Black Label [EN]: Chapter 176

Black Label 175

176. Do as You Please

It was around noon when Jaeseung, having secured Vivian Ronda and Tom Brownie as perfect allies, exited the hotel.

Jaeseung settled into the back seat of the Bentley parked in front of the hotel and began reviewing his schedule.

Since Karl’s hospitalization in the VIP ward, Jaeseung had naturally been delegated all decision-making authority regarding Janelle’s current season.

In other words, Karl’s responsibilities had been added to his already overwhelmingly busy routine.

Scanning the schedule with sharp eyes, Jaeseung couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

The schedule was excessively packed. From tea times to maintain relationships with substantial buyers, to dinners with major investors who had bet large sums on Janelle’s success this season, to internal Janelle House affairs…

It was as if the expression ’24 hours is not enough’ had become an understatement.

Anyway, the reason for his chuckle was quite simple. He couldn’t help but think that this hectic schedule might be a divine consideration to prevent him from succumbing to sorrow and collapsing.

Just then, Jaeseung’s smartphone, resting on the rear seat armrest, began to vibrate loudly.

It was a call from Chairman Wertheimer, the de facto owner of the Janelle Group.

-Lee, did the discussions go well?

Jaeseung had barely answered the phone when he was met with this question, without even a simple greeting.

But something was off. His voice sounded subtly different from usual.

It seemed faintly trembling, or to put it more bluntly, tinged with a faint sadness.

“Yes. Vivian Ronda and Tom Brownie have both expressed a clear intention to join.”

-Oh, I thought making allies would be the most difficult part, but this is unexpected. I’m truly relieved.

Chairman Wertheimer, visibly brightening, said, “First, I think we need to talk about Karl,” before continuing.

-Although Karl’s death will be kept top secret, we’ve decided to hold at least a small funeral.

“That’s good news.”

-It will be held in Hamburg, Germany, where Karl’s family home is located. Only a few family members and relatives will join, and it will be conducted as discreetly as possible, on a small scale.

Originally, Karl’s nickname was ‘The Outsider of Paris Couture.’ This was because, unlike the other designers who seemed to dominate Paris Couture, Karl was a designer from Germany.

Anyway, he felt somewhat relieved. He had wanted to prevent Karl from facing a death without even a small funeral at all costs.

After a moment of silence.

-All scheduled events have been canceled. It would be best if you returned to the hotel and rested well, at least for today.

“My schedules……?”

-There are a few new decisions that were made this morning during an internal group meeting. Due to the repercussions of these decisions, I need to meet with key figures personally.

“What decisions are you referring to?”

-After a long discussion, Janelle’s board of directors has decided to forgo this year’s ‘Paris Fashion Week.’ It was a decision for everyone’s sake.

Chairman Wertheimer then began to explain ‘why they decided to forgo participating in this year’s Paris Fashion Week.’

First, it was for Lee, meaning himself.

The reason was that launching Wallflower and Janelle’s season simultaneously could lead to work confusion and prevent him from focusing entirely.

“Is that all?”

-Of course not.

The second reason was ‘justification.’

-We’ve unveiled new products through the Paris Fashion Week route countless times. It goes without saying, but Karl has never missed a single show.

“Yes. It’s such a large event that it’s hard not to show your face. It’s also a place where you can get a slight evaluation of months of effort through the expressions of the audience.”

-That’s right. For that reason, the board of directors decided to forgo participating in Paris Fashion Week. The product reveal will take place on a Janelle Group-owned cruise ship.

After speaking, Chairman Wertheimer added, “Showcasing new products without going through Fashion Week has happened from time to time.”

Jaeseung couldn’t help but be impressed upon hearing those words. Wasn’t Janelle’s show also known for focusing on performance?

Perhaps because there were limitations to renovating the Fashion Week venue, Janelle occasionally unveiled new product lineups in private spaces rather than at Fashion Week events.

Of course, those shows unveiled outside of Fashion Week events often became a hot topic due to their performances.

“Then we’ll have to focus all our attention on the performance.”

Chairman Wertheimer, after replying, “Exactly. It’s a decision we could make because your past shows have become a hot topic due to their performances. So, I wanted to ask you a few things about the VMD [Visual Merchandising Director, responsible for the visual presentation of products] who has been working with you,” continued to speak.

“Yes. Go ahead.”

-Rumor has it that all the *DP (Display Presentation) and performances of all the shows you’ve done have been handled by just one VMD.

Oh? His mind started racing. Wasn’t it Nam Gwangmin who had been decorating his shows all along?

The hope that he might be able to give Nam Gwangmin an incredible opportunity to plan and organize a show for Janelle, one of the world’s top brands, began to sprout.

Jaeseung swallowed hard and replied in an incredibly nonchalant tone.

“Yes. That’s right. He’s very talented. The reason I was able to escape the narrow Korean fashion scene was also thanks to his help with my first show.”

Soon.

Chairman Wertheimer, in an infinitely polite tone, brought up the words that Jaeseung had been eagerly waiting for.

-Is it possible to scout him?

* * *

[Janelle, the premium brand led by Karl Lagerfeld and assisted by Lee. Are they dreaming of another special show? The fact that they canceled their participation in Paris Fashion Week has been revealed.]

[Janelle Group Chairman Wertheimer says, “The cancellation of participation in Paris Fashion Week was due to the joining of the VMD who was in charge of Lee’s shows. The venue where Fashion Week is held cannot contain our show…….”]

[Janelle’s behind-the-scenes story? Karl Lagerfeld’s retirement is virtually confirmed, this season may be his last…….]

Everything was proceeding as planned. The Janelle Group and Chairman Wertheimer began to leak positive content about this season through various media outlets, according to the pre-arranged script.

They even secretly spread content related to Karl’s retirement on their own.

“Hoo-”

Jaeseung took a long breath and picked up the Time magazine placed on his desk.

It was to check the content of Chairman Wertheimer’s personal interview that had taken place this time.

Thud-

Q. I have a question I wanted to ask Chairman Wertheimer the most. There are rumors circulating about Karl Lagerfeld’s retirement. I would like to take this opportunity to verify whether it is true.

A. I want to say it’s a rumor. It is true that Karl wants to retire, but the group is desperately trying to postpone Karl’s retirement. Karl is still healthy enough to oversee the design for several years, and in fact, some agreement has been reached. We are not yet confident in building Janelle without Karl Lagerfeld.

Q. Janelle has been in the news for recruiting a dedicated VMD who has been planning and designing Lee’s shows. Can you briefly explain that?

A. First of all, he is the person who planned the flash mob with the theme of ‘Alexander Street’ at the ‘2013 Alexander King’ show, which became a hot topic due to its unconventional performance. He is reluctant to be known himself, so his awareness is lower than other VMDs, but his ability has already been proven. He has already been in charge of shows for famous premium brands and has achieved great success. For example, our competitor ‘Diom,’ etc…….

Q. Last question. There is a lot of speculation that the reason why Janelle’s F/W [Fall/Winter] season release date was brought forward is virtually because of Lee. Can you briefly clarify this part?

A. Half of it is true, and half of it is just a rumor. It is true that the group has taken Lee’s schedule into consideration. This is because Lee is also launching his first challenge to Paris Fashion Week this year. However, this consideration was only possible because we decided to forgo Paris Fashion Week and use a venue where we could use more freely.

Jaeseung smiled amusingly after reviewing the full text of the interview.

He thought that all of the questions would have been difficult to answer, but he managed to get out of them like a slippery loach [a type of fish known for being difficult to catch].

The most interesting part of Chairman Wertheimer’s interviews was the content related to the supporting actor Nam Gwangmin.

Although all of this is also true, it was just content made by weaving together somewhat ambiguous truths.

At least Nam Gwangmin had never directly contracted with brands such as Alexander King or Christian Diom.

Just as Jaeseung lightly tossed the Time magazine he had finished reading onto the desk, the receiver suddenly started ringing.

At the same time as Jaeseung picked up the receiver, he replied, “Yes, go ahead.”

-Lee, the car is ready. If you leave soon, you should arrive around the same time as the VMD’s arrival.

“Yes. I’ll be right down.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Nam Gwangmin was on a flight to France without knowing why.

The timing was perfect. It was only when Nam Gwangmin boarded the plane that the interviews with Chairman Wertheimer and the Janelle Group began to be released one by one.

He could only vaguely interpret it as a consideration to allow him to observe the process of Janelle’s exclusive VMD planning the show from the sidelines.

As soon as Nam Gwangmin arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and came outside with his carrier, Jaeseung, who was standing far away, called his name in an infinitely welcoming tone.

“Gwangmin, over here!”

“Ah, yes. President.”

Soon, a white driver took Nam Gwangmin’s carrier instead. Nam Gwangmin showed a brief moment of embarrassment, but he spoke again, pretending to be nonchalant.

“How have you been?”

“Of course, I’ve been well. Shall we get in first?”

“Ah, yes. I understand.”

As soon as Nam Gwangmin got into the luxury sedan, which cost hundreds of millions of won [hundreds of thousands of US dollars] in Korean currency, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow…….”

From the interior decorated in beige tones, to the spacious interior, to the incredibly comfortable seats.

It was on a completely different level from the vehicles he had ridden in so far.

While Nam Gwangmin was busy looking around the interior of the vehicle with wide eyes.

Jaeseung stared at Nam Gwangmin and subtly brought up the main point.

“Gwangmin, before going to the hotel where you’ll be staying, we’re going to move to the venue where Janelle’s show will be held.”

“Ah, yes. I was expecting it to some extent. I think it will be a really good experience.”

“You were expecting it? Really?”

“Yes. Weren’t you calling me to have me observe the process of Janelle’s exclusive VMD decorating Janelle’s show?”

Jaeseung chuckled at Nam Gwangmin’s question and replied.

“No, I’m not?”

“Then……?”

After a moment of silence.

“Gwangmin is the VMD who will be in charge of Janelle’s show this season. Well, in some ways, the expression ‘observation’ might be correct. It’s like observing the workspace where you’ll be working from tomorrow.”