Seoul Fashion Week (1)
Late one morning, the arrival of an unfamiliar woman in the Haesol Textile office caused a small stir.
With her sleek, near-blonde hair and a neat, sharply tailored suit, she drew every employee’s gaze the moment she stepped inside.
“Hello. Is President Jung Seung-hyun here by any chance?”
She asked first, but the answer she got was unexpected.
“The president isn’t in the company right now...”
Lee A-young added with an awkward smile.
“He said he had an outside meeting this morning, so he left early.”
“Ah... I see.”
For a moment, Yu Se-rin looked deflated, but she was skilled at keeping her expression under control and quickly collected herself.
“Then would it be possible to make an appointment with him?”
“Just a moment. I’ll check.”
Leaving Yu Se-rin waiting, Lee A-young stepped aside and called the young president.
When he answered right away, she explained that the head of Roche Bobois had come by, and Seung-hyun’s guarded voice came through the line.
“Since I’m still tied up with outside meetings, could you tell her it’s difficult to arrange a meeting? We’re busy enough as it is, and this is nothing we can sign on the spot. We can’t waste time satisfying other people’s curiosity.”
“Understood.”
After hanging up, Lee A-young returned to her seat and said with an apologetic expression, “I’m sorry, but our president says he has back-to-back outside meetings, so it’ll be hard to arrange an appointment for the time being.”
A vein stood out on Yu Se-rin’s forehead.
Since entering the furniture and interior design industry, this was the first time she had ever been turned away without even seeing the company president’s face.
The other party’s attitude, as if they had no intention of meeting her at all, was so brazen that she almost wanted to ask whether they even knew what kind of company Roche Bobois was.
Suppressing her rising irritation and forcing her expression to remain composed, she asked, “I suppose there’s nothing to be done. Then do you have a sample of GyeolBit art fabric I could see? I’d like to look at it briefly, even if only for a moment. If we’re going to discuss anything at all, I need to see it first.”
Lee A-young hesitated, then checked with the factory manager.
Soon after, Manager Park gave his approval, saying it should be fine to show her a little.
The detailed materials for a large-scale deal were confidential, but there would still be sample fabric or trial products from test production to look at.
“Would you come this way? A lot of things haven’t been officially developed yet, so we don’t have a separate exhibition space.”
Lee A-young led her into the inner workshop.
Yu Se-rin quickly scanned the room and murmured under her breath, “It’s surprisingly tidy.”
For a company she had heard was only a mid-sized business, it felt as though things were organized to a certain degree.
On the steel shelves, pieces of GyeolBit art fabric cut to the size of A4 paper and various simple samples were neatly arranged.
As she turned her gaze, it snagged on bundles of fabric stacked on one side of the shelf.
From prototype pieces with a distinctive ink-wash bleed to samples where brushstrokes remained bold and vivid, the range was striking.
Yu Se-rin brushed one with her fingertips.
...He made this?
The young man who had come to the Roche Bobois showroom once, looked at the art fabric, and left again.
Her curiosity about him only kept growing.
She had seen this fabric once before at Dae-ryung Trading’s showroom as well, but seeing it up close like this, she could feel an unexpectedly artistic, elusive touch in it.
The pattern seemed to bloom as naturally as ink spreading through water, while the fabric itself held a reassuring firmness beneath it.
The idea that such a strong sense of ink-wash aesthetics could be carried beyond simple fabric and into furniture covers or cushions made admiration rise in her chest.
“It’s truly... beautiful.”
Lee A-young stood at a careful distance behind her, watching nervously in case she damaged something by touching it.
Yu Se-rin picked through a few other samples and jotted brief notes in her notebook.
Then she turned back with a practiced smile.
“When do you think the president might return?”
“Mm... I’m afraid I can’t really say. He’s got so many different commitments. If you leave your contact information, I’ll let you know as soon as he comes in.”
“All right. I’ll leave my business card as well.”
She soon took a gray leather case from her bag and handed over a card.
Even the business card was not the ordinary paper kind seen at most small companies, but a plastic one with a classic, elegant design.
Lee A-young accepted it carefully and immediately sensed that the woman standing before her was no ordinary person.
Yu Se-rin gave the shelves one last, lingering look, her expression still full of regret.
Not exclusive, but busy? Then they’re not only contracted to Dae-ryung Trading.
That confirmed that what Chief Choi from Dae-ryung Trading had said about it not being an exclusive contract was true, so Roche Bobois still had hope.
The real question was whether Haesol Textile had the capacity to take on new orders.
“...Still, there may be a connection after all.”
Yu Se-rin murmured softly and walked out of the office.
Lee A-young saw her off politely, but there was a faint emptiness in the set of her shoulders.
At the same time, in Hanil Global’s headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul, Jung Seung-hyun was guided to the VIP reception room in the main building to meet Kim I-su, the managing director he had met a few times before.
From the building entrance onward, employees were moving briskly about, driving home once again just how large a company this was.
“President Jung, it’s been a while.”
Managing Director Kim I-su opened the door himself and greeted him warmly.
Two company staff members were seated in the reception room, where tea and documents had already been laid out.
“Hello, Managing Director. Thank you for inviting me.”
As soon as Seung-hyun sat down, Kim I-su got straight to the point.
“The report on Haesol Textile and our production of Aero Coolbreeze fabric that we discussed last time has been approved upstairs. A fortunate development, I’d say.”
“I think so too.”
“Ha-ha, in that case, since we’re officially moving into full collaboration, we’ll need to draft a contract... How are things at your company these days? I heard you were urgently looking for top-grade yarn. Did that situation get resolved?”
“Ah, yes. That’s been settled, and the machines are running hard now.”
“Is that so? I’m glad to hear it. If the company we’re partnering with is unstable, that naturally becomes a concern for us as well.”
“To be honest, the issue is that we may end up needing to produce more fabric than we expected. With the fabric we’re developing with Hanil Global... I’m not sure we’ll be able to keep pace.”
Kim I-su’s eyes widened.
“Has the company really grown that much?”
“Ha-ha, we actually made one furniture fabric, and the response was better than expected. We’ve even ordered more equipment because there may be additional contracts coming in.”
“You ordered more equipment because business is that good?”
Kim I-su, who had heard that Haesol Textile had nearly fifty employees, felt that the young president’s abilities were even better than he had imagined.
“Yes, we got lucky. At any rate, the factory is running without a break right now, and once the equipment we ordered arrives, our speed will be unrecognizable compared to now. Then I think producing Aero Coolbreeze fabric for Hanil Global should be possible, even if it’s a bit tight...”
“Then we were a little late. We rushed the report and it took time to make its way up. First, we need to do our own investigation into whether Haesol Textile’s current equipment can handle Aero Coolbreeze. If you’re short on anything, we could also arrange a low-interest loan to help you acquire the equipment.”
“How much capital would be needed?”
“I doubt it would exceed 1 billion won, even at most. It’ll depend on how much equipment Haesol Textile already has...”
“We should have most of what we need. It’ll probably just take a few key machines to be added.”
At Seung-hyun’s confidence, Kim I-su smiled faintly.
“Good. Very good. If we can shorten the time required by placing additional equipment orders, that works in our favor. So today I brought the contract details more concretely. Hanil Global will support additional equipment investment and the transfer of some core new technology.”
The document Kim I-su handed over read, “Aero Coolbreeze Process Collaboration Agreement.”
The main point was that Hanil Global would cover part of the cost to establish automation equipment and an air-layer weaving system at Haesol Textile, and in return Haesol Textile would develop the newly created functional fabric as a joint patent or a joint brand with Hanil Global.
Could the technology Hanil Global provides give me a new inspiration for Father’s double-weave air-layer structure?
The purpose of the collaboration with Hanil Global was ultimately to develop Dualtex, Haesol Textile’s own weapon.
If he simply borrowed Hanil Global’s technology, it would not be a fabric wholly Haesol’s own, so he had to use what they gave him to create something entirely different.
Could it really be done?
Seung-hyun couldn’t say for certain, but he still decided to try.
“...Let me take a closer look.”
“Of course. Read it carefully. I’ll explain the details as we go.”
With an enthusiastic voice, Kim I-su walked him through the terms of the contract.
Once the equipment was automated, Haesol Textile would be able to mass-produce Aero Coolbreeze fabric, and at the same time they would be able to develop new materials for the sports and leisure line Hanil Global wanted, all at greater speed.
At a glance, everything looked favorable.
Seung-hyun tapped a section of the contract.
“First, I think the equipment investment support is good, but because of that, it feels like you might be taking an excessive share of the fabric’s profits. I think the cost of the equipment investment should be recouped by deducting Haesol Textile’s share from the future fabric profits, with the profit split set at 50:50. Of course, if you consider that unreasonable, we’ll handle the equipment investment separately on our side.”
“Ha-ha, so you’d like to hold to a 50:50 profit split.”
“Yes. Even at 50 percent, there isn’t all that much left over, to be honest.”
That was only because GyeolBit art fabric was pulling in huge value from the high-end market.
Compared to art fabric, Aero Coolbreeze plainly involved a lot of labor for not much profit.
All the more reason to focus on using Aero Coolbreeze to gain the technology needed to develop a new fabric.
“Hmm... I understand. Let’s do it that way. Anything else that needs fixing?”
“No.”
“Good. Then I’ll revise the contract and send it over as an electronic agreement.”
“Thank you.”
“And one more thing: for now, the first goal is to present sample fabric at the Seoul Fashion Week trade show next month.”
The Seoul Fashion Week trade show was an event meant to promote domestic brands to overseas buyers.
By presenting Aero Coolbreeze there, Hanil Global clearly intended to declare war on Taesung Apparel in advance of the coming spring-summer season and seize the initiative.
“I see.”
It made sense, so Seung-hyun nodded.
He had simply assumed they were asking him to prepare a sample by then.
But Kim I-su wasn’t finished.
“At that time, President Jung, you’ll need to participate as well.”
“Are you saying you’ll provide us with a separate booth?”
“The booth will be under Hanil Global. If you look at the contract, the fabric is being created through collaboration between Hanil Global and Haesol Textile, but the primary exposure will be under Hanil Global’s name.”
“Ah... but then?”
It was a question of why he had to participate if they weren’t even giving him a booth.
“Traditionally, Hanil Global holds a gathering once a year not only with our own affiliates but also with the presidents of our partner companies. There, we strengthen our resolve as Hanil Global’s collaborators and create a place of unity so everyone can succeed together.”
Back then, he probably would have thought such a gathering was a great opportunity.
But now, all he could feel was that it was like a noble house called Hanil Global gathering its knightly vassal houses.
In plain terms, it sounded like they just wanted someone to fill seats and make their chairman look impressive.
“I’m not sure. That seems a little... It wasn’t included in the contract, was it?”
Kim I-su looked taken aback.
Normally, when he made this kind of proposal, people welcomed it gladly.
Still, he quickly composed himself and said, “It’ll be a good opportunity. The Seoul Fashion Week will have buyers from overseas attending, all looking to see a variety of products.”
If they were in the middle of producing apparel fabric, he might have been interested, but Haesol Textile’s main fabric at the moment was for furniture, so even if buyers came, they had nothing to sell them.
He had been about to refuse, but then one question occurred to him.
“By the way... will Taesung Apparel be participating in the trade show too?”
“That goes without saying... They’ll probably be preparing another weapon to keep an eye on us. Though this time, it won’t work.”
Seung-hyun smiled back at the man who was smiling so calmly.
“Good. I’ll participate. All the better if we’re close to them, preferably right next to Taesung’s booth...”
Suddenly, Seung-hyun found himself looking forward to Seoul Fashion Week.