US-based Pinay fashion designer turns dreams to reality

US-based Pinay fashion designer turns dreams to reality

One of the biggest, self-made immigrant millionaires in the US is a Filipino.

Fashion designer Josie Natori who manages the family-owned Natori Company, recently gained recognition from finance publication Kiplinger as an immigrant who excelled in the field of fashion designing.
Natori’s company earned a spot on the Kiplinger list when, in 2011 it earned $150 million in retail sales after teaming up with mass retailer Target for a budget-friendly line of lingerie and loungewear.
Born Josefina Almeda Cruz, Natori is the daughter of construction tycoon Felipe Cruz. In 1964 she moved to the US to study economics. After working in the corporate world for a while, she and husband, Ken, decided to put up their own business. She eventually landed into high-end lingerie design business.
.The Natori Company now employs nearly over 400 employees. The 64-year old entrepreneur said her company is unique in the design world because of its East-meets-West aesthetic brought about by her background and heritage.
The Kiplinger’s list also includes Jamaican Lowell Hawthorne, founder and CEO of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery and Grill; Austrian Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger; Indian Shama Kabani, founder and CEO of the Marketing Zen Group; Google co-founder and director of special projects, Russian Sergey Brin; and Salvadorans Carlos Castro, president and CEO of Todos Supermarket and Jose Wilfredo Flores, owner and founder of W Concrete.

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