TOKIO.- The designer Japanese Yumi Katsura, who helped popularize Western wedding dresses in her country and who made a golden cape for Pope John Paul II, has died at age 94, her office said today – April 30.
After studying haute couture In Paris, Katsura opened the first bridal salon in Japan in 1964, when traditional kimonos still dominated wedding ceremonies and only 3% of brides wore Western-style dresses.
“After presenting her famous Yumi Line dress in New York in 1981, the designer opened stores internationally, influencing brides not only in Japan, but all over the world,” her website states.
Designer work for Pope John Paul II
In 1993, he designed a vestment for Pope John Paul II, which took two years to produce and which applied the hakata-ori weaving technique, used to make kimonos.
That same year, the Polish pontiff wore the golden cape and miter at an Easter mass broadcast around the world.
“I was in tears when I received the Pope’s letter of thanks,” Katsura said.
The designer, whose real name is Yumi Yuki, entered the Guinness Book of Records in 2012 for making the wedding dress with the greatest number of pearls, specifically 13,262.
But, despite her work to popularize Western wedding dresses in Japan, Katsura acknowledged that she did not opt for white at her own wedding. “I wore a dark green velvet dress,” she said in an interview in 2018. “White is not a good color for me,” she said.
FUENTE: AFP
