Black Label [EN]: Chapter 174

174. In the Pain of Loss

Jaesung smirked and picked up his smartphone.

The number of designers who responded to his text message totaled eight.

Considering that this was the peak season preparation period, he thought the number might increase by a few more in just a few hours.

For now, the eight designers who had replied were all worthy of being called ‘star designers’.

But, well? He was convinced that those who would join this project should be selected with the utmost care.

Although he had promised a huge compensation from Chairman Bertheimer of the Janel Group to all participating designers, their primary motivation shouldn’t be money.

Then what should be the driving force? It was very simple.

The pure respect for one designer, Karl Lagerfeld, or rather, for one great man, should be the main driving force.

If it was a simple project that ended quickly, it would be different, but once it started, it was a large-scale project that would have to be carefully carried out for about ten seasons, wasn’t it?

It had to be someone who could readily offer their designs in honor of Karl Lagerfeld.

It had to be someone who could do their best to protect his reputation, even if they became weary as time went on.

And it had to be someone who could firmly maintain secrets for him.

In some ways, it was simple, but from another perspective, it was an infinitely difficult condition.

“Hmm….”

First, he began to record the names of the eight designers who had replied, one by one.

Then, he began to cross out the names of those who had sent somewhat ambiguous replies.

For example, those who sent ambiguous replies such as “What’s going on?”, “Why?”, or “Did something happen to Janel?”.

Then how should they have replied to avoid having their names crossed out and survive?

This was also simple. He kept all the names of those who immediately revealed that they were Lagerfeld Children [designers deeply influenced and mentored by Lagerfeld].

But there were only two of them.

-Lee, I don’t know what’s going on, but… if Lagerfeld needs someone else’s help, it seems that Janel House is not in a very good situation. I don’t know what kind of help I can give, but if you need help, please tell me anytime. I’m also a Lagerfeld Child.

-Did something happen to Karl Lagerfeld? If he asks for help, I’m willing to step up at any time. I’m dying to know, but I’m in an important meeting. I would appreciate it if you could call me in the evening.

The two designers who sent satisfactory replies had one thing in common.

Both of them had won the New Designer of the Year Award and had met at the 2014 ‘CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America)’ Fashion Awards.

One was the female designer ‘Vivian Ronda’, who had won the trophy in the haute couture category, beating him, and the other was ‘Tom Brownie’, who had won the Men’s Designer of the Year Award at the time.

First of all, both of them were more than qualified when considering their design, position, and reputation.

Of course, whether to use them would be decided after several verifications.

Moreover, he had a feeling that Vivian Ronda would be quite reliable when she became an ally.

Wasn’t she a designer who started to gain fame based on the field of haute couture in the first place?

It was clear that she could effectively supplement Janel’s haute couture, which would be weakened by Karl Lagerfeld’s vacancy.

Jaesung nodded his head in satisfaction and picked up the receiver on his office desk.

Beep, beep, beep. After a short while, a repetitive signal sound flowed out. Before a few seconds had passed, a clear voice was heard from beyond the receiver.

-Lee, good morning. I heard you’re back. I also heard that you successfully completed the lookbook shoot for Lee’s brand, Wall Flower.

“Thank you, Lisa. Actually, there are a few things I need to ask you personally.”

-Anything. Would you like to tell me?

Lisa was the executive secretary who had been in charge of handling tasks that he couldn’t handle himself after he set foot in Janel House.

Perhaps because she had gained experience in various parts of the group as soon as she finished her internship at the Janel Group headquarters, she had smoothly handled all the tasks she had given her so far.

In short, she was a competent subordinate employee who could be trusted with any task.

“Vivian Ronda and Tom Brownie. I’d like you to look through the data related to the two of them. Starting with their debut interview, all the way to the interview they did the day before yesterday. Would that be difficult?”

-Hmm, it will take quite a while, but it’s not a difficult task. I’ll organize it and report it to you by tomorrow morning. Actually, I was worried that you would ask me to have a famous chef’s restaurant menu delivered to your office, or to get a film of an unreleased movie.

“Oh my god, there was a director who asked for such a thing……?”

“Watching movies that haven’t been released yet was one of the boss’s only hobbies.”

Jaesung smiled. He immediately understood who Lisa was referring to when she said ‘boss’.

Just as Jaesung muttered, “Anyway, he’s like a nasty old man…….” in a tone full of laughter.

Lisa on the other end of the receiver began to ask various questions again in a polite tone.

-You’re talking about American designers Vivian Ronda and Tom Brownie, right? What points should I focus on?

“I’d like you to see if the two of them have ever talked about ‘Karl Lagerfeld’ at official events such as interviews or conferences, or even in personal spaces including personal SNS if possible. If there is, please summarize what the content was and pass it on to me.”

-Lee, I think it would be a little easier if you could clarify the ‘purpose’ of the data you want to collect. If you’re going to use it as a weapon, it may take a little longer.

“No. I’m going to use it to verify whether I can trust them as reliable allies. Any remarks that defend Karl Lagerfeld, remarks that express respect for him, or other good stories are fine. If there are any, negative remarks are also fine.”

It was a simple verification that he had decided to go through before meeting them in person and having a sincere conversation.

Although it couldn’t be an absolute source, it was clear that it would be of some help.

* * *

Several more days passed, and good and bad things happened at the same time.

First of all, the good news was that articles and posts related to Wall Flower’s 2015 F/W [Fall/Winter] season lookbook shoot had almost dominated all print media and internet communities.

There was also some negative public opinion.

For example, “Empty wagons make the most noise,” “You should consider what you really need to pay attention to. At least it won’t be the lookbook concept,” or “It’s just noise marketing to calm the anxiety within the brand”…….

It was not difficult to find negative reactions that could only make you frown slightly.

Nevertheless, the reason why he couldn’t care less was quite simple. There were far more positive reviews.

[Innovative Performance, Lee and Wall Flower Take the First Step to Conquer Paris Fashion Week.]

[The Evolution of Fashion According to the Development of Mankind. About the Wall Flower 2015 F/W Season Lookbook Shoot Held in Zero Gravity Space.]

[12 Famous Columnists Pick the BEST 5 “Most Unique Lookbooks in Fashion History”.]

[Is the lookbook pre-release an implication of Wall Flower’s move? Intensive exploration of Lee, who will bring a new wave to the solidified Paris fashion world, and the history of Wall Flower, which was a small brand in the East.]

[Analysis of the 2015 F/W season design line through the Wall Flower lookbook trailer video]

As soon as the cookie [behind-the-scenes footage] and trailer videos were released as planned, there was an explosive reaction as if they had poured gasoline on a burning bonfire.

First of all, the number of views of the trailer video posted on Wall Flower’s official YouTube channel had already exceeded several million.

According to the person in charge of the strategy and planning team, this was the same rate at which the number of views was increasing as music video videos of famous singer-songwriters and artists who had successfully entered the Billboard charts.

Moreover, Wall Flower was frequently ranked number one in real-time searches on domestic portal sites.

Director Song was so excited that this season was already on a successful track.

Jaesung was also somewhat in agreement, although he tried to refrain from showing his joy as much as possible.

Then what was the bad news? The fact that Karl’s health was noticeably deteriorating.

The time he regained consciousness was gradually shortening, and accordingly, the time he was in a coma was getting longer and longer.

The doctor in charge also told Chairman Bertheimer and Karl’s few family members to start preparing themselves.

From the body that had been on the verge of breaking down due to not getting proper rest, the lungs that had been abused by thick cigars, to the eyesight that was deteriorating due to the tumor.

The doctor in charge said that, apart from this suicide attempt, the state of his old and frail body, which had been exhausted from overwork, was a complete mess.

He even asked Chairman Bertheimer a self-deprecating question, ‘Is this the only way to reach the top in an industry, by overworking your body like this?’

It had already reached a much more serious level than expected.

“Lee, does the afterlife really exist……?”

Around midnight, Karl Lagerfeld, who had barely regained his mind, asked in a low voice.

Jaesung, who sat down next to him and was redrawing his diagram, replied in an indifferent tone.

“You seem to be overly emotional today.”

“If you ever face death…….”

“Wouldn’t it exist?”

“Will I be able to see again there?”

“Probably.”

Karl smiled at Jaesung’s answer, which he gave in a barely audible voice, and continued.

“Will there be pens and notebooks? Will I be able to design there too? If you take design out of my life, there’s nothing left, so will I be a needed being there too?”

“Karl.”

“Damn it. I’m ashamed, but I’m really scared. If I had known that death was so futile…….”

Karl Lagerfeld, who had trailed off, turned his head slightly to the other side of the pillow and added.

“I would have lived more fiercely, more recklessly.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“For your information, the project is going well.”

He was planning to meet with ‘Vivian Ronda’ and ‘Tom Brownie’, who had expressed their intention to join the project this week, and make a deal.

Jaesung began to explain this and that. It was an explanation about the fact that Vivian Ronda, Tom Brownie, and himself would cover up your death for the next few years.

He exaggerated a little. In fact, there were a few more Lagerfeld Children, and there was a possibility that more would join. Karl Lagerfeld liked that like a child.

“It wasn’t a bad life after all.”

Jaesung nodded his head at Karl Lagerfeld’s difficult words and replied in a low voice.

“That’s right.”

When he looked to see why there was no answer, he realized that Karl had lost consciousness again and collapsed.

Jaesung stared at his face intently for a while, then began to redraw the diagram.

* * *

Parting is never familiar. The cells themselves may have a shape that cannot be familiar.

I once thought. People grow in the face of parting, in the pain of loss that parting leaves behind.

I also thought. But I don’t want to grow anymore with the pain of parting as growing pains.

The next morning, Jaesung put on a white chrysanthemum-shaped boutonniere in the ‘Flower Hall (buttonhole in the lapel of a suit where a boutonniere is inserted)’ of his black suit and headed to work.

As soon as he got into the sedan car waiting in front of the hotel, he covered his face and sobbed quietly.

“Heuh…… Heuk…….”

This morning at dawn, Karl passed away.

Was it because there was no obituary? The world was too quiet.

It was an expected death, so I thought I could accept it rationally.

But is it similar to the fact that pain is not greatly reduced even if you know you will experience it in a few seconds?

I couldn’t help but be immersed in a sadness that felt like someone was squeezing my heart.

After sobbing for a while, Jaesung took out his cell phone and started calling someone.

-Hello?

“…….”

-Jaesung. Hello?

The person Jaesung called was none other than England.

Jaesung, with his eyes red, began to speak with difficulty and slowly.

“There’s something I want to commission.”

-Huh? What suddenly……?

“I want you to write a song.”

-A song? What kind of song?

He was a person I wanted to be like so much, but I didn’t want to be like the end he directly witnessed.

I was so sad that the death of someone who had devoted his life to the public was so secretive. A life where you have to consider business even in the face of death seemed so sad.

I wanted to leave a final gift before a long, long memorial.

“A memorial song.”

If I had known this would happen, I would have exaggerated more yesterday.

I should have told him that it was being prepared in an incredibly plausible and wonderful way, that all the designers in the world respected him.

I should have told him not to worry and made sure to tell him. You will remain a legend, and I am so envious of you.

Meetings and partings.

As usual, they come without warning.

That’s why it’s even more unfair and unfair.