<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Japanese fashion designer Hanae Mori, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly" for her signature winged motifs, has died. She was 96.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>She died of old age in her Tokyo home on August 11 and was given a private funeral, local media reported.</div><div><br></div><div>Mori was most famous for being the first Japanese - and Asian - designer to join the hallowed ranks of haute couture designers in 1977.</div><div><br></div><div>The exclusive Parisian club is seen as the pinnacle of high-end fashion.</div><div><br></div><div>Born in western Japan in 1926, Mori graduated from the Tokyo Woman's Christian University.</div><div><br></div><div>She opened her first atelier above a noodle shop in Tokyo in 1951. She has described meeting Coco Chanel during a trip to Paris in the 1960s as a "turning point" in her career, and said that Chanel inspired her to design for women to stand out rather than fit in.</div><div><br></div><div>Mori went on to dress Hollywood celebrities such as Grace Kelly and famous personalities such as Nancy Reagan. Japan's then-Crown Princess Masako - now empress - wore a Hanae Mori wedding gown for her marriage to Emperor Naruhito in 1993.</div><div><br></div><div>Her outfits, often featuring butterfly prints, were also popular among career women. When she began to make a name herself in the fashion world, it was still unusual for a woman to head business, much less one of global fame.</div><div><br></div><div>Mori's designs often mixed elements from the East and West, such as dresses with inspired by kimonos.</div><div><br></div><div>She also created costumes for on-stage performances, including traditional Japanese Noh and Kabuki theatre and a performance of "Madame Butterfly" in 1985.</div><div><br></div><div>She was presented with the Legion of Honor by the French government in 2002.</div><div><br></div><div>In January, the designer reflected on the industry in a column for the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.</div><div><br></div><div>"Fashion is something that pushes you, gives you courage to spread your wings and allows you to have adventures," she wrote.</div><div><br></div><div>Mori's husband of almost 50 years, Ken Mori, died in 1996, and she is survived by two sons. Two of her granddaughters, Hikari Mori and Izumi Mori, are fashion models. - BBC</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>