La diseñadora japonesa más famosa, Hanae Mori, falleció en el verano de 2022 a la edad de 96 años. ¡Casi un siglo escribiendo una de las grandes sagas de la moda internacional!

Figura de elegancia, Hanae Mori abrió el camino para la moda japonesa en París en 1977, mucho antes que Rei Kawakubo y Yohji Yamamoto en los años 80. Kenzo e Issey Miyake visitaron su estudio como jóvenes estudiantes de diseño.

También en Nueva York, ya en 1965, se hizo un nombre en su primer desfile de moda.

In 1965, Hanae Mori debuted her first collection in New York. Titled Miyabiyaka, it marked a turning point, not only in her career, but in global fashion history.

The American press described it as “East Meets West.” Flowing silks, refined prints, and Japanese sensibility met Western structure and modernity. Buyers responded immediately. High-end department stores began carrying her designs, and her name quickly circulated within the New York fashion establishment.

Her work caught the attention of legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, who recognized the singularity of her vision and introduced her aesthetic to an international audience through Vogue. Photographed by Richard Avedon, her creations appeared in striking editorial spreads that defined an era.

Today, several of her pieces are preserved in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art - a testament to the cultural significance of her American years.

New York did more than embrace her talent. It revealed her global destiny.

Paris, represented the ultimate frontier.

After a decisive encounter with Coco Chanel, who encouraged her to pursue haute couture, Hanae Mori set her sights on the French capital. In 1977, she became the first Japanese - and first Asian - designer admitted as an official member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture.

Her collections brought a new language to Paris: luminous silks, intricate embroidery, masterful folding techniques, and an unmistakable motif - the butterfly.

The butterfly became her emblem. A symbol of transformation, femininity, and freedom. International clients, from Grace Kelly to Empress Masako of Japan, wore her creations. The press affectionately named her “Madame Butterfly.”

For twenty-seven years, from her debut couture collection to her final Paris show in 2004, she expanded the vocabulary of haute couture, blending Japanese aesthetics with Parisian craftsmanship at the highest level.

Hanae Mori was never solely a designer. She was a cultural architect.

In Japan, she launched fashion publications, introduced international industry media, and helped shape modern fashion communication. She built a house that was both creative and entrepreneurial - rare for a woman of her generation.

Her career embodied the “Vital Type” she had envisioned decades earlier: artist, businesswoman, wife, mother, and above all, a woman who defined her own path.

Long before conversations about female empowerment became mainstream, she lived them.

In 2026, Tokyo celebrates the centenary of Hanae Mori’s birth with a major retrospective exhibition retracing her extraordinary journey across three capitals: Tokyo, New York, and Paris.

Through nearly 400 haute couture creations, archival documents, and previously unseen works - including garments from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art shown in Japan for the first time - the exhibition reveals the full scope of her artistry and ambition.

It is more than a tribute. It is the recognition of a woman who transformed fashion into a dialogue between cultures.

From a small atelier in Tokyo to the salons of Parisian haute couture, through the vibrant energy of New York, Hanae Mori built far more than a fashion house. She created a bridge between worlds.

Her legacy lives on in every butterfly - a symbol of movement, courage, and transformation.

This vision naturally extended into the world of fragrance.

Like her couture creations, Hanae Mori fragrances express a dialogue between East and West, delicacy and strength.An icon is not born in a single city. It is shaped by the world, and leaves behind an unforgettable trail.