3/1/2007

I am going to pay tribute to Mori Hanae, the only Japanese female fashion designer to have achieved international recognition for her work. Her designs are always very feminine and gentle like a stroke of a caligraphy brush. Motives like kanji are no stranger to the designs of Mori.

She is considered a pioneer in the Japanese fashion industry as Japanese women were traditionally confined to the roles of wife, housewife and mother. She broke these contraints and build herself a fashion empire in New York.

Mori Hanae was born in Shimane Perfecture and was a student at the Tokyo Women’s Christian University until she was forced to help the war effort by working in a factory. After the war, she married into a family in the textile industry and attended design school. This is where she found her talents, love and flair in fashion design. It all started with a small clothing company aimed at private customers and theatrical companies. By a chance meeting, Mori met Coco Chanel in Paris in 1960 and the rest was history. Haute Couture, here she comes.

The Mori Hanae design has studios and boutiques in New York, Tokyo and Paris.

Here are some of her designs: