Black Label [EN]: Chapter 216

216. VS Imitation (3)

No sooner had I arrived in Korea than I was whisked away in a waiting car to a hotel in Cheongdam-dong, a rather upscale district in Seoul.

A spacious room overlooking the Seoul skyline was where Ashlyn would be staying for the time being.

“You’ll have to stay here for a while.”

“Sounds great! But for how long?”

“A week if it’s short, maybe a month if it’s long?”

After helping her unpack, we had a simple meal together at the hotel restaurant.

And then?

As much as I wanted to collapse on the soft mattress after the long flight…

I had to drive straight to Ilsan, where the office was located.

The moment I truly realized my sweet vacation was over was when I stepped into the lobby on the first floor of the office building.

Soon.

The moment Jaeseung stepped into the office after a long absence, Director Song spotted him near the entrance and shouted at the top of her lungs in a voice that echoed through the room.

“Alright, everyone, stand up! Applause!”

As if they had been waiting for it, all the employees who had been engrossed in their work rose from their seats and began to applaud.

Jaeseung waved his hand in front of his face, feigning embarrassment, and said softly, “Thank you all. It’s okay now, please get back to what you were doing….”

But it seemed he was quite pleased with the grand welcome, as his face was flushed red.

Director Song, who was standing right next to him, watching Jaeseung with a satisfied expression, whispered softly.

“Honey, shall we go to the president’s office and talk first?”

“Yes, we should.”

There were clearly a mountain of things to discuss and reports to receive.

Sure enough, the moment he stepped into the president’s office, he couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh, “Oh, geez….”

There were far more documents waiting for approval than he had anticipated.

So many that they couldn’t all fit on the desk and were piled up on the floor nearby.

“How is it? Just looking at it makes you feel full, right?”

“I don’t know about that.”

“How lukewarm.”

Director Song, who had given a short answer, carefully asked while fiddling with a water glass.

“Honey, why don’t you tell me about ‘that story’ first?”

“That story?”

“Are you going to keep pretending you don’t know? I’m talking about the wedding.”

Jaeseung began to explain the whole story in a nonchalant tone.

Director Song, adding interjections from time to time, listened to Jaeseung’s story with sparkling eyes, as if she were a high school girl listening to her teacher’s love life.

“So, you’ll be staying in Korea for the time being? What about the house? Are you looking into it separately?”

“Yes. I think I’ll have to stay in Korea until the Wallflower Paris branch is fully established. I’ve commissioned someone to find a house, so I think I’ll have one soon.”

“Then what about the ceremony? Will the schedule be even tighter?”

“I plan to finish this season well first and then hold it around the beginning of next year.”

Director Song nodded once and said with a sly smile.

“Well, still waters run deep….”

“What about you, Director?”

“Me? What about me?”

“Don’t you have any thoughts about marriage?”

Director Song frowned and retorted.

“Tell me that after you give me time to date.”

“I’ll try.”

“No, I’m comfortable alone.”

Come to think of it, Director Song had been a staunch advocate of being single since her previous life.

Among the primates on Earth, only humans have habits similar to ‘marriage,’ or so she said….

Then Director Song muttered, “Oh, right,” and continued softly.

“First, we need to talk about this season’s sales. Just looking at the sales, we’re far superior to other well-established premium brands. If we do well, we might be able to enter the top 10 in the French brand influence ranking?”

“That’s better than expected? Is it that good?”

The influence ranking is not a simple ranking calculated solely through sales.

It is a ranking with a certain degree of accuracy, calculated by considering various conditions and variables, from preference and purchase rate to repurchase intention, through systematic research targeting not only the general public but also industry experts.

If Wallflower succeeds in entering the top 10 in the French brand influence ranking as Director Song said?

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Wallflower has firmly established itself as a premium brand.

Director Song shrugged her shoulders and continued boastfully.

“Don’t even mention it. We can’t ship enough products because we don’t have enough production. The order volume for street line products is also increasing. We’ll be adding three more factories next month. We’ll probably be adding six or so more offline stores in the next two or three months.”

Director Song fiddled with the documents on the desk and continued.

“And what are you going to do about the ‘interviews’? I’ve put them all on hold as you instructed, but it’s no joke. While you were having a leisurely time in the Mediterranean, I was glued to the phone? I almost got a burn on my cheek.”

“I’ll handle them one by one in order of the most well-known magazines. I think it’s better to handle the foreign press first. By the way, how is the watch line going?”

“It’s going very smoothly. Swiss meisters [master craftsmen] and Dongdaemun meisters [referring to skilled artisans from the Dongdaemun fashion district in Seoul] are working together to produce them. From what I hear, both sides seem satisfied. It seems like we’ll be able to introduce it without much trouble around the beginning of next year.”

I thought I should also take a look at the progress of the watch line. Director Song, who had been chattering away, snapped her fingers and asked with a puzzled look.

“By the way, why did you tell me to collect our brand’s imitation products?”

“I want to take a look at them first. Where are the products?”

“I stashed them in the warehouse. To exaggerate a little, it’s a little over a truckload.”

“There aren’t many, but there are a lot of them.”

“Let’s take it as a sign that this season was successful.”

Director Song tilted her head slightly and asked again.

“So, what’s the reason for collecting them all?”

“First, let’s gather all the design team employees and have a meeting.”

Director Song, who had asked back with “Right now?”, stood up without giving me a chance to answer and said.

“Then, let’s gather in the conference room within 10 minutes….”

“No, it would be better to gather in the warehouse.”

“In the warehouse?”

Jaeseung smiled and nodded.

Today’s meeting topic was related to the ‘imitations’ that were being produced in droves.

* * *

Inside the warehouse, dozens of design team employees were standing in rows.

Jaeseung was standing in front of those design team employees.

“It’s been a while, everyone. First, let me tell you the purpose. Today, we will stop all work and look at the imitation products that are circulating in the market.”

At Jaeseung’s words, Lee Sang-yoon, the design team employee who created the ‘muscle fit & super skinny fit’ diagram, carefully raised his hand and asked softly.

“Are we supposed to find designs that are likely to infringe on patent rights?”

Other employees seemed to be making the same guess.

Well, if not for this reason, why would we bother looking at imitation products?

However.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Jaeseung’s purpose was completely different.

“No. The products we need to filter out are very simple. The first criterion is ‘imitation products that are really well copied.’ Imitation products of such excellent quality that it’s hard for us to tell the difference.”

After finishing speaking, Jaeseung glanced over the employees and added.

“The second criterion is to find ‘imitation products with ingenious designs.’ Imitation products that have designs that were not in our product lineup, but were plausibly created and then had our logo stolen and entered.”

The latter is also a product that can be easily found.

For example, you can take the silver plate cap of ‘Dolce & Gabbana’.

It is a product with a silver plate with a logo inserted on a hat made of cloth material, which was once very popular….

Dolce & Gabbana has never released such a product.

In other words, it is a design close to a ‘secondary creation’ created by the imitation maker.

Director Song narrowed her brows slightly and asked again, as if she were just wondering.

“Okay. I know what kind of work you’re trying to do, but what is the purpose of finding and classifying such imitation products?”

“It’s simple. We will find the creator who made the first criterion, ‘really well-imitated imitation,’ and recruit them into the Meister line.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“If they made it so plausible that we can’t even tell the difference, that means they’re proven to be skilled, right?”

“That’s true, but….”

Director Song hesitated for a moment and tilted her head again and asked.

“Wait a minute. Then what is the purpose of selecting the second criterion, ‘imitation products with ingenious designs’? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of finding and recruiting the creator of that too?”

“Yes. I’m thinking of recruiting them as design team employees if they meet the criteria after looking at them with a slightly stricter standard. Of course, there is another purpose as well.”

“Another purpose? What is it?”

Jaeseung shrugged his shoulders and answered in a nonchalant tone.

“We’re going to copy the ingenious designs of the imitations again. Using the highest quality fabrics and the highest quality subsidiary materials [additional components like buttons, zippers, etc.]. To impress upon the public and imitation makers that the Wallflower brand is not a brand that anyone can easily imitate.”

“C, copy the imitation again…?”

“Yes. They were the ones who infringed on the copyright first, so they won’t have anything to say, right? We’ll put the creator who made a really good design on the recruitment list.”

A heavy silence fell in the room. Most brands despise and despise imitation makers.

At least, it was clear that an owner designer with an attitude of paying attention and looking at them with a friendly eye, like Jaeseung, could not be found even if the entire industry was searched.

Everyone was standing there with blank faces when Jaeseung clapped his hands and shouted in a loud voice.

“Okay, let’s take a closer look.”

The entire design team opened the stacked boxes one by one and began to carefully examine the imitation products that were neatly folded inside.

Material, appearance, silhouette, lining, and even minor subsidiary materials….

Jaeseung was the same. He rolled up his sleeves and was busy looking for imitation products with sparkling eyes.

Director Song shook her head a few times and let out a hollow laugh.

For a moment, I thought he was preparing for a major lawsuit. I never thought he would succeed in coming up with such a crazy but efficient idea again….

“Anyway, he’s amazing.”

Director Song, who muttered softly, stepped out of the warehouse.

Wasn’t it an idea that could have a positive impact on brand image making if used well?

I thought it was necessary to think about how to package this project well and spread it around.