colourful array of squares all over the body: arms, legs, torso, feet, you name it. I think the mix is very tastefully done; the colours are vibrant but still pared down enough to give off a relaxed casual feel. The tights, of course, are extremely covetable, and I would love to see variations of them in stores. For some strange reason, I don't think this is too much at all! I find it all quite inspiring, since I tend to get very excited when I see artistic elements translated into clothes. Nicole Phelps, on the other hand, doesn't seem to share the love, and claims that "the results are a strong argument that art is often better left on walls." Aww. Common. Don't be such a party pooper.

My second favourite part of the collection (well, actually they are pretty on-par) has to be the animal printed coats and dresses, which Phelps says "detracted from the garments." Are you kidding me? These prints are gorgeous! It's like wearing a lovely set of hazy vintage safari photographs! I especially like how Joop chose grey space in the prints over white space, which would look too contrasty and clichéd. I'm noticing a lot of garments inspired by animals these days that don't incorporate any fur element. Susie Bubble has already mentioned Yuchi's amazing fall collection and Christopher Kane's gorilla prints. I also very much enjoyed Manish Aurora's colorful circus of crazy critters (first alliteration hah!).