Hanae Mori, designer for films, empress, dies, reports say

By YURI KAGEYAMA
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese media reports say fashion designer Hanae Mori has died at 96. She designed the wedding gown of Japan’s empress as well as costumes for hundreds of Japanese films in the 1950s and ’60s. Her elegant signature butterfly motifs were favored as a status symbol for working women. Mori also designed uniforms for high school students, flight attendants and the Japanese team at the Barcelona Olympics. She was a pioneer of a generation of Japanese designers who became globally prominent and her business extended to perfumes and publishing. The reports say she died Aug. 11, but no other details were immediately available.