Descended from Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming-dynasty Emperor (1368-98), the Zhu clan was a big landowner around Changsha in Hunan province, where Zhu was born in 1928.
Tadashi Shoji took his guests on journey to the Silk Road, opening his show with a dress that borrowed its color and ornamentation from blue and white Mingdynasty vases.