PARIS — Paris couture house Per Spook SA has canceled the runway show it had scheduled for July 20, and its future appears uncertain.
“We won’t do a couture show, but we are not quite closing down the business. It’s more we are being put into suspension,” said a Per Spook spokeswoman.
She emphasized that the Per Spook boutique on Avenue Montaigne will remain open and that the women’s ready-to-wear collection will be delivered for the upcoming fall-winter season.
Spook went out of business in 1989, when the firm closed its rtw line and a boutique on nearby Avenue George V. But the Norwegian-born designer’s house was resuscitated two years later by Haifinance, a Washington-based investment firm.
According to one source, almost two dozen people are expected to lose their jobs.
According to government filings, Per Spook made a profit of $280,000 (1.5 million francs) at current exchange rates on sales of $2.5 million (13.5 million francs) in 1992, the last year for which figures are available.
Spook could not be reached for comment.