In 1996, the same year this gown was made, Hanae Mori was awarded the Order of Culture by the Emperor of Japan. This after a long and lustrous career that included becoming the first Japenese women to become a member of Le Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisienne in 1977. In the Encyclopedia of Fashion they say of her work:

"....examples used bright hot colors, juxtaposed in one ensemble to provide interest, bringing a strong Japanese feel to their narrow hues, frequently harking back to the kimono for their silhouette and cut. It is in this area that her work is most inspired, bringing together European tailoring and Japanese color and ideals of beauty. She uses the Japanese love of asymmetry to further develop her style and the linear patterns she prints onto her distinctive silks. She exploits the natural appeal of such fabrics with a well-defined sense of cut to illuminate her realistic styles. By doing so, Mori is providing both an alternative to and a definite rejection of the type of elaborate couture confections that mold the female form into fantastical shapes, ignoring the woman beneath the fabric.......The designer is also a favorite of the Japanese royal family and Thailand's Queen Sirikit."

To find a true piece of her Haute Couture is exceedingly rare and when the design is as beautiful as this one is, it just makes it that much more special. This is couture on the highest level with everything about the piece deliberate and constructed to work as a whole. It is made of the finest silk and silk chiffon. The design is one of her signature custom prints that she helped to develop. Along the hem of the skirt there is also a hand painted detailing layered on top of the print. Bead work has been hand applied to the silk chiffon bodice to follow the black and white pattern on the underlying silk. The skirt wraps and secures over, draping around the hips and legs in a beautiful swath of silk. At one side of the waist she works in a touch of the East with the bow that you see. Underneath is a short mini skirt that is built in and has just the slightest touch of padding at the back. This gives shape around the hip and I feel it is also a subtle nod to the bustle pad. The top is semi-transparent and zips to close from the waist. It can be left open more to give a deeper plunge. I photos most of the shots with the zipper left a little open and included one with it fully closed. The shocking flash of brilliant turquoise under the skirt and lining the bow along with the high slit created by the wrapped effect are the perfect finishes. Great condition with a note to review below

The skirt is lined in a brilliant turquoise silk and the interior partial skirt is lined in black silk. The bodice and sleeves are unlined. The bodice closes with a front zipper. Her signature tiny fabric covered snaps sit at each cuff. There minor loss and loose beads on the top. Please see the photo after the label shots for the worst area. Completely made by hand as per the the standards of Haute Couture. Numbered tag underneath labeled "HC 1363 (perhaps the first number is a 7?) Pe 6-12-96"

Sleeves: 26"
Shoulders: 14"
Bust: 17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 53" from neck to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD2363

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

This dress is a personal favorite and it shows the range of what Hanae Mori was capable of. The dress is simple and beautiful but still striking. It dates to the late 1970s, early 1980s and it is an absolute work of art. Hanae was the first woman of Japanese descent to have presented on the Paris and New York Runways and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official Haute Couture house to La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. Her work is exceptional.

This dress is a wonderful example of her range as a designer. It also showcases her extraordinary and meticulous attention to detail. The inner construction on this one is partially finished to Haute Couture standards and I have included a photo of the hand finished inner seams. I think that it may have been a special order placed through Saks Fifth Avenue based on the level of detail on the inner finishes. The dress is as light as a feather to wear because of the silk chiffon she has chosen to make it out of. The silk was then woven through with a gold lame thread that creates that beautiful design of huge stylized flowers that cover the dress entirely. The gold gives the dress its impact and the lightness of the silk chiffon is easy to wear. The bodice is suspended from the shoulders and has an almost chemise feel to it with the straps set slightly inwards. It skims down and over the body to the waist. The back closes with a series of silk covered snaps and her signature tiny snaps. Below this the skirt falls to the floor in two tiers of chiffon layered over each other for just a touch of fullness. It is astonishingly beautiful. Even more beautiful in person and the photos cannot convey the quality and feel of the high grade silk and the lightness of the dress when on. Excellent condition

Fully lined in a black silk and closes at the back with silk covered snaps to the waist and a series of her signature tiny snaps under that. Hand finished to couture standards throughout the interior. Tagged a vintage Mori 10. It will fit more like a loose chemise on a smaller frame and more fitted through the bust on a larger

Bust: 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam of the inner corset
Hips: open
Length: 59" from top of shoulders to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-MED

Item# DD3244

Reference Photos: Cherie, Owner of Shrimpton Couture.

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

This dress is cut with a simple and beautiful line and the print and color combination is a striking statement. It dates to 1969 based on the reference photo I have added of the Chrysanthemum print caftan held in the Iwami Art Museum collection that has a version of this print. That piece was also shot for Vogue that year. Hanae was the first woman of Japanese descent to have presented on the Paris and New York Runways and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official Haute Couture house to La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. Her work is exceptional.

The Chrysanthemum floral print is closely associated with the work of Hanae Mori and her designs. This dress features a variation of that print in the most beautiful way. It is a stunning example of the work she was doing during this time period. This is everything you look for in a Hanae piece. It has that wonderful custom designed floral print screened onto both the exterior silk chiffon overlay and on the inner silk twill dress. This allows the two prints on each layer to be slightly offset and gives the print an extra dimension of depth. The cut of the top layer has that draped flowing feel to it that collectors crave when they look for the best of her pieces. The inner dress is made of a scarf weight silk twill with an inner silk lining and is cut in a simple sheath silhouette. Over this a floating sleeveless caftan made of silk chiffon that is attached at the shoulders and around the arm openings to the under dress. That top layer is slit up the front all the way to the neck and this allows is to float and flow around you when you move or walk, adding to the floating feel of the dress. I love everything about it. Overall excellent condition with a note to review below

The inner dress is lined in an ivory silk. It closes with a back painted metal zipper and the outer chiffon layer closes at the back with her signature tiny silk covered snaps. Hand finishes throughout There are a couple of tiny storage marks on the exterior silk and a couple of marks on the inner bust that the exterior layer covers when it is one. A slight yellowing to the upper part of the back and the faintest smudge under one arm. None are outstanding or detract once it is one. Please review the photos after the label shot.

Bust: to 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 56" from neck to hem with just over 3.5" turned up under the hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD3471

Reference Photos: (1) Benedetta Barzini in Hanae Mori chrysanthemums printed evening pajamas photographed by Richard Avedon, Vogue, November 1966.  /  (2) 1966 Hanae Mori Chrysanthemum Pajamas from the Iwami Art Museum.

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

Heart-breakingly beautiful, this silk chiffon Hanae Mori gown is a rare example of her true Haute Couture work. The dress just an absolute work of art from the Spring 2000 collection. It is an interesting example of how the client is really the driving force behind what they buy. The dress is an adaptation of look seven from the runway and uses a print from the Fall 1990 collection. I have included a reference photo of both the 2000 runway dress and the 1990 one as they were presented.  It has her signature east meets west feel and it is an honor to have a piece of her couture work in the shop. Hanae was the first woman of Japanese descent to have presented on the Paris and New York Runways and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official Haute Couture house to La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.

Fully lined in a hand set cream silk. It has a fully built in inner boned bodice that closes with its own independent zipper. A second, hidden set zipper closes the exterior. The top silk chiffon layer of the skirt hides the zipper below the waist with fabric covered snaps. Inner waist stay. Hand finished to couture standards. Haute Couture tape #C 1109 5.4.2000. There is the very faintest of tiny marks to the silk just below the waist line with the tiniest of pulls to the fabric here and there. A small bit of scuffing to the inner lining of the train. All extremely minor and when on it appears unworn.

Waist: 14.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 20.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 15.5" from top of bodice to waist
Skirt: 44" from waist to shortest point of front hem, 59" to the back hem
Shawl: 36" x 124"

Modern Sizing Equivalent: MED-LRG

Item# DD3020

Reference Photo: (1) Hanae Mori F/W 1990 Haute Couture Collection.  /  (2) Hanae Mori S/S 2000 Haute Couture Collection. (3-4) Cherie, Owner of Shrimpton Couture, by Erin Leydon. Cherie is wearing a Magnetic Midnight X Shrimpton Couture 'Shooting Stars' Headpiece - available on the site here >

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

In 1996, the same year this gown was made, Hanae Mori was awarded the Order of Culture by the Emperor of Japan. This after a long and lustrous career that included becoming the first Japenese women to become a member of Le Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisienne in 1977. In the Encyclopedia of Fashion they say of her work:

"....examples used bright hot colors, juxtaposed in one ensemble to provide interest, bringing a strong Japanese feel to their narrow hues, frequently harking back to the kimono for their silhouette and cut. It is in this area that her work is most inspired, bringing together European tailoring and Japanese color and ideals of beauty. She uses the Japanese love of asymmetry to further develop her style and the linear patterns she prints onto her distinctive silks. She exploits the natural appeal of such fabrics with a well-defined sense of cut to illuminate her realistic styles. By doing so, Mori is providing both an alternative to and a definite rejection of the type of elaborate couture confections that mold the female form into fantastical shapes, ignoring the woman beneath the fabric.......The designer is also a favorite of the Japanese royal family and Thailand's Queen Sirikit."

To find a true piece of her Haute Couture is exceedingly rare and when the design is as beautiful as this one is, it just makes it that much more special. This is couture on the highest level with everything about the piece deliberate and constructed to work as a whole. It is made of the finest silk and silk chiffon. The design is one of her signature custom prints that she helped to develop. Along the hem of the skirt there is also a hand painted detailing layered on top of the print. Bead work has been hand applied to the silk chiffon bodice to follow the black and white pattern on the underlying silk. The skirt wraps and secures over, draping around the hips and legs in a beautiful swath of silk. At one side of the waist she works in a touch of the East with the bow that you see. Underneath is a short mini skirt that is built in and has just the slightest touch of padding at the back. This gives shape around the hip and I feel it is also a subtle nod to the bustle pad. The top is semi-transparent and zips to close from the waist. It can be left open more to give a deeper plunge. I photos most of the shots with the zipper left a little open and included one with it fully closed. The shocking flash of brilliant turquoise under the skirt and lining the bow along with the high slit created by the wrapped effect are the perfect finishes. Great condition with a note to review below

The skirt is lined in a brilliant turquoise silk and the interior partial skirt is lined in black silk. The bodice and sleeves are unlined. The bodice closes with a front zipper. Her signature tiny fabric covered snaps sit at each cuff. There minor loss and loose beads on the top. Please see the photo after the label shots for the worst area. Completely made by hand as per the the standards of Haute Couture. Numbered tag underneath labeled "HC 1363 (perhaps the first number is a 7?) Pe 6-12-96"

Sleeves: 26"
Shoulders: 14"
Bust: 17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 53" from neck to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD2363

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

This dress is a personal favorite and it shows the range of what Hanae Mori was capable of. The dress is simple and beautiful but still striking. It dates to the late 1970s, early 1980s and it is an absolute work of art. Hanae was the first woman of Japanese descent to have presented on the Paris and New York Runways and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official Haute Couture house to La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. Her work is exceptional.

This dress is a wonderful example of her range as a designer. It also showcases her extraordinary and meticulous attention to detail. The inner construction on this one is partially finished to Haute Couture standards and I have included a photo of the hand finished inner seams. I think that it may have been a special order placed through Saks Fifth Avenue based on the level of detail on the inner finishes. The dress is as light as a feather to wear because of the silk chiffon she has chosen to make it out of. The silk was then woven through with a gold lame thread that creates that beautiful design of huge stylized flowers that cover the dress entirely. The gold gives the dress its impact and the lightness of the silk chiffon is easy to wear. The bodice is suspended from the shoulders and has an almost chemise feel to it with the straps set slightly inwards. It skims down and over the body to the waist. The back closes with a series of silk covered snaps and her signature tiny snaps. Below this the skirt falls to the floor in two tiers of chiffon layered over each other for just a touch of fullness. It is astonishingly beautiful. Even more beautiful in person and the photos cannot convey the quality and feel of the high grade silk and the lightness of the dress when on. Excellent condition

Fully lined in a black silk and closes at the back with silk covered snaps to the waist and a series of her signature tiny snaps under that. Hand finished to couture standards throughout the interior. Tagged a vintage Mori 10. It will fit more like a loose chemise on a smaller frame and more fitted through the bust on a larger

Bust: 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam of the inner corset
Hips: open
Length: 59" from top of shoulders to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-MED

Item# DD3244

Reference Photos: Cherie, Owner of Shrimpton Couture.

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

This dress is cut with a simple and beautiful line and the print and color combination is a striking statement. It dates to 1969 based on the reference photo I have added of the Chrysanthemum print caftan held in the Iwami Art Museum collection that has a version of this print. That piece was also shot for Vogue that year. Hanae was the first woman of Japanese descent to have presented on the Paris and New York Runways and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official Haute Couture house to La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. Her work is exceptional.

The Chrysanthemum floral print is closely associated with the work of Hanae Mori and her designs. This dress features a variation of that print in the most beautiful way. It is a stunning example of the work she was doing during this time period. This is everything you look for in a Hanae piece. It has that wonderful custom designed floral print screened onto both the exterior silk chiffon overlay and on the inner silk twill dress. This allows the two prints on each layer to be slightly offset and gives the print an extra dimension of depth. The cut of the top layer has that draped flowing feel to it that collectors crave when they look for the best of her pieces. The inner dress is made of a scarf weight silk twill with an inner silk lining and is cut in a simple sheath silhouette. Over this a floating sleeveless caftan made of silk chiffon that is attached at the shoulders and around the arm openings to the under dress. That top layer is slit up the front all the way to the neck and this allows is to float and flow around you when you move or walk, adding to the floating feel of the dress. I love everything about it. Overall excellent condition with a note to review below

The inner dress is lined in an ivory silk. It closes with a back painted metal zipper and the outer chiffon layer closes at the back with her signature tiny silk covered snaps. Hand finishes throughout There are a couple of tiny storage marks on the exterior silk and a couple of marks on the inner bust that the exterior layer covers when it is one. A slight yellowing to the upper part of the back and the faintest smudge under one arm. None are outstanding or detract once it is one. Please review the photos after the label shot.

Bust: to 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 56" from neck to hem with just over 3.5" turned up under the hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD3471

Reference Photos: (1) Benedetta Barzini in Hanae Mori chrysanthemums printed evening pajamas photographed by Richard Avedon, Vogue, November 1966.  /  (2) 1966 Hanae Mori Chrysanthemum Pajamas from the Iwami Art Museum.

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

Heart-breakingly beautiful, this silk chiffon Hanae Mori gown is a rare example of her true Haute Couture work. The dress just an absolute work of art from the Spring 2000 collection. It is an interesting example of how the client is really the driving force behind what they buy. The dress is an adaptation of look seven from the runway and uses a print from the Fall 1990 collection. I have included a reference photo of both the 2000 runway dress and the 1990 one as they were presented.  It has her signature east meets west feel and it is an honor to have a piece of her couture work in the shop. Hanae was the first woman of Japanese descent to have presented on the Paris and New York Runways and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official Haute Couture house to La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.

Fully lined in a hand set cream silk. It has a fully built in inner boned bodice that closes with its own independent zipper. A second, hidden set zipper closes the exterior. The top silk chiffon layer of the skirt hides the zipper below the waist with fabric covered snaps. Inner waist stay. Hand finished to couture standards. Haute Couture tape #C 1109 5.4.2000. There is the very faintest of tiny marks to the silk just below the waist line with the tiniest of pulls to the fabric here and there. A small bit of scuffing to the inner lining of the train. All extremely minor and when on it appears unworn.

Waist: 14.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 20.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 15.5" from top of bodice to waist
Skirt: 44" from waist to shortest point of front hem, 59" to the back hem
Shawl: 36" x 124"

Modern Sizing Equivalent: MED-LRG

Item# DD3020

Reference Photo: (1) Hanae Mori F/W 1990 Haute Couture Collection.  /  (2) Hanae Mori S/S 2000 Haute Couture Collection. (3-4) Cherie, Owner of Shrimpton Couture, by Erin Leydon. Cherie is wearing a Magnetic Midnight X Shrimpton Couture 'Shooting Stars' Headpiece - available on the site here >

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.