LVMH Prize (3)
Even though he had been given an impromptu mission, he had already considered the possibility that something like this might happen, so he thought he had come up with a fairly impressive solution.
That was why he had been about to explain it with confidence.
“Jung Seung-hyun...? Why the hell is that bastard there...?”
He couldn’t believe his eyes.
He had never imagined that the person he met like poison whenever they crossed paths would turn up in this place of all places.
So he had no choice but to stare harder, searching for proof that the East Asian man he could see in the distance was not Jung Seung-hyun.
“Designer Kim In-hyuk? Please, go ahead and explain.”
Even with a mother like Choi Sook-hyang, the best designer in South Korea, he still couldn’t beat that bastard.
So he had tried to steal the bastard’s woman and step on him that way, but in the end the bastard had blocked his path again and again, and now, even in France instead of Korea, he was trying to get in the way once more.
“Mr. Kim In-hyuk. Aren’t you going to explain?”
Only then did the face of the judging panel member urging him on come into focus.
“Ah, sorry.”
Startled, he fought desperately to hold on to his sanity.
He tried hard to erase Seung-hyun’s face so he could focus on the work and the competition again.
“I’m not using denim washing excessively, to minimize environmental pollution. Instead, by preserving the fabric’s original texture... I tried to soften the overall mood by altering the silhouette like this.”
The script that had broken off resumed, but because the flow had already been interrupted, it was a long way from looking “perfect.”
The judges, as if he still hadn’t managed to collect himself, were already firing off questions with stony expressions.
“What was the intention behind that color combination?”
“Doesn’t the pairing of denim and lace look awkward?”
Kim In-hyuk took a breath and began answering as calmly as he could.
“I was trying to find a balance between urban sophistication and naturalness... something like that. In particular, I used indigo blue as the base for the denim, but minimized the washing to bring out the fabric’s inherent... qualities? No, its depth. Then I added the subtle ivory tone of the lace to create a more modern sense of refinement.”
In-hyuk forcibly gathered his wavering thoughts, glanced briefly at the piece, and continued.
“The combination of denim and lace was intentional. It wasn’t just about... attaching two materials together. I made the denim’s washing pattern and the lace’s pattern respond to each other... yes, that’s what I did. Especially when selecting the lace pattern, I took the grain of the denim into account so the whole thing would feel harmonious. Yes, that’s right.”
Kim In-hyuk barely managed to keep up, but it was obvious from his eyes that his concentration had already come apart at the seams.
When the presentation ended and the other judges began exchanging opinions for a moment, Antoine Arnault lightly nudged Seung-hyun in the side.
“That designer is Korean too. What do you think?”
To be honest, Seung-hyun did not like this scene at all.
Kim In-hyuk was not someone he could ever feel kindly toward.
But this was not the place for petty emotions.
It was not for Kim In-hyuk’s sake, but for his own and for Haesol Textile’s.
“Well... from what I just saw, it was an improvised mission, so the details weren’t quite enough.”
“Be more specific.”
Antoine pressed him with a faint smile.
In the end, Seung-hyun swallowed a sigh and gave a measured assessment.
“It’s interesting to upcycle denim and go in that skirt-like silhouette, but excessive deconstruction could become a drag on profitability and practicality. From an aesthetic standpoint, it could go in any number of directions... hmm, but there is a distinctive quality there.”
That was the gentlest way to phrase it, but if Kim In-hyuk heard it, he would probably be left with a sour stomach.
Of course, inwardly, Seung-hyun thought it was still much better than the trash he had seen at the graduation show.
He suspected that the other man had probably received crash-course tutoring from a whole host of designers.
Antoine twitched an eyebrow and said, “Because he’s Korean too? From where I’m standing, it doesn’t look like a unique philosophy so much as a design that’s trying hard to look unique.”
“It could look that way.”
“So you were taking his side because he’s Korean too.”
“I wasn’t.”
Seung-hyun smiled and shrugged.
“Fine. I’ll let it go.”
But the way Antoine and Seung-hyun exchanged their opinions so casually could easily make someone who didn’t know them think they were very close.
To Kim In-hyuk in particular, the sight was enough to make him deny reality altogether.
He could scarcely believe that Jung Seung-hyun, who was nothing more than the son of a textile factory owner, looked close enough to the staff of the LVMH Group already. But to be that close with none other than Antoine Arnault?
He did not think even the president of Taesung Apparel was that close to Antoine Arnault.
After finishing his presentation, Kim In-hyuk withdrew to the waiting area and drew in ragged breaths beneath the glaring lights.
Dammit, what the hell was that... I couldn’t even speak properly...
Shortly afterward, a staff member approached him from somewhere and relayed the judges’ brief feedback.
“It’s regrettable, but they felt the message you intended to convey wasn’t strongly visible in the work. It wasn’t easy, considering this mission was improvised, but...”
Translated plainly, that meant Kim In-hyuk’s work had been ordinary.
His stomach boiled.
He thought that once the flow had been thrown off, it had affected the entire competition.
It’s all because of Jung Seung-hyun... Why the hell was he standing there staring at me...!
Of course, if he had not been shaken in the first place, this would not have happened, but In-hyuk pinned all the blame on Seung-hyun and felt rage surge up inside him.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”
He punched the wall with his fist over and over.
Only when one of the staff members saw blood running from his knuckles and urgently called for medical staff did the pounding finally stop.
*
During a brief break, the movement of judges and staff became hectic.
Taking advantage of the moment, the Arnault siblings, Antoine and Delphine, ended up facing each other in private.
Delphine asked her younger brother in a slightly accusatory tone, “What are you doing? Bringing an outsider into the LVMH Prize?”
“Strictly speaking, he isn’t an outsider. He’s the representative of a company we’ve invested in.”
“Hmph. Are you trying to play word games with me now?”
“Not at all. And you’re curious too, aren’t you? About what kind of man the representative of the company Father decided to invest in, despite your opposition, really is.”
Delphine’s expression twisted.
Her brother’s explanation had struck directly at her weak point.
If their father’s decision to invest had been wrong, then it would be judged as a mistake by Bernard Arnault, who had now grown old and stepped back half a pace.
But if the company Bernard had chosen to back in defiance of his daughter’s objections grew at a frightening pace, there was no doubt that more and more people would begin to question her judgment in the future.
Her failures would accumulate one by one until they returned to weigh on her like a burden.
“So? What’s your opinion?”
From their father’s point of view, the situation was exactly the same either way, yet Antoine was able to wear a bright smile simply because he knew one more piece of information.
Namely, that he himself had also opposed investing in Haesol Textile.
“Me? I found him very interesting.”
“...”
“I’d say I confirmed that this wasn’t the kind of result you could produce by sheer luck alone. I was expecting him to keep creating something new. Whether it’ll be luxury or not, I don’t know.”
Delphine’s face grew harder with every mocking word.
“So now you’re going to throw yourself into propping that company up with everything you have?”
“Me? Why would you think that?”
“Because that’s the only way you can beat me.”
“Haha, sister. Why would you misunderstand me like that? I think we can work together well enough to lead the group properly. We’re doing fine now, aren’t we?”
“...”
“So when I lend a hand to this small textile company called Haesol Textile, it isn’t to beat you. It’s because it benefits the group. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t misunderstand me.”
After glaring at her brother for a while, she suddenly rose from her seat and left him with one parting remark.
“Then go ahead and do your best.”
After Delphine closed the door and disappeared, Antoine Arnault wore a deep smile at the corners of his mouth.
“Of course. That was the plan anyway.”
He got to his feet and headed for the lounge a little distance from the competition hall.
There was a young East Asian representative waiting there alone with a cup of coffee in hand.
When Antoine returned, Seung-hyun glanced at him and asked quietly, “Have your doubts about my company lessened a little now?”
Antoine shrugged and laughed.
“What are you talking about? I didn’t bring you here today to evaluate you, did I? Didn’t I say it earlier? That you wanted to make a good impression on my father?”
As someone who did not know the internal workings of LVMH very well, Seung-hyun could not quite make sense of the other man’s words.
He had assumed it was only an excuse put forward on the surface, and that in truth Antoine, being young and seeing an East Asian man from Korea, simply wanted to assess his ability more accurately.
“It’s hard to believe, but... I understand.”
Antoine nodded and then asked, “By the way, how did things go at Maison & Objet?”
“You sound like a real investor now.”
“Haha, my interest in Haesol Textile is real. Though I’ll admit it wasn’t, before I saw you.”
“Why not? GyeolBit bedding is a product you can see clearly enough.”
He leaned back with an easy expression, crossed one leg over the other, and spoke slowly.
“Have you ever done sculpture?”
“Of course.”
“Then you’ll understand me well enough. When you’re sculpting as a child, you move your hands without thinking, and then suddenly, just like that, something astonishing comes out. Something you yourself can’t help admiring after making it. But then when you try to make it again, that same feeling doesn’t come back. Because it wasn’t something you made deliberately.”
“...”
“Luxury is the same. Sometimes an astonishing piece comes out by chance. You fool around with a good fabric, and some unintended detail ends up being supported by favorable reviews, which then leads to praise for the designer and the brand itself. And most of the time, that’s what happens. The real thing is rare.
“In the end, what determines whether a brand can endure and grow is the person who made it. And after seeing that, I admitted it. You weren’t the kind of fool you often see in this business.”
It was a long speech, but in the end it was praise directed at him, so Seung-hyun could hardly feel bad about it.
“Thank you.”
“So for me, before I met you, GyeolBit bedding was just... expensive bedding. Something of that level. But now...”
“Now?”
“Now it’s a GyeolBit brand. That’s why I’m curious. About people’s evaluations. A brand is alive, and it has to keep changing according to how people judge it. And you have to lead that change.”
It had to keep changing, and he had to lead that change.
Seung-hyun thought Antoine was once again pointing out the direction he needed to go.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I’ll help where I can. But don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not talking about help in the sense of asking people to order bedding.”
“Then what?”
“I’ll give it an image.”
“How?”
Antoine grinned and said, “I buy it and sleep under it, or I show some incredible model buying it and sleeping under it.”
“Ah...”
“Let’s see what kind of result that produces.”
Seung-hyun gave an awkward smile in response to Antoine’s broad smile and blue eyes.
It felt like he had begun an unexpected connection here in France, where he had come to finish Yu Se-rin’s Western painting project.
*
The contestants’ waiting room connected to the competition hall.
The first unofficial interim feedback on the semifinal results was delivered to some of the participants.
Elegant, fragrant memo cards were handed out one by one.
“Your passion in today’s mission was deeply moving. However, the content of your work did not leave a striking impression. Your existing design portfolio was excellent, but your ability to respond impromptu was disappointing. Regrettably, we must inform you that you did not make the final list.”
“Ah...”
Kim In-hyuk took the memo and dropped to his knees.
He had hoped, just maybe, but the result had come crashing down without any twist at all.
He could not bring himself to strike out with the hand wrapped in emergency bandages, but he could not suppress the boiling anger either.
“Dammit... it’s all because of that bastard.”
He was sure of it. That bastard must have badmouthed his work to the judges.
Otherwise, there was no way a superior like his could be cut while those other designers’ miserable pieces were left standing.
“Just wait, Jung Seung-hyun... I’m going to crush you for sure.”
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