Talking about reclaiming a decorative sensibility after a spell of minimalism, Swedish designer Per Spook got into the swing of things when designing for the French couture house Louis Feraud back in 1970; reconciling an era of Space Age futurism with a burgeoning desire for a life closer to the Earth. He interpreted ethnic motifs for an audience that was more accustomed to welted seams, architectural volume, and spaceships, lending what would become Per Spook’s signature: an uncannily fresh play on graphic form and contrast, as progressive as anything Cardin, Courreges, or Rabanne had managed with their futurist fancies. Of course, it was just as optimistic, a direction towards a new optimism perhaps, one that directly addressed the free-spirited ambitions that would set the tone for the next decade. The future which the Space Age designers of the ’60s had so intently pondered was no longer among the stars.
Janus 