Per Spook

Since today is his 70th birthday I would like to present to you the Norwegian designer Per Spook!



Per Spook was born in Oslo July 2. 1939. He is a Norwegian fashion designer who lives in Paris.
He studied at School of Fine Arts, Oslo, and École de la Chambre Syndicale, Paris.
In 1960 he joined the house of Dior and has worked as a freelancer with Yves Saint Laurent and Louis Féraud.
He opened his own fashion house in 1977 and won «Aiguille d'Or» (the Golden Needle) the next year for his autumn/winter collection 1978-1979. In 1979 and 1993 he won the "Oscar of Haute Couture" «De d'Or» (the Golden Thimble).

This is taken from the fashion encyclopedia:
"Experience with revered houses like Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, and Louis Féraud gave him a taste for haute couture and the specialized fashion that created a sensation when he opened his own house at the age of 38 in 1977.

Spook clothes were instantly applauded for their new, soft shapes and color. He established a hallmark for well-cut clothes that were elegantly understated but upheld the characteristics of quality, individuality, and wearability. Distinctive innovations have been his versatile long dresses with a device allowing them to be taken up for daywear, then let down again for an evening look; his Ile de Wight dress, a square-cut white linen dress embroidered with abstract black squares; and his Crumple clothes, made from a fabric that allows the clothes to fold into a small bundle and pack away without creasing. He also likes to design versatile mix-and-match outfits that can unite to create ensembles ranging from glamorous cocktailwear to daywear.

When it comes to ready-to-wear, the ideal Spook customer has been a woman who is both realistic and practical. She is active, up to date and, with her international lifestyle and career, needs clothes that are graceful and polished but also witty and lively. [.....]

From the left: Ile de Wight spring – summer 82
New York Miami spring-summer 79
Matin - Soir, nr. 1 spring-summer 91

Spook collections have often been fanciful and evoked romantic images of society lifestyles in the 1920s and 1930s. The clothes have had a strong resort feel, suggesting leisured times at Deauville or on the Lido at Venice. Figure prints on expensive crêpes and asymmetric details on crossover crêpe minidresses have been popular, as have saucy nautical stripes, abstract polka dots, and geometrics, like black-and-white checkerboard jackets or long sequin shift dresses in geometric-patterned fabrics. They evoked references to fashion icons of the past, an updated Duchess of Windsor, Marlene Dietrich, or the 1950s model Dovima."

Spook is wellknown for his preference for black and white and graphic patterns, his inspiration also comes from nordic climate, nature and culture; for instance traditional Norwegian knitting patterns.

Nuit Polare

Because of lost founding he had to shut down his house in 1995, but he still works as a designer from his home in Paris and creates each year two pret-a-portér collections under his own name in Japan.

He has also designed several glass and porcelain services for the Norwegian Glasswork Company Magnor. Underneath you can see "Kongle", "one of the most popular wine services in Norway."

Sources: The fashion encyclopedia, The Norwegian National museum, Norwegian Wikipedia, Bergen Art museum, Magnor,