- Melissa Chu
- BBC News
5 hours ago
Hana Mori was the first Asian to break into the world of fashion design
Japanese fashion designer Hanai Mori, known as “Madame Butterfly”, has passed away because of her winged designs.
She passed away at her home in Tokyo on August 11 and had a private funeral, according to local media.
Mori was known as the first Japanese/Asian designer to conquer the world of fashion designers in 1977.
Born in Japan in 1926, Hanae graduated from Tokyo Women’s Christian University, and opened the first clothing store above a noodle shop in Tokyo in 1951.
She described her meeting with French fashion designer Coco Chanel during her trip to Paris in the sixties of the last century as an inspiring meeting for her to design fashion for women with the aim of distinction rather than looking for a place in the existing scene.
Morey has designed costumes for Hollywood celebrities such as Grace Kelly and celebrities such as Nancy Reagan. Japanese Princess Masako, now empress, wore a wedding dress designed by Hana Moo Ri when she married Emperor Naruhito in 1993.
Her costumes, which contained drawings of butterflies, were popular among working women. When her name rose to prominence in the world of fashion, it was not unusual for a woman to be the head of a world-famous business.
She often mixes East and West inspired elements in her designs.
Sets were designed for use in theatrical productions of institutions such as the Japanese Noh and Kabuki Theater, as well as the 1985 opera Lady Butterfly.
The French government awarded her the Legion of Honor in 2002.
Her husband of 50 years, Ken Morey, passed away in 1996, and she has two sons. Two of her granddaughters, Hikari Mori and Gizumi Mori, are models.