Hanae Mori grandchildren: Izumi Mori, Hikari Mori

The most famous and renowned Hanae Mori was a Japanese fashion designer. She was one of only two Japanese women to have presented her collections on the runways of Paris and New York, and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official haute couture design house by the Fédération française de la couture in France.

Mori symbolized the rise of Japan as a modern, fashionable nation and the rise of the working woman. Empress Masako wore a Hanae Mori wedding gown adorned with rose-petal patterns when she married Emperor Naruhito, then the crown prince, in 1993.

Mori also designed uniforms for Japan Airlines flight attendants, bank clerks, high school students, and the Japanese team at the Barcelona Olympics. The uniforms were not flamboyant like her runway designs, but tastefully professional, and appropriate for their roles.

With her slogan, You feel decent, no matter where in the world you wear them, Mori wanted to give confidence and dignity to those wearing her designs. Her umbrellas and scarves, often decked with colorful butterflies, were a status symbol for working women.

She opened her studio in 1951 and was a pioneer of a generation of Japanese designers who became globally prominent. Her first New York show, held in 1965, was acclaimed as East meets West.

She opened her Paris studio in 1977 and built an international business that extended to perfumes, handbags, and publishing as well as fashion.