Seoul Fashion Week (4)
Dongdaemun Design Plaza, where Seoul Fashion Week was in full swing.
Kim In-hyuk was standing right in the middle of the New Designer section, watching with bitter disbelief as Jung Seung-hyun, of all people, the mere owner of a fabric factory, drew more attention than he did.
That was because a woman from Roche Bobois and a white man from LVMH were speaking to Seung-hyun with such easy warmth.
The sight was almost beyond belief. He, Kim In-hyuk, was supposed to be the designer representing Generation Next today, and yet there they were, chatting so pleasantly with a nobody fabric factory owner instead.
Look at that.
They were still holding his hand, as though they were afraid he might run off somewhere.
In-hyuk’s eyes never once noticed the awkward look on Seung-hyun’s face, the only thing in his mind was the fact that the Roche Bobois director and the man from the global luxury giant LVMH were paying attention to him.
For now, In-hyuk stepped back and headed off to prepare for the show.
"Damn it..."
Old memories surfaced again.
"You want too much for your skill level."
The humiliation he had suffered in public, before countless students who had all been watching.
Even now, whenever he remembered it, he still felt a shiver go through him...
"Are you ready?"
An event staff member approached him and asked, meeting his glare.
That meant his turn was coming soon.
"It starts in a few minutes, right?"
"Fifteen minutes left."
He immediately swept his gaze over the models on standby.
They had finished dressing, and with a trace of nervousness, they were preparing for the show.
When Kim In-hyuk’s turn came, they would all stride across DDP in broad daylight one after another and show off their presence.
In truth, In-hyuk had thrown the full weight of Taesung Apparel’s connections behind this event.
He had managed, with great difficulty, to secure a Generation Next invitation, and while preparing his work, he had bragged to acquaintances that he now had the biggest sponsor of any new designer at his back.
So his conviction that today’s main character was himself had never changed.
"Yes. I’m ready."
After the staffer moved away, In-hyuk found himself drifting toward the group around Seung-hyun without quite meaning to.
He intended to turn the conversation toward his own collection no matter what.
If they knew I’m here as a new designer, even those people will at least look at me.
Seeing them let go of each other’s hands and laugh together, looking so delighted, set his nerves on edge.
"You haven’t left yet. I heard about you earlier, are you from Roche Bobois Korea? Nice to meet you. I’m Kim In-hyuk, and I’m presenting my collection at Generation Next this time."
In-hyuk greeted them politely, pretending to be cordial, but the beautiful woman with her calm, refined air only offered a faint smile and then turned right back to Seung-hyun, continuing their conversation in English.
It seemed she had barely heard a word he said.
"Just a moment. The piece I’ve prepared this time is a mix-and-match of heterogeneous materials, developed through oversized silhouettes and the evolution of layering. Also, using sustainable materials..."
Even then, with no response at all, In-hyuk kept talking, fidgeting with growing discomfort.
But Yu Se-rin only spared him the briefest glance and brushed it off with an absent, "Oh, nice..." before turning her eyes toward Gabriel Moreau.
It was a clear sign that she had absolutely no real interest in Kim In-hyuk.
What made it even more infuriating was Jung Seung-hyun.
He hadn’t even so much as given him the look that said, Oh, Kim In-hyuk’s here.
Being treated as if he didn’t exist at all made In-hyuk bite down hard on his lip.
He didn’t know what the Roche Bobois woman thought, but all he could think about was that he needed to leave an impression on that man from the LVMH Group if he wanted his own name to rise in status...
"Should we move somewhere else?"
"Sure."
Yu Se-rin gave In-hyuk a faint, almost bothered glance and moved first.
That fleeting look carried no hostility at all, and somehow that only trampled his pride deeper into the ground.
It was just the annoyance of someone dealing with a person who had no value whatsoever.
That was all there was to it.
Why... why is this happening? Next time, I’m never losing again. At a bigger stage than his...
And so, in the middle of that burning jealousy and rage, Kim In-hyuk’s new designer show was set in motion.
But even then, one presence kept circling in the back of his mind, leaving a cold emptiness behind.
It felt like a fiercely wounded sense of entitlement over a stage that had been taken from him, over attention that should have been his.
No matter how much he called himself an artist, the fact remained that in this moment, the name Jung Seung-hyun carried more weight, and that stung like a blade.
*
Seung-hyun moved toward the VIP lounge near the venue with Roche Bobois director Yu Se-rin.
Beside them was Gabriel Moreau, the white man with a faint French accent and the head of public relations for LVMH’s East Asia division.
The scene that had just unfolded, in which Kim In-hyuk had tried his hardest to catch their attention only to be ignored, was quickly forgotten. In its place remained a single worry.
How am I supposed to explain this...
There was a reason Seung-hyun had been reluctant to meet Yu Se-rin, the director of the luxury furniture brand Roche Bobois.
It was because he dreaded having to explain the circumstances under which he had ended up making the fabric after first meeting her.
After all, it had been right after running into her that he had touched the art fabric sofa and cushions on display at Roche Bobois and gained their information.
Luxury is not simply something that gets recognized because the object itself is good.
It is only called luxury when years of accumulated history and the philosophy embedded in them merge with design.
She knew that better than anyone, so she would surely ask about the philosophy behind Haesol Textile, the effort that went into creating the art fabric, and the inspiration behind it.
Not because she was merely curious.
It was because once that story was carried into the work itself, the object gained even more value.
Much like a painting grows more valuable when the life of the artist behind it is dramatic.
Because that process was so vividly clear to him, Seung-hyun had done his best to avoid meeting her up to now.
Of course, if sales had been desperately urgent, he would have shoved the fabric at anyone without thinking twice. But even now, the factory was running at full capacity, so there was no reason to complicate matters by adding an explanation on top of everything else.
"This way, Mr. Jung. It’s like a temporary meeting room for us, so please, sit wherever you’re comfortable."
Yu Se-rin led him to a small table at one side of the lounge.
A long bench and a translucent partition helped block out some of the venue’s usual noise, giving the place a slightly calmer feel.
Gabriel Moreau sat first and gave a brief nod of his head.
"I don’t speak Korean very well, but I heard the general story. The GyeolBit art fabric was very impressive."
When he spoke in English, Seung-hyun slowly nodded and replied in English as well.
"Thank you. We haven’t officially entered overseas markets yet, but we’ve been expanding little by little through deliveries to Daeryung Trading and several furniture companies."
"I see. Before I heard about this, I never imagined that such a striking ink-wash style fabric could be created in Korea."
As Gabriel voiced his admiration, Yu Se-rin cut in and added in Korean,
"Actually, our headquarters at Roche Bobois in France have also been looking more deeply into the Asian market and planning a new line that incorporates Eastern aesthetics. We were thinking it would be unique to bring Oriental patterns or brush-stroke sensibilities directly into European furniture. Then, a little while ago, I heard about the GyeolBit fabric made by Haesol Textile and immediately thought, 'This is it.' I only saw it in person recently, but it was genuinely astonishing."
Seung-hyun tapped the armrest with two fingers and thought it over for a moment.
Launching GyeolBit art fabric into overseas markets would be an interesting opportunity.
But they were already collaborating with Daeryung Trading and Lime Design, and just keeping up with domestic demand was a struggle.
"The idea itself is wonderful, but as I mentioned, I’m not sure we have the capacity to expand into exports all at once. Honestly, the factory is already running at full capacity."
"Right, which is why we’d like to propose something to you."
Yu Se-rin spoke in English so Gabriel could understand, then pulled out a silver tablet and showed him several slides.
They outlined the concept for Roche Bobois’s Oriental Art Line, along with a rough schedule for the "joint furniture and home-decor promotion with luxury affiliates" Gabriel had mentioned.
"Here, we were thinking of using GyeolBit art fabric to create limited-edition sofas or chairs, then presenting them on a global stage like Milan or Paris Design Week. Of course, Haesol Textile could also put its name on the line."
The moment he heard that, Seung-hyun’s heart gave a jolt.
To leap straight into Europe like that.
But soon enough, practical concerns surfaced as well.
"It’s a good proposal, but... as I said, we’re already busy handling large-volume orders within Korea."
"I visited your company and looked at your revenue scale, and it doesn’t seem like a small company at all. But are orders really still backing up that badly, even with art fabric being produced at that scale?"
She tilted her head, looking genuinely unable to understand.
That was only natural. Art fabric was not the kind of sofa material most consumers chose casually.
No matter how beautiful or appealing it looked, ordinary buyers always worried things like, "What if someone spills food on it..." or "Won’t it get dirty too fast..."
For that reason, most people who chose art fabric already had at least two sofas in their homes.
In other words, they were rich.
"Ah, it’s not that. We do have art fabric orders, but a significant portion of our output is being used to fulfill contracted volume tied to our agreement with Hanil Global. In fact, the reason I came to Seoul Fashion Week today was because of that agreement. I’m here to attend the MotionX S/S event for their golf brand."
Yu Se-rin blinked, clearly taken aback by the explanation, and took a moment to sort through it in her head.
Then she checked to make sure she understood correctly.
"So... this company wasn’t originally focused on furniture fabric, but on clothing fabric, and then you created art fabric from that?"
"That’s more or less right."
"How did that happen?"
There it was. The question he had expected all along.
"I was lucky. I’d been picturing the production process in my head over and over, and I kept feeling like something was missing. Then I happened to visit Roche Bobois, inspiration struck, and I was able to complete it. On that point, I’m truly grateful to you, Ms. Yu."
History could not be improvised at will.
So he decided to push straight through.
Of course, she had no real reason not to believe him.
How could anyone imagine that by touching fabric he had acquired information on every process the way a sponge soaks up water?
"Amazing. How can that be...? You’re a genius!"
Being called a genius made his face heat up, but if he denied it, the whole thing would sound even stranger. So Seung-hyun just looked away with an awkward expression.
"Well, I guess... that’s why I got lucky."
At that moment, Gabriel Moreau, the East Asia PR head for LVMH who had been quietly listening to the exchange from the side, cut in.
"It’s incredible. To be able to create such a fabric in one go... Your technical ability is impressive, of course, but your artistic talent is just as remarkable."
"Thank you."
In truth, he had also been able to tell how marketable a fabric was by printing various patterns onto it and examining the result.
He had chosen the sample with the highest marketability and pushed forward with it, so it wasn’t especially surprising that he had moved their hearts.
"It’s a pity that someone with such talent is tied down to a small factory. So then..."
"Yes?"
"Would you be interested in taking investment?"