Business Profile: The Natori Company

In case you don't remember our last business profile, we focused on Catherine Fake and her creation of the world's most popular online photo site, Flickr.  Today, we focus on the Natori Company, which is run by another successful Pilipina, Josie Natori.  Born Josefina Almeda Cruz, she later married Ken Natori while working as the first female Vice President of Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch--hence the Natori name.

Natori's style can be summed up as a mix of traditional Pilipino clothing and Japanese kimonos.  Much of her Philippine-influenced clothing is made from the same natural fibers and cloths used in barongs and baro't sayas.  Bloomingdales was one of the first companies to take up her work, and soon after 12 other major high-end retailers bid on her clothing lines.  Because of her success, she has received one of the highest civilian awards in the Philippines, the Order of the Lakandula.

To learn more about Josie's Natori's story, please read on...
"Natori is my husband's name, but it's very much my philosophy," says the CEO and founder of the company. "I'm always trying to find the perfect note."

Not surprising, given her upbringing. The former Josefina Almeda Cruz was raised in a close-knit Filipino family, surrounded by strong role models who instilled in her the importance of making her own way. "I'm lucky to come from a matriarchal society in which women are encouraged to be entrepreneurs," says Natori, the oldest of six children. "My grandmother always said, 'Don't put yourself in a position where you have to depend on anyone.' So there was never a question that I would go into business."

Indeed, even though Natori showed a natural affinity for the piano at an early age, performing a solo concert with the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra at age 9, she knew she was better suited to life not as an artist but as a businessperson. In 1964, at 17, she left Manila for New York, where she studied economics at Manhattanville College. Following graduation, she quickly ascended the corporate ladder, eventually landing at Merrill Lynch as the first female vice president of investment banking. By 1976, the rising Wall Street star had married Ken Natori, then managing director at Smith Barney, and given birth to her son, Kenneth, Jr. But Natori was restless. "The novelty of investment banking had begun to wear off," she says. "I just wasn't challenged anymore. I knew there must be something else."

Natori considered a number of entrepreneurial ventures-selling baskets and furniture imported from the Philippines, running a car wash, even opening a McDonald's franchise- before she discovered exactly what that something else should be. After an old friend sent her some hand-embroidered blouses from the Philippines, she showed them to a buyer at Bloomingdale's, who liked the way they echoed the look of Yves St. Laurent's peasant blouses, popular at the time. At the buyer's suggestion, Natori lengthened them and turned them into nightshirts. They were such a hit that within weeks, Natori had set up shop in her living room; within a few years, she'd left Merrill Lynch and was working out of an 11,000-square-foot loft in midtown Manhattan.

The Natori Story [Natori.com]
Josie Natori [Wikipedia]