The first Asian designer to become a member of the Paris haute couture syndicate, Hanae Mori occupied a singular position at the forefront of the global fashion industry over the course of her storied five-decade career. Through artistic and entrepreneurial pursuits, Mori bridged the Japanese and Western fashion worlds with grace and ambition, as reflected in designs that balance Euro-American trends with Japanese-inspired aesthetics.
A Dressmaker in Postwar Japan
Mori was born in 1926 into an affluent family in Shimane, Japan, and spent her formative years in Tokyo. Amid harsh living conditions and air raids during World War II, she studied literature at the Tokyo Woman’s Christian University while working in an arsenal for the war effort. After the war she married Ken Mori, the son of a textile manufacturer, who later became her business partner.
Unmotivated by the prospect of spending the rest of her life as a homemaker, Mori enrolled in Dressmaker Gakuin, one of Japan’s oldest vocational schools specializing in Western-style dressmaking. In 1951, spurred by the rising demand for practical Western-style womenswear, Mori established her studio, Hiyoshiya, where she took custom orders from local clients, including the wives of American military officers who resided in Tokyo during the years of the US occupation. The studio’s access to coveted American-made fabrics and sewing patterns further advanced Mori’s techniques in drapery and garment construction, driving her early success.
Hiyoshiya also became known for its creative window displays and fashion shows—retail practices that were not common among Japanese dressmakers at the time. The studio’s proactive public outreach eventually caught the attention of nearby film studios, which kicked off Mori’s career in costume design. From the 1950s through the mid-1960s—a period dubbed the “Golden Age of Japanese cinema”—she designed costumes for both male and female roles in more than two hundred films, collaborating with eminent directors such as Yasujirô Ozu and Nagisa Ōshima. Notable films that she contributed to include Crazed Fruit (1956), Season of the Sun (1956), Late Autumn (1960), and Pale Flower (1964). Mori’s technically skillful handwork and refined designs helped gain her recognition in the Japanese entertainment industry, with actresses and celebrities becoming regular clients.
New York Years
Mori thrived in the Japanese fashion industry as a bespoke dressmaker, film costumer, and designer of her ready-to-wear line, VIVID, yet it was in New York that she and her eponymous brand earned international acclaim. During her first trip to New York in 1961, she was dismayed at the low-quality Japanese-made garments on sale at department stores—as well as the Orientalized representation of the Japanese female protagonist in a production of Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly. This experience piqued Mori’s ambition to design an upscale evening-wear collection exclusively for the American market, showcasing the exquisite textile craftsmanship native to Japan. Mori spent the next three years developing custom fabrics with local manufacturers and dyers in an effort to design Western-style garments using traditional kimono and obi-belt fabrics.
The years of intensive research and experimentation came to fruition in her landmark show in January 1965, when she was invited to participate in New York Press Week (currently known as New York Fashion Week). Entitled “Miyabiyaka”—the Japanese word for courtly beauty—the collection presented evening ensembles made with extravagant textiles, such as Nishijin-ori, a silk brocade historically produced in Kyoto. Mori adapted these kimono and obi-inspired fabrics to evening gowns, dresses, and coats embellished with complex patterns in brilliant colors, often interweaving gold and silver threads (2004.467.1a, b, 1975.86.2a, b). The rare presentation of luxurious womenswear entirely made in Japan was applauded by the local press and buyers, including the Evelyn Byrnes boutique, which became the first retailer to sell Mori’s collections in New York (1978.581.8a–c).
Following this successful New York debut, Mori started to expand her business internationally. The Hanae Mori label was soon distributed by America’s leading department stores, such as Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Henri Bendel, Marshall Field’s, and I. Magnin. Mori adopted the so-called demi-couture business model, in which local retailers offered a selection of looks from her collections each season. Garments were then made to order with minor design and size adjustments in her Tokyo atelier and shipped to the United States. Distinguished by their delicate handwork and unique aesthetic, Mori’s designs entered the wardrobes of women in the upper echelons of American society.
Echoing the contemporary American fashion trends of the late 1960s, Mori’s hostess gowns, pajama ensembles, and caftans became particularly popular. Sumptuously layered with silk chiffon and twill fabrics, these garments allowed greater mobility and comfort compared to her earlier designs that incorporated kimono and obi-style brocades. Nevertheless, Japanese artistic and textile traditions remained an enduring inspiration in Mori’s work. She adapted long kimono sleeves to Western-style dress and frequently depicted Japanese crests and natural motifs—such as chrysanthemums, bamboo, cherry blossoms, and cranes—as printed, beaded, and embroidered decorations (2009.300.38a–c). Mori also adorned dresses and evening ensembles with direct references to works of Japanese art, including woodblock prints, paintings, and calligraphy, a design tendency that prevailed throughout her oeuvre in New York and, later, Paris (1975.86.3a, b, 2004.467.4, 2004.467.7a, b).
Perhaps the most recognizable element of the Hanae Mori brand was the butterfly motif. Through countless iterations in color and form, Mori incorporated butterflies in garments as well as accessories and licensed product designs. The company’s first licensing partnership was realized with the home textiles company West Point-Pepperell in 1967; this was followed by the Ban-Lon Collection, a knitwear line produced in collaboration with the textile firm Bancroft and the designer Anne Fogarty. In 1969 a fragrance line was launched in collaboration with the Japanese beauty brand Shiseido. From bed linens to bathing suits, these mass-market products often featured Mori’s signature motifs and helped spread the brand beyond the niche of high-end clientele. As a result of her flourishing business in the United States, Hanae Mori acquired the Hans Hollein–designed postmodernist building at 27 East 79th Street in Manhattan, where she opened her first flagship store outside Japan in 1976.
Paris Haute Couture and Beyond
By the mid-1970s Mori was an internationally regarded fashion designer, with a client roster that spanned a wide spectrum of high society, from Nancy Reagan and Lauren Bacall to Princess Grace of Monaco. Princess Grace was so fond of Mori’s work that she invited the designer to stage a charity show in Monaco in 1975. Mori took that opportunity to show her collection in Paris for the first time. Well received by the French fashion industry, the show catalyzed Mori’s interest in entering the world of Paris haute couture. Through endorsements from notable couturiers such as Hubert de Givenchy and Pierre Cardin, she became the first woman designer of Asian descent to be admitted as an official member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the governing body of the French fashion industry. While continuing to operate in Japan and the United States, Mori established her maison on avenue Montaigne in 1977 and presented haute couture and pret-a-porter collections each season over the next twenty-seven years.
Mori’s haute couture collections showcased her return to handwork and craftsmanship after a fruitful decade of commercial success in the United States. Her creative output grew more aesthetically diverse in comparison to the designs of her New York years that focused on merging Japanese textiles and motifs with Western dress. In Paris, Mori actively incorporated such meticulous techniques as beading to achieve vibrant yet delicately made dresses, suits, and ensembles (2004.467.3a, b). She was also influenced by traditional Japanese crafts, such as basketry, and adapted certain of those techniques to dressmaking. Though visually more discreet than her earlier work, Mori’s designs continued to be informed by her cultural heritage, as well as her exposure to local textile and craft traditions through her extensive travels around the world.
Mori further broadened her portfolio during her years as a haute couturiere. She designed costumes for a number of musical, ballet, and opera productions. Her work on a 1985 production of Madama Butterfly at the Teatro della Scala in Milan was especially significant for the designer, as it served as a way to reimagine the stereotypical portrayal of Oriental beauty prevalent in earlier productions. As one of the few Japanese fashion designers with international fame, Mori was also commissioned to design garments for special occasions of the Japanese state, including Empress Masako’s wedding gown in 1993 and uniforms for the Japanese delegation for the Olympic Games in Barcelona (1992) and Lillehammer (1994). Recognized for her unparalleled contributions to the world of fashion, Mori became the first fashion designer to receive the Order of Culture in Japan in 1996; she was also named an officier de la Legion d’honneur by France in 2002. After retiring from haute couture in 2004, she committed herself to supporting future generations of designers in Japan by establishing the nonprofit Hanae Mori Foundation.
Responding to the moment yet pursuing a distinctive approach to design, technique, and medium, Mori left a lasting impact on the canon of twentieth-century fashion in Japan as well as the West. Though her legacy is largely overlooked today, she paved the way for a subsequent generation of Japanese fashion designers who prolifically expanded their horizons overseas.