Dark Horse (2)
The phone rang, and as Seung-hyun was wrapping up the morning’s work, he picked up the office line.
“Hello, this is Haesol Textile.”
“Yes, of course.”
There was a brief silence, then the other woman’s voice came back, calm but cautious.
Seung-hyun frowned.
For someone from Roche Bobois headquarters to come all the way to Korea personally, this could not be a simple courtesy visit.
“What’s this about all of a sudden...?”
“Yes, that should be fine. Around eleven would work well.”
After hanging up, Seung-hyun set the phone down, and Hwang Seok-jae asked, “Was that a call from Roche Bobois?”
“Yes. They said someone from the French headquarters has come to Korea. He wants to meet me.”
Hwang’s expression shifted subtly.
“They’re probably here to ask for more of the Versailles Line.”
“I suppose so.”
“Well, this is hard to say whether it’s good news or not... If we’re looking at profit alone, producing more of the Versailles Line makes sense, but the direction is different...”
“It is.”
As he said, if profit alone were the only measure, there was no comparison between making pieces for Lesser Factory and producing the Versailles Line.
In truth, when Haesol Textile made fabric for Lesser Factory and turned it into clothing to sell, the margin on each item was only a few thousand won at most.
“To become a truly large company, you have to release finished products and grow the brand the way you want, President. Making more money alone doesn’t necessarily make a company bigger. We can earn plenty from bedding, so I do feel bad, but supplying Roche Bobois with a large volume of fabric...”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
The next morning, a Roche Bobois representative arrived at the company.
He was a tall middle-aged man in a neat suit.
As expected of someone from a luxury house, there was an immediate sense of refinement just from the suit he wore.
“Are you Marcel Dugar?”
The man bowed politely.
“Yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you. You must be President Jung Seung-hyun.”
After exchanging brief greetings, the two men sat down.
Marcel took a sip of the coffee Seung-hyun had offered and got straight to the point.
“Not long ago, our Korean branch submitted a proposal to launch an art fabric sofa in a new concept. We were skeptical, but after reviewing the concept and sample, we accepted it. And then we became curious. Just how much quality would the finished piece actually have? When we saw it, it exceeded our expectations.”
“...”
“Even headquarters was quite surprised, and the results in the Korean market started turning positive as well. We gradually raised our expectations and were even planning to bring the Versailles Line made in Korea back into Europe. But then we heard something unbelievable.”
“That we weren’t doing any additional production?”
He smiled faintly and nodded.
“Exactly. We couldn’t believe it. We know better than anyone how difficult it is to keep supplying fabric for a popular Roche Bobois line continuously. Of course, we don’t think you made that decision because you didn’t understand that. It was simply... surprising, because it went beyond what we had imagined. May I ask why?”
Seung-hyun answered calmly.
“It’s less that we stopped and more that we simply delivered the quantity originally agreed upon. After that, other work came up for the company, so we’re prioritizing that first. It’s not because we developed any bad feelings toward Roche Bobois or anything like that. It was just a business matter.”
“I see. Headquarters believes the Versailles Line will have long-term appeal in stores around the world. Would you be willing to resume production? We could renegotiate the contract terms.”
Seung-hyun fell into thought for a moment.
The success of the Versailles Line was certain, but so was the company’s direction of focusing on Lesser Factory and GyeolBit bedding.
“To be honest, our production lines are already occupied with other projects, so we simply don’t have the capacity.”
Marcel’s expression fell.
“I see... Honestly, I’m rather disappointed and worried. We never expected to lose a popular line through a contract like this.”
It wasn’t hard to understand his disappointment.
Roche Bobois did not possess an exclusive contract for the specific technology and pattern of the Versailles Line, so from their point of view, they were helpless.
“I understand.”
“In fact, MD Yu Se-rin, who created this concept, is also very disappointed. We didn’t set any such conditions in the contract, but in a sense, the starting point of Roche Bobois’s Versailles Line was MD Yu Se-rin. Still, if we only talk about your company’s circumstances like this, it won’t leave a very good impression between us, would it?”
Hearing him out, Seung-hyun could clearly understand Roche Bobois’s position as well.
So he put forward a new proposal.
“Then how about this? What if we structure the contract as a technology transfer?”
“A technology transfer?”
Thinking back to how he had previously handed Aero Coolbreeze over to a subcontractor, Seung-hyun suggested the same approach.
“What Roche Bobois needs is a steady supply of the Versailles Line. We can transfer our technology to a supplier of your choosing and receive royalties in return. That way, both that supplier and Roche Bobois would benefit, wouldn’t they? And of course, we’d also earn from ongoing royalties.”
“You’d be willing to give up technological exclusivity?”
“Yes, as long as the royalties are reasonable.”
Since this opened the possibility of additional production rather than cutting it off entirely, Marcel’s face brightened considerably.
“Hmm... Then beyond adjusting the price, are there any additional demands?”
“None. As long as we receive royalties for the manufacturing method and proprietary pattern registered with the patent office, you may produce it as you wish.”
“And the duration?”
Seung-hyun thought about it for a moment before answering.
“I’ll make it 30 years.”
“That’s too long.”
“Trends eventually come full circle. Sooner or later, the Versailles Line will lose popularity. But in thirty years, a design that everyone had forgotten may become beloved again, and then it could shine once more. I think thirty years is appropriate.”
“Hmm... I understand. I’ll need to discuss it with headquarters, so please give us a little time.”
“Of course. Please take all the time you need and get back to me after you’ve reviewed it.”
The two men ended the conversation without going into further specifics.
Seung-hyun was curious.
Would they really accept the proposal?
Would they be willing to bend the pride of a world-renowned luxury furniture company like Roche Bobois to make the deal happen?
*
She had been hot already, but these days there was a star whose name was coming up even more often.
Han Saet-byeol.
The reason was nothing complicated.
When she wasn’t attending a special event, her SNS usually got one or two photos a week, maybe five at most. But recently, quite a lot of pictures had been going up.
They weren’t especially glamorous shots either, just everyday photos of her going to a cafe or doing some grocery shopping.
Even so, the internet was buzzing, because she was that much of a star.
On online communities and SNS, Han Saet-byeol’s photos were spreading fast.
- Han Saet-byeol is working hard on her beauty today too
- Please keep posting like this
In one candid street photo taken by a fan, she was wearing a pink Lesser Factory sweatshirt and beige wide-leg pants.
- Where are these clothes from? They suit her perfectly T_T
- I’ve never seen this brand before?
- What is Han Saet-byeol wearing? The color is so clean and the fit looks great. Anyone know??
- Does anyone know the size info? Please drop the shopping mall link
The comments were full of questions about the clothes.
Some people even wondered, “Maybe it’s an overseas luxury brand?” But surprisingly, someone left a helpful comment saying, “This brand has a store in Hongdae.”
From that point on, positive reports began trickling in from the staff.
“President, traffic has shot up. Orders keep coming in!”
“We’ve got additional orders from the stores!”
There’s a saying that you go to sleep and wake up a star.
For Seung-hyun, that was exactly what this felt like.
After Han Saet-byeol posted a few photos on SNS, orders through the Lesser Factory online shop exploded, and the offline stores kept updating their purchase lists.
As if she had seen this coming, Cha Hee-ju called.
“Yes. In fact, orders are already coming in quite heavily.”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about. We’re running the factory in three shifts, twenty-four hours a day right now, but it feels like we still won’t be able to keep up.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Hee-ju. Thank you.”
“The pattern work is almost finished. You should be able to receive it in a few days.”
As soon as he ended the call, Seung-hyun checked the Lesser Factory online mall on his laptop.
Concurrent users had surged to more than three times the previous day’s level.
Product inquiries were pouring in as well.
The staff working in the Lesser Factory brand office were probably overwhelmed.
Factory manager Park Han-soo hurried in and said, “President, we should push the opening of the second factory forward.”
“I was thinking exactly the same thing. I’ll check how much of it is finished and see if we can at least start running some of the equipment. What are you thinking for staffing? We had planned to handle the second factory’s hiring later, didn’t we?”
“There are a lot of people who want to work but can’t. Don’t worry. If we put capable guys in as line leaders and fill the rest with foreign workers, there won’t be any problem running the factory.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Watching the orders climb higher and higher, Seung-hyun felt something electric stir in his chest.
Just as Cha Hee-ju had said, this was only the beginning.
He was starting to wonder just how far this could go.
*
Late in the afternoon, three female customers walked into the Hongdae alley and pushed open the store door with a swing.
The small Lesser Factory logo hanging above the door swayed as though greeting them.
“Welcome. Let us know if you need any sizes.”
As the clerk greeted them brightly, the tall woman among the customers said to her friends in a voice full of excitement, “This is the place. The one Han Saet-byeol wore...”
“But when did this open? There was nothing here before.”
“The prices are super cheap too. It’s almost Uniqlo-level.”
They headed straight for the rack packed with clothes, and one of them quickly pulled out a pink sweatshirt and held it up.
“This! Excuse me! Isn’t this the same style Han Saet-byeol wore?”
Another employee rushed over and explained calmly.
“Yes, this is that line. It’s a muted pink sweatshirt, and the ribbing at the waist and cuffs is a bit snug, so it gives a really nice fit when worn.”
“Oh, the texture is so soft too. It’s slightly thick, but the lining is silky smooth!”
The three friends chatted away as they each chose the clothes they wanted.
They looked like college students at first glance, but because the prices weren’t burdensome, they didn’t seem to agonize much over what to pick.
At that moment, Lee A-young, who was organizing stock in the back of the store, stared dazedly at the crowd gathering before her.
Customers were praising the clothes she had designed, holding them up to their bodies, smiling with real delight.
A-young felt something deep inside her chest stir strangely.
So this is what it feels like to be a designer?
Something sleeping inside her seemed to be waking up.
That strange sensation made A-young feel as though she needed to hurry home and make something right away.