Frank Mori, Former Co-owner of Donna Karan International and Anne Klein Co., Dies at 82
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Services will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. in Fairfield, Connecticut, for Frank Mori, former president and chief executive officer of Anne Klein & Co. and an owner of Donna Karan International. Mori died on Nov. 22 at his home in Westport, Connecticut, after a long illness. He was 82.
The service will take place at the Lesko & Polke Funeral Home at 1209 Post Road in Fairfield.
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The driving force behind Anne Klein & Co. and Donna Karan International, Mori was a low-key executive who operated behind the scenes and whom former colleagues described as extremely smart and charismatic.
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of a homemaker and finance executive, Mori attended Verona High School and graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College. He then received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
After roles at several other nonapparel companies, Mori joined Hanes Corp. as vice president of marketing at Bali and two years later became head of the Bali division.
But then Anne Klein & Co. came knocking.
In was late 1973 and Takihyo, a Japanese apparel firm, was seeking an entry into the U.S. ready-to-wear market and acquired a 50 percent interest in Anne Klein & Co. Several months later, founder Anne Klein checked into the hospital and in March 1974, died of cancer. Operations at the company continued but after a brief time, Gunther Oppenheim, Klein’s business partner, sold his 25 percent stake in the company to Takihyo, and then began seeking a trained manager to run the company.
Mori joined Anne Klein & Co. in the fall of 1975 as president and CEO and bought equity in the company.
In a WWD interview in 1984, Mori said, “At the time the company needed leadership. They didn’t need someone to come in on a power trip, but right or wrong, I was to set the course.” In the first nine years under his guidance, sales skyrocketed.
“My job was to be the orchestra leader, not to design the clothes, get them made or negotiate the piece goods buy. I had good people to do all that. My job was to be Leonard Bernstein and to make sure everyone was playing the same tune,” Mori told WWD in 1984.
During that time, Anne Klein was designed by Donna Karan and Louis Dell’Olio.
As a manager, Mori said he always tried to motivate people to think creativity and develop solutions to problems. “I always ask people what they think. I don’t do that to make my job easier, but because I want other people to be part of the end result,” said Mori at the time.
In 1984, Takihyo decided to launch the Donna Karan company, and became one of the principal owners. Tomio Taki, president of Takihyo, and Mori owned the business along with Donna Karan, who had a significant interest in the new firm. The partners in Takihyo Ltd. gave Karan $3 million to start the label in 1985.
During that 1984 interview, Mori said, “We wouldn’t have made this decision if we didn’t think Anne Klein would continue to grow.” A fast-growing business catering to the working woman at the time, Anne Klein later replaced Dell’Olio with Richard Tyler, whose fashion forward designs didn’t perform on the selling floor. He was replaced after three seasons by Patrick Robinson. Takihyo sold Anne Klein in March 1999 to Kasper ASL, and Anne Klein was eventually acquired by WHP Global in 2019.
In June 1996, Donna Karan International, which had grown quickly into a $270 million business, went public. After going public, Mori left the company and four years later was appointed to Karan’s board. As a big stakeholder, he was often disgruntled about how the stock was performing. The stock rocketed to 30 1/8 on the first day it was traded in June 1996, but languished around $7 during 2000.
After Karan took the company public, sources said Mori had aggressively challenged the company for its lackluster financial performance and several key business decisions. In 1996, Mori clashed with then co-chairman Stephan Weiss — Karan’s husband — over the direction of the beauty business that was launched in 1992. Weiss insisted on keeping it in-house, while Mori and Taki wanted to follow a more typical path and license it. Ultimately the business, which had drained at least $20 million from the fashion company, was licensed to The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. in September 1997.
Mori was also said to be unhappy with the Gabrielle Studio agreement. Gabrielle Studio, a company owned solely by Karan and Weiss, controlled the rights to various Donna Karan trademarks. Many shareholders and analysts had complained that the agreement drained money from the company.
The Donna Karan Co. was sold to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 2002 for around $243 million. LVMH later sold it to G-III Apparel Group for $650 million in 2016.
“I have to say I wouldn’t be who I am if it wasn’t for Frank and Tomio Taki,” Donna Karan said on Monday. “I did my entire fashion career with the two of them.” She described Mori as “sweet, adorable and was a very loving, caring kind of guy.”
“He was so supportive of everything,” said Karan. “I had so much fun with him. I had so many ideas…I wanted to do a menswear line and he was so supportive.” She said while at Anne Klein, they did a show that was phenomenal at the Winter Garden Theater, which at the time was housing “Pacific Overtures.” They wanted to stress in the market that Anne Klein was alive and well and also showcase Karan and Dell’Olio’s work.
Tomio Taki, who was reached in Tokyo, said, “He was a very good partner. We had a lot of good times together. I’ll really miss him.
“He was a very smart guy and a Harvard Business School graduate. He was a prudent president, and he understood the problem and tried to solve the problem. We solved most of the problems,” said Taki, who used to travel often with Mori.
After selling the company, Taki said they would have lunch or dinner from time to time when he came to New York, and they’d send emails to each other. “We’d send back and forth all the jokes,” said Taki. “He was a very good friend of mine, and it’s too bad he had to go. He’s five years younger than I am. I’m 87,” said Taki.
Asked what was it about Karan that made him want to invest in her company, Taki said, “She was one of the most talented designers that I have seen.”
Executives and former colleagues praised Mori for his intelligence and even-keel manner.
Stephen Ruzow, former president and chief operating officer of Donna Karan Co., said Monday, “He was very, very smart. He was a great businessman. Whenever there was craziness, you can always count on Frank to be the voice of reason.” He said on one side there would be Taki and Mori, and on the other side were Karan and Weiss. “He was able to navigate those extremely well, better than anybody possibly could,” said Ruzow.
Andrew Rosen, who previously was CEO of Anne Klein, said, “Frank was number one. He was a very close friend and a very important mentor in my life. I think he was one of the most brilliant fashion apparel executives in our industry, as seen by what he did at Anne Klein and how instrumental he was with Donna Karan. He was an amazing man, charismatic, brilliantly smart and an unsung hero of our industry.”
Philanthropy was important to Mori, who served on the board of the Stride Rite Corp., Barington/Hilco Acquisition Corp., Dillards and Horizons. He was also a devoted family man.
“He was amazing, he was a great, great dad,” said Heather Mori Bessey, his daughter. “He taught me without even knowing he was teaching me, the values of life and relationships. He loved his family. Nothing gave him more joy than his family.” This past summer he traveled to Anguilla with all his children and grandchildren and his former wife Jacqui.
Mori’s desire to push himself and excel was evident in his approach to sports. In addition to running and playing golf, he bred thoroughbreds. “When I play tennis or golf, I may lose sometimes because I may take a chance and try an aggressive shot, but I believe in high risks,” he told WWD in 1984. That approach also applied to business. “People sometimes come to my office and say, “Frank, we made a mistake.’ But my thinking is, ‘Well at least we tried. At least we gave it our best shot,'” he said in that interview.
Bessey also said that Mori loved golf, and he served as president of the Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton, where he had a home, along with homes in Westport and Palm Beach.
In addition to his daughter Heather and her husband Andrew, Mori is survived by his son Christopher and his wife, Julie, and another daughter, Margaret, as well as four grandchildren, his former wife, Jacqui, and brother, Robert.
Donations in Mori’s memory can be made to Horizons at Sacred Heart University, that advances educational equity for children in the Bridgeport community.
