OSLO, NORWAY.- More than 100 costumes from Spook's haute couture collections will be on display to the public at the National Museum of Contemporary Art on view through September 17, 2006. Per Spook – The Norwegian who gained a place in the top elite of French fashion.

Per Spook's career has been exceptional. He is the Norwegian who, thanks to his talent, achieved the truly remarkable - a place among the top elite of the French fashion world. Three times he received the highest possible accolades for his haute couture collections: the Golden Needle for best creativity in 1978, and the Golden Thimble for best collection in 1979 and 1993. It was in these years that Spook had his own fashion house in Paris. In 1994 his investors withdrew their support, and the following year, having failed to refinance his establishment, he was obliged to close its doors. Even so, this did not mean that Per Spook vanished from the world of fashion. In the years that followed he built up a sizeable market for his fashion creations in Asia. He continues to design two collections a year.

The exhibition is organized around five themes: Per Spook's Studio, Black and White, Colours and Patterns, Graphic Patterns and Nordic Inspiration. In addition, visitors can watch films of a selection of his fashion shows. Knitted garments were one of the hallmarks of Per Spook as a fashion design, and customers expected to find them among his collections. In the press Spook was described as "the man from the far north".

Per Spook (b. 1939) moved to Paris in 1959 to continue his training, having already completed a diploma in fashion design at the National College of Art and Design in Oslo. After gaining experience in the fashion houses of Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent, he was appointed chief designer at Louis Féraud. He started his own fashion house in 1977. The exhibition has been designed by Kathrine Hysing.