Kikka Hanazawa

Kikka Hanazawa (花沢 菊香 born October 26, 1970) is a Japanese investor and fashion industry executive. She is an investor of various social enterprise businesses including VPL and founded Fashion Girls for Humanity in New York, a non-profit humanitarian organization.

Kikka Hanazawa
Hanazawa in Wall Street Journal in 2014
Born (1970-10-26) October 26, 1970
Tokyo, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Alma materColumbia University
(B.A.)
Harvard Business School
(M.B.A.)
OccupationCEO at
VPL (brand) / Founder of Fashion Girls for Humanity
AwardsGame Changer Awards (2014)

Early life and education

Hanazawa is the daughter of Ikue Hanazawa and Kiyoshi Yokoyama of Japan. Her father was a business entrepreneur-turned Tendai Buddhist monk, and her mother Ikue Hanazawa owned an haute couture fashion business. Her aunt was Tomiyo Hanazawa who designed modern kimono for Chiyo Uno and staged the first kimono fashion show in the US in 1957. Both Tomiyo and Ikue started their careers in fashion working for Uno Chiyo, a well known feminist author in Japan,[1] who founded Sutairu ("Style"), Japan's first fashion magazine in 1936, along with the boutique in Ginza.[2] During the Second World War, however, it was suppressed by government censors, who found the articles they wrote on themes like "Proper Underwear - a Must for Western Dresses" not in keeping with the seriousness of the times.[3] Following Chiyo Uno's advice to be an independent woman, neither Tomiyo nor Ikue Hanazawa were ever married and became very involved in fashion business with Chiyo Uno for much of their lives.

While Hanazawa grew up surrounded by these professional working women, she had no interest in fashion as a career and came to New York in 1989 to attend Columbia University with no financial support. In order to fund her own education, she held various jobs at Itochu and J. Crew. In 2000 she finally graduated magna cum laude in art history / architecture theory. She also graduated from Harvard Business School with an MBA in 2002.[4][5]

Career

Hanazawa's first job was selling American vintage clothes in Shibuya. Prior to starting non profit and social ventures, she took various jobs and internships, including Itochu, J. Crew, Accenture, TPG and Theory.[6] In 2006, Hanazawa invested in VPL (brand)[7] and became president of the company.[8] VPL is sold globally including Barneys New York, Saks Fifth Avenue, Ikram, Fred Segal, and Harvey Nichols, and it has been worn by celebrities like Gwen Stefani and Victoria Beckham.[9] VPL received numerous industry recognition, including Ecco Domani, CFDA/Vogue fashion fund finalist, and CFDA Lexus Sustainability award.

In 2010 with Miki Higasa, Tomoko Ogura, and Julie Gilhart, Hanazawa founded Fashion Girls for Japan. They together organized a successful designer sale in NY, Japan and London to benefit Japanese earthquake victims.[10] Fashion Girls for Japan was renamed to Fashion Girls for Humanity in response to Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and the fund helped the restoration of more than 5 fire stations and various individual homes in NJ and Long Island. The online auction in December 2013 to help survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines raised the fund to purchase water filters distributed by Waves for Water. In 2014 Hanazawa was selected as one of Forbes Asia 48 Heroes of Philanthropists.[11] Fashion Girls for Humanity became a recipient for Asia Society's Game Changer Award in 2014.[12] In 2015 Fashion Girls raised the fund for Shikshya Foundation and Waves for Water to benefit earthquake victims in Nepal.

Hanazawa served on the finance committee for CFDA as well as a panel for CFDA Fashion Incubator program.[13] In 2018, Hanazawa spoke on a panel for Yale Center for Business and the Environment.[14]She currently sits on the board of visitors of the Columbia University School of General Studies.[15]

References
  1. "Chiyo Uno.(Japanese writer dies)(Obituary)". The Economist. June 22, 1996. Archived from the original on May 5, 2016.
  2. "The Sound of the Wind: The Life and Works of Uno Chiyo". University of Hawaii Press. May 1992.
  3. "Obituary: Uno Chiyo". Independent UK. June 1996.
  4. "「ファッションで社会に貢献する」Overview". Nikkei. June 28, 2015.
  5. "Columbia University: DEPARTMENT OF ART HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY 2002" (PDF).
  6. "Getting a Shoe in the Door of Fashion Retailing". HBS Working Knowledge for Business Leaders. February 9, 2004.
  7. "Designer Label Overview". New York Magazine. February 1, 2012.
  8. "VPL: The promise of a creative-business partnership". Business of Fashion. September 15, 2007.
  9. "Fashion Chief's Open Door Policy". The Wall Street Journal. May 29, 2014.
  10. "Kikka Hanazawa of VPL on Why the Japan Crisis Hits Close to Home". NBC New York. March 31, 2011.
  11. "Asia Philanthropists". Forbes. June 25, 2014.
  12. "Shigeru Ban, 3/11-born charity to receive Asia Game Changer Awards". Japan Times. September 17, 2014.
  13. "2012 Annual Report" (PDF). CFDA Annual Report. June 2012.
  14. "CBEY: Women at the Forefront of Social Change: Creating Impact through Entrepreneurship and Investment".
  15. "Board of Visitors". Columbia University School of General Studies. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  • VPL
  • Fashion Girls for Humanity
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