The Important Guest (3)
The morning after the Promemoria party, in the Haesol Textile office, Seung-hyun was tidying the papers piled on his desk while replaying the previous night in his mind.
His meeting with Davide Sochi, the announcement of Promemoria and GyeolBit’s collaboration, and the awkward encounter with Kim Jun-hyuk, the vice president of Royal Department Store.
Everything was moving fast.
“President.”
Just as a tangle of thoughts was running through his head, Hwang Seok-jae pushed open the office door in an urgent voice and came in.
“Yes? What is it?”
“Antoine Arnault from the LVMH Group has just arrived.”
The pen in Seung-hyun’s hand nearly slipped from his fingers.
“Now? I thought he was coming tomorrow afternoon.”
“He says he arrived earlier than scheduled. He’s waiting in the lobby right now.”
Seung-hyun rose at once, straightened his tie, and slipped on his suit jacket.
“Understood. I’ll head down immediately. Please prepare the conference room.”
When he went down to the lobby, he found a young man standing by the window, looking out at the city.
Even in his late thirties, Antoine Arnault already held a significant position within the LVMH Group.
Beside him stood Camille Dubois, his secretary, who carried herself with elegant poise.
“Mr. Antoine Arnault, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I didn’t expect to see you in Korea this soon.”
Antoine turned and smiled.
“Likewise. Was I too abrupt? My schedule moved up faster than I expected.”
“Not at all. Please, come this way.”
The two men shook hands and went inside.
“Is this your first time visiting Korea?”
“No, I’ve been here a few times. Most of them were business trips, though. This is the first time I’ve come for one company in particular. Would it be possible to see the factory first?”
“Of course. I’ll show you around.”
Seung-hyun led Antoine and his secretary, Camille, through the factory.
Since Plant 1 was mainly running the GyeolBit bedding line, everything they saw during the tour was bedding.
Antoine seemed thoroughly satisfied, nodding with a faint smile as he touched the finished products and inspected the equipment in detail.
He showed particular curiosity toward the embroidered quilting and even asked whether all the printing patterns had been done by Director Jung.
“Plant 2 isn’t mainly a bedding facility, and it’s also far from here, so I’ll show it to you another time if we get the chance.”
At Seung-hyun’s words, after finishing the tour of the main factory, Antoine Arnault turned his head.
“You have a Plant 2?”
“Yes.”
“And if bedding isn’t the main product?”
“We mainly produce clothes under a brand called Lesser Factory.”
Antoine’s brow furrowed.
“Clothes? Lesser Factory? Could I see some samples?”
“Certainly. Please come inside.”
Seung-hyun showed him everything, from Lesser Factory’s existing line to the new comfort line that would be launched soon.
Antoine examined each item in the Lesser Factory line Seung-hyun had laid out before him, then took a sip of water and asked with a stiff expression, “Representative Jung Seung-hyun. Why create a midrange brand at all? You’re already being recognized in the high-end market through GyeolBit. Don’t you think this chips away at your brand value?”
When launching Lesser Factory, he had wondered whether LVMH might dislike the idea.
So instead of getting flustered, he spoke calmly, repeating the line of thought he had already prepared.
“I’m simply doing what I want to do. I wanted more people to be able to experience the excellent functional fabric my father developed. GyeolBit is a product with special value, but I also think it’s important to provide good-quality clothes to a wider range of people through Lesser Factory.”
Antoine tilted his head slightly, listening closely to Seung-hyun.
“It’s an interesting philosophy, that much is true. But from a business perspective, it’s not exactly a good choice. Luxury starts with brand image. And that starting line is, naturally, the company that created the brand. Yet here you are, putting out two brands under one company: one is high-end luxury, the other is midrange. Don’t you find that odd?”
Seung-hyun smiled as he answered.
“I’m fully aware of that. But the vision I have isn’t just about making money. It’s about improving people’s lives, even if only a little, with good products.”
Antoine was silent for a moment, weighing the matter, before he spoke again.
“Show me Lesser Factory’s current status.”
Seung-hyun immediately had Hwang Seok-jae provide the revenue figures and growth trends for Lesser Factory.
The positive indicators on social media and the remarkable rise in sales at least softened Antoine’s expression, which had been so distinctly displeased just moments before.
“I understand. It doesn’t seem like a bad business, after all. I’ll even acknowledge the effect of the functional fabric you developed. It may be useless for Loro Piana, but I suspect there may be companies within the group that would covet it quite a bit.”
“Thank you.”
“That’s precisely why this can’t stay as it is.”
“Pardon?”
“Split the company.”
Seung-hyun was at a loss at the unexpected remark, but Hwang Seok-jae, standing behind him, stepped forward.
“You mean to spin off the Lesser Factory brand?”
“Exactly. Split it off and let Haesol Textile hold 100 percent of the shares. Strictly speaking, it’s the same company, but on the surface it should look like a separate one.”
“I understand what you mean.”
Antoine’s gaze returned to Seung-hyun.
“I respect your dream and support it, but business has to be ruthless.”
“...Understood. We’ll do it that way.”
Hearing Antoine’s advice, Seung-hyun found himself thinking there was no harm in taking it.
“Personally, I don’t care for it, but I do acknowledge the business potential. Since you’ve already started, it would be wise to grow the brand quickly. If it catches on, it could achieve explosive growth.”
Seung-hyun wore a puzzled expression.
“Is there really a reason it has to grow that big?”
Antoine let out a deep breath.
“Actually, there’s a reason I came here so suddenly today. My sister, Delphine Arnault, the CEO of Christian Dior, is trying to acquire a luxury bedding brand called Frette.”
“Frette?”
“Yes. It’s an Italian luxury bedding brand founded in 1860. Its products are used mainly by European royalty and the finest hotels. You could say it’s the direction GyeolBit bedding should be heading.”
Seung-hyun looked confused.
“What does that have to do with us?”
Antoine answered with a meaningful look.
“The timing of Delphine’s attempt to acquire Frette is suspiciously close to the moment GyeolBit began finding success in the European market. I think this is a move to keep GyeolBit in check.”
“No, why would they target us...?”
“Competition inside LVMH is extremely fierce. Especially in a family business, internal rivalry can be even more intense.”
After taking a moment to steady his breath, Antoine continued with a serious expression.
“If Delphine successfully acquires Frette, GyeolBit will face a major challenge. Frette already has an established brand power and distribution network. The exports currently going to Europe are really just an initial shipment. Whether that volume is received well will determine whether continuous exports are possible after this.”
“I know.”
“If Frette targets GyeolBit, then GyeolBit as a new brand may struggle a little... or a lot. That would show up as declining sales. And declining sales mean a decline in company value, which in turn means the influence of Gabriel Moreau, who pushed for Haesol Textile’s equity investment, would shrink.”
“That kind of...”
“And most decisively, it would also call the judgment of Chairman Bernard Arnault, who made the final call on investing in this company, into question.”
From Seung-hyun’s perspective, it was absurd to see so many problems ripple outward from something that was not even his fault.
Now he understood why Antoine had come all the way to Korea in person.
“So in the end, Haesol Textile can’t stand still.”
“That’s right. A company must never stop. A stagnant company dies sooner or later. That’s why it has to keep taking investment, keep growing, and keep moving. The companies that couldn’t do that are already dead. Romance? The world isn’t that forgiving.”
“I understand what you mean.”
“In that sense, even if it wasn’t the direction I had in mind, I’ll admit Lesser Factory is... a fresh breakthrough. In any case, it is a company with the technical skill, judgment, and boldness to grow a midrange SPA brand.”
With that, Antoine rose and added, “Since I’m in Korea, I’ll be touring some of the key stores over the next few days, so let’s meet again.”
“Yes. I’ll draw up a plan for the spin-off and let you know.”
“Very well. Hmm... I thought you’d just be diligently making bedding, but you seem to be more capable than I expected. I’m impressed.”
With a satisfied look, he patted Seung-hyun’s shoulder and left the conference room.
At the same time, in a café in Busan, Lieutenant Colonel Mok Jae-gyun was sipping coffee while studying the middle-aged man seated across from him.
He was Kang Min-ho, the CEO of Hwain Trading.
One look at his wrinkled face, darkened by a heavy shadow, was enough to tell anyone how difficult his life had become.
With a weary expression, he took a sip of coffee and went on.
“Ever since we lost the military supply contract five years ago, the company has been on a downhill slide. To be honest, I’m at the point where I just want to wind things down.”
Lieutenant Colonel Mok nodded and listened.
“You must have had a very difficult time.”
“Yes. Military uniforms were our main business, but once that stopped, it became hard for the company to hold on. Right now we’re barely surviving on small subcontracting jobs.”
After a brief pause, Mok Jae-gyun said, “The real reason I asked to meet you today is that there may be a new opportunity.”
Ever since the Defense Acquisition Program Administration had arranged the meeting, Kang had been hoping there might be some way forward.
So he looked up with interest and asked, “What kind of opportunity?”
“Recently, we’ve been paying close attention to a new material. It’s a fabric called Dual-Tex, and we expect that applying it to military uniforms would greatly help improve soldiers’ combat effectiveness.”
Kang leaned forward, interested.
“But the company that developed that fabric refused the military contract because it lacks production capacity. From our side, we want to apply that fabric to military uniforms one way or another.”
For a moment, Kang Min-ho’s face gradually hardened as the conversation began veering toward something uncomfortable.
“And then?”
“If you’re thinking of winding the company down...”
At last, Kang Min-ho’s expression twisted sharply.
“So that’s all you had to say? You came all this way just to tell me to sell my company?”
“Didn’t you just say you wanted to wrap things up?”
“Th-that’s... I meant I felt that way...”
“If you refuse, we have no intention of forcing the matter. I’m simply telling you that this opportunity exists.”
“...”
“I’m offering you the chance to sell the military-uniform expertise and know-how Hwain Trading has built up.”
After hesitating, Kang asked, “Then the debts Hwain Trading has would go over too, right?”
“That’s why I came to confirm it. I want to know the scale of your liabilities and assets.”
The hardest part of running a company was that employees’ salaries had to go out on time, every time.
So when the payroll fell short, a company president ended up borrowing money from everywhere he could.
The debts that piled up that way had been strangling him, and because he felt he had finally been driven into a dead end, he had said he wanted to close the company down.
But the idea that those debts could be taken off his hands in exchange for giving up the company left him feeling bitter, and yet strangely lighter too.
“Then...”
Kang Min-ho made up his mind to decide.