Kikka Hanazawa

Born in Tokyo, Kikka Hanazawa is the daughter of Ikue Hanazawa and Kiyoshi Yokoyama. Her father was a business entrepreneur-turned-Tendai Buddhist monk, and her mother Ikue Hanazawa owned an haute couture 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 feminist author in Japan,[1] who founded Sutairu ("Style"), Japan's first fashion magazine in 1936, along with the boutique in Ginza.[2] Following Chiyo Uno's advice to be an independent woman, Tomiyo and Ikue Hanazawa remained unmarried and became very involved in the fashion business with Chiyo Uno for much of their lives. While Hanazawa grew up around women working in fashion, she initially had no interest in fashion as a career.

In 2000, Hanazawa graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in art history & architecture theory from Columbia University. To fund her education at Columbia, she worked at Itochu and quickly became one of the youngest female managers in New York. She then received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 2002.[3][4]

Hanazawa was the CEO of VPL,[5] a women's activewear brand,[6] which was acquired by Yabbey in 2022. Prior to VPL, Hanazawa was part of the senior leadership at Theory,[7] leading its IPO, M&A activities, and strategic development. She also worked at Cygne Designs,[8] where she led a management buyout of its international business, which she started and sold.

Hanazawa served on the finance committee for the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and the CFDA Fashion Incubator program.[9] She currently serves on the board of visitors of the Columbia University School of General Studies.[8] and the Executive Director’s Advisory Council for the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

• 2007 Finalist, Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA)'s Vogue Fashion Fund
• 2011 Finalist, WGSN Global Fashion Award for Outstanding New Store[10]
• 2012 Winner, CFDA Lexus Eco Challenge
• 2014 Recipient, Asia Society Game Changer Awards (2014)[11]
• 2014 Forbes Asia 48 Heroes of Philanthropy (2014)[12]
• 2020 Finalist, Rising Star Award by Harvard Business School Women’s Association of Greater New York[13]
• 2021 Recipient, FLAIR Award from Harvard Alumni for Fashion, Luxury, and Retail[14]
• 2021 Finalist, Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas North America (2021)[15] (Fashion Girls for Humanity)
• 2022 Finalist, Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas (2022)[16] (Yabbey)

• VPL
• Fashion Girls for Humanity
• Yabbey