Black Label [EN]: Chapter 23

Black Label Episode 22

23. There Are Exceptions

– CubaCuba Street Snap (Myeongdong Area / Reporter Park Jung-ho)

– First Street Snap of December 2010, 18-year-old Son Young-guk.

Name: Son Young-guk

Age: 18 years old

Occupation: Student (Class Atmosphere Maker)

* Short Interview!

Q – Nice to meet you! Could you give a brief introduction to the CubaCuba Street Snap subscribers?

A – Nice to meet you! I’m Son Young-guk! My dream is to become a rapper as famous as ‘Kanye West’.

Q – Where were you headed?

A – I came to Myeongdong to buy a Macbook for music production, and I ran into the reporter on my way home after finishing the deal.

Q – Could you introduce the ‘items’ you are wearing?

A – The jacket, black jeans, and t-shirt are all products from the new brand ‘Wall Flower.’ Only the boots I’m wearing were purchased from a vintage shop.

Item Information

Jacket – ‘Wall Flower’ unreleased product.

Pants – ‘Wall Flower’ unreleased product.

T-shirt – ‘Wall Flower’ unreleased product.

Boots – Randomly found at a local vintage shop.

Accessories – Pouch containing the Macbook.

* Reporter’s Description (Reporter Park Jung-ho)

Yesterday, I took this snapshot of 18-year-old Son Young-guk, who had the best outfit among the countless people who passed by the A Land intersection in Myeongdong.

The jacket, black jeans, and even the cotton t-shirt he’s wearing inside are all made by his same-age friend and the owner-designer of the new brand Wall Flower, ‘Lee Jae-seung.’

For your information, the ‘Wall Flower’ clothing worn by the street model will be available for sale from midnight today.

Click the link below to be directed to the ‘Wall Flower’ website. Personally, I wish the new brand ‘Wall Flower’ endless success!

Park Jung-ho, that was all he had written in his post.

It was a post he had revised several times.

And he was now carefully reviewing it again.

Certainly, there were no particular problems with the content of the post.

“Hmm…”

Park Jung-ho, after letting out a brief groan, took out a can of energy drink from the small refrigerator in his six-pyeong [approximately 213 square feet] studio apartment and immediately popped the can open.

Clink-.

He took a sip of the energy drink, which was full of taurine’s unique fishy scent, and slowly began to scroll down with the mouse.

Click-. Click-.

He was convinced that there was a good reason why ‘Lee Min-hyuk,’ the general manager of the CubaCuba store and a senior from his university, had called him from early in the morning.

What could be the problem that made him call? Not long after he started to worry, he noticed one peculiarity.

‘Come to think of it, there are quite a few comments?’

In the case of an average street snap post, about sixty comments were usually posted based on ten thousand views.

But the street snap post posted today had more than fifty comments, even though the number of views was only about three thousand.

Soon.

Comments written directly by CubaCuba members began to appear on the monitor screen. Park Jung-ho brought his face close to the monitor and began to carefully examine the contents of the comments one by one with a serious expression.

Raf-simons22: The jacket and black jeans are awesome. It would be nice to have price information too.

Fmonster: I checked the Wall Flower website, and the jacket is 120,000 won [approximately $90 USD], and the pants are 80,000 won [approximately $60 USD]. I think the price is quite reasonable?

Click-.

I scrolled down a little further.

Cubawang: It’s not an official online shopping mall, but a blog market. It seems like the initial production volume won’t be that large, so if you don’t order right away, you’ll have to wait a long time.

Beyond: Hmm? Is CubaCuba promoting it this much? Is it an acquaintance’s brand? Anyway, the clothes are pretty good. I’m also participating in the purchase competition!

Soon, the speed of scrolling began to pick up more and more. A strange smile appeared on Park Jung-ho’s face.

‘Look at this?’

Click. Click. Click-.

Not long after looking at the comments, he was able to understand why Lee Min-hyuk, the general manager of the ‘CubaCuba Store,’ had been calling him so often from early in the morning.

Thums-up: Wow. So, is the owner-designer 18 years old?

LoveGIvency: The jacket’s curve finish is amazing. Good details.

Veryvery2010: By the way, this snap model looks very old for his age. That face and that physique are 18 years old? Please be mindful of your words. Don’t get hate every time it comes.

Son-young-gook99: Hey, you up there. Your words are too harsh. I think he looks pretty handsome?

There were some miscellaneous comments mixed in, but most of them praised the quality of the product and expressed interest in purchasing. Only then did the puzzles floating in his head seem to fit together one by one.

‘I knew it….’

There was one case that suddenly came to mind. It was a very rare probability, but if the clothes pre-released through the street snap shot elicited this kind of response, it was not entirely impossible.

Soon, Park Jung-ho smiled faintly and began to call Lee Min-hyuk, the general manager of the CubaCuba store and a senior from his university.

“Hyung [an honorific term for older brother or male senior], are you trying to get Wall Flower to enter the store?”

* * *

At that time, Jae-seung was busy preparing to start selling his first self-produced clothing.

‘It’s so hectic.’

The goods arrived late from the factory that was in charge of the initial production volume, so he had just finished sorting them by size.

Because the capital was quite tight, the initial quantity was not very large.

The pants and jackets were fixed in only three sizes, ‘S’/‘M’/‘L,’ and he had only stocked 10 pieces for each size.

It was burdensome to keep inventory, but in fact, it was the amount he had ordered by spending all the money he had.

‘It would be nice if I could prepare more, but I can’t help it.’

It wasn’t a very clear solution, but he was planning to solve the problem by placing an additional order with the production factory as soon as he received payment for the initial sales volume.

If it was a factory that had worked with him several times, they would have been able to start production without receiving a deposit, but it was clear that it would be difficult right now, so there was no other way.

Soon, just as Jae-seung was about to sit in front of the computer to write the sales-related posts in advance.

Beeeeeeep-!

The cell phone he had placed on his desk began to vibrate fiercely. Soon, Jae-seung checked the caller and frowned slightly.

‘Hmm? It’s a number I don’t know?’

“Hello?”

As soon as Jae-seung answered the phone, a mid-bass voice was heard from the other side of the receiver. Moreover, it was very polite.

– Are you Lee Jae-seung?

“Yes. Who is this?”

When Jae-seung asked back as if he was wondering, the mysterious person on the other side of the receiver continued to speak quite fluently.

– I’m calling to introduce myself for the first time over the phone. I’m Lee Min-hyuk, the general manager of the select shop that is run independently by the fashion webzine CubaCuba, CubaCuba Store.

“Yes? CubaCuba Store…?”

CubaCuba Store

Jae-seung was also familiar with the select shop. It was an on/offline ‘multi-brand store’ run by the fashion webzine CubaCuba, a kind of ‘brokerage’ that mediates clothes from various brands.

It was operated in the form of receiving a certain consignment sales commission from the brands that entered the store, and in return, stocking the products in on/offline stores and proceeding with sales.

‘Why on earth from CubaCuba Store….’

As it had a considerable ripple effect, it was a place where entry was possible only after going through a fairly strict screening process.

There was no contact point that came to mind right away, and it was not a place that would contact a new brand that had not even been properly launched yet.

“Ah, yes. But what’s going on…?”

As soon as Jae-seung asked the question, the sound of clearing his throat was heard several times from the other side of the receiver, “Ahem, ahem.”

Soon.

– Actually, I’m calling to ask if you are willing to have ‘Wall Flower’ products enter the CubaCuba Store.

“Yes? W, wait… Entry?”

I wondered if I had misheard. Not only did the CubaCuba Store suddenly contact me, but suddenly an entry proposal. It felt like at least tens of thousands of question marks were floating above my head.

– Did you take a street snap yesterday? The photo was posted this morning, have you checked it?

Soon, Jae-seung exclaimed, “Ah!”

He had not been able to check it because he was preparing to sell his own clothes, which would be released from midnight today.

First of all, it seemed that the street snap shot taken yesterday had become the point of contact between the ‘CubaCuba Store’ and himself.

Jae-seung, who had been lost in thought for a while, quickly regained his composure and replied.

“No, I haven’t checked it yet.”

– I’ll get straight to the point.

The person on the other side of the receiver paused for a moment. The general manager of the CubaCuba Store began to speak again.

– The response is very good. There has never been a precedent for releasing a product with a street snap before launching, like Jae-seung’s Wall Flower… But the response is really good.

Jae-seung, who was listening silently to the explanation, frowned slightly and began to ask carefully.

“So, are you going to let our brand enter the CubaCuba Store just because the response is good? I know that entry is possible only after going through a fairly strict screening process….”

It is not just an ordinary webzine, but a store run by ‘CubaCuba,’ which is one of the top three fashion webzines in Korea. As it has a considerable influence, it is a place where entry is possible only after going through a fairly strict screening process.

At least, I didn’t think it was a place where they would allow entry simply because the response was good.

Soon.

– Yes. As Jae-seung knows, the entry screening process is usually quite strict. First, we check whether there is an independent delivery system, and whether the after-sales refund procedure and *CS (*Customer Service: service to customers) personnel and manuals are properly equipped. In addition, *MD (*Merchandiser: a person who can professionally plan products) personnel who can handle import-related issues on their own are usually carefully screened before importing.

After listening to the detailed explanation, the question seemed to be even more doubled. Wall Flower, which can be said to be a one-person business, can never be a place to enter.

“You know that our Wall Flower is selling in the form of a blog market, right?”

– Yes, I checked.

“I’ll get straight to the point too. It’s a one-person business with no CS staff or MD staff. In the first place, I didn’t have the capital to buy a domain, so I’m selling it in the form of a blog market. But why…?”

Just as Jae-seung was asking the question in an infinitely cautious tone.

From the other side of the receiver, an answer full of confidence was heard.

– The procedure I mentioned earlier is only a general procedure. There are exceptions. A very rare exception where all these procedures are omitted.

“Yes? What kind of…?”

– It’s simple. If the clothes are exceptionally good, we at CubaCuba ignore all of the above procedures. Of course, there are some conditions attached.