Maria Luisa Poumaillou, the buyer whose eponymous stores helped launch the careers of designers including Jean Paul Gaultier and Helmut Lang, tragically lost her battle with cancer on Tuesday.

Maria Luisa Poumaillou has gone from owning one of the most influential fashion boutiques in Paris to transforming venerable department store Printemps into a serious fashion destination, along the way enabling the careers of some of the greatest names in fashion. Now, on her way to conquer the Chinese market with a slew of new stores and her own fashion brand, the legendary buyer sat down with BoF to share her story.