Mother, grandmother, createuse extraordinaire, Hanae Mori is a woman of impeccable taste, the holder of many coveted awards and Japan's -- and Asia's -- only member of the prestigious, Paris-based Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture.

Arriving a fashionably few minutes late in the foyer of the 5th-floor restaurant atop her Kenzo Tange-designed Tokyo headquarters in Omotesando -- the epicenter of Japanese fashion -- she's wearing a black pleated jacket, a black turtleneck and black slacks. Her black hair is, as always, neatly swept back and is kept in place with a velvet hair band of the same color.

Hanging around her neck is a large gold medallion -- "a gold $25 coin that my late husband [Ken Mori] gave me," she says as she runs her fingers over this sentimental gift.