• Hanae Mori, a Japanese fashion designer  passed away at home in Tokyo at the age of 96.
• She was one of a very small number of Japanese women to run a multinational firm
• Public broadcaster NHK and other media outlets also reported the news

Hanae Mori, a Japanese fashion designer who entered the exclusive world of Parisian haute couture, passed away at home in Tokyo on Thursday at the age of 96, according to Japanese media.

Because of her distinctive winged theme, Mori was given the moniker “Madame Butterfly,” and many other members of high society have sported her elegant designs over the years.

She was one of a very small number of Japanese women to run a multinational firm, but she was also a pioneer in that regard.

Mori died on August 11, Kyodo news agency said on Thursday, citing her office, without giving further details.

Public broadcaster NHK and other media outlets also reported the news, saying a private family funeral had already taken place and giving the cause of her death as “old age”.

Mori´s trailblazing career took her from Tokyo, where she started out making costumes for cinema, to New York and Paris, where in 1977 her label became the first Asian fashion house to join the rarefied ranks of haute couture.

Her first collection abroad, in New York in 1965, celebrated the theme “East Meets West”.

Japanese fashion greats such as Issey Miyake, who died earlier this month, followed in her path.

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