Rebirth of the Fashion King

Karl Lagerfeld's office.

The Empress Dowager is working inside.

Li Xun glanced at his watch; this was the time when his concentration was at its peak after his lunch break.

Li Xun stood at the stairwell for a while, then walked to the double door and knocked twice.

"Come in," came a hoarse, short voice from inside, French with a German accent.

Li Xun pushed open the door.

Karl Lagerfeld's office was the largest room at 31 Cambon Street, but he only used a third of it.

A three-meter-long drawing table sits in the middle of the room, covered with sketches, fabric brochures, and open art books.

He sat behind the drawing table, drawing the outline of a skirt on an A4 sheet of paper, a Uni-ball Signo 207 black pen in his right hand.

The lines are extremely simple, drawn in one stroke, without any hesitation or modification.

"If it weren't for something urgent, I would be unhappy if you interrupted me while I was drawing this dress." The old lady didn't look at Li Xun; her eyes remained fixed on the paper.

"Have you seen the news?"

  Remember us, 101kanshu.com

"Of course I saw it." Karl Lagerfeld stopped writing, put the pen on the table, picked up his Coke and took a sip.

"Sebastian told me, and I'm waiting for you to tell me."

Li Xun sat down in the chair opposite the drawing table.

This chair was specially prepared by Carl for people who came to his office—it's a little lower than his chair, so that when you sit down, you'll feel like you're below his line of sight.

This spatial power structure was designed by the old lady herself.

"I just met a celebrity from the Chinese entertainment industry and chatted with him for a while. It was used by some people with ulterior motives to create a stir. It's really not a big deal."

"Who's behind this hype?" Carl asked.

"It should be an entertainment company in China called Huayi. Their company has done similar things before."

The old lady nodded. She didn't ask for details because they weren't important to her. The only important thing was whether this matter would affect Li Xun's mood.

"Has your name been exposed?"

"Not yet, they only say it's a mysterious man."

"Yes."

"In the internet age, nothing can be hidden. By 5 p.m. today at the latest, someone will have found out your name, school, and work history."

"I know that. Actually, there have been rumors, but they haven't really taken off yet. As for Liu..."

"I have no interest in interfering with the career of a Chinese actress. Will this affect Chanel's brand image?"

Yes, there might be some noise in the short term.

But in the long run, this isn't even negative news—a Chanel designer and a beautiful actress traveling together in Paris is an elegant story in itself; it's just that your entertainment media chooses to tell it in an ugly way.

"If an ugly way of telling a story is spread widely enough, it will become a fact," Li Xun said with a smile.

"Only when you yourself are not strong enough will other people's stories become facts," the old lady said, looking at him.

"If your next series is better than this one, five years from now, when people look back on this incident, they'll just say it was an interesting anecdote from the early days of Rhine's career, when he was twenty-three and with someone named..."

"Liu Yifei," Li Xun said.

"Liu Yifei," Karl Lagerfeld repeated the name. "Just strolling around with a pretty girl named Liu Yifei, that's all. People will always remember your best work, not your gossip."

"You're right."

The Empress Dowager suddenly remembered something.

"Huayi, I think I've heard of this company before."

Li Xun reminded him, "Zhou has a pretty good relationship with this company."

"Interesting." The old lady's lips curled up.

"Go out and call Virginia over."

……

When Zhou Xun received the call from her agent, she was filming in Yi County (at this time in reality, Zhou Xun was on the set of "Confucius").

The crew was filming the pivotal scene where Nanzi makes her appearance. She was wearing a heavy costume and had an elaborate hairstyle. It was already very hot on the North China Plain in May, and after standing under the sun for two hours, her back was soaked with sweat.

She had just come offstage when the phone rang. Her assistant jogged over and handed her the phone, saying that Brother Huang had called twice.

Zhou Xun took it and walked to the shade.

"Feed?"

"Brother Xun, is there any room for negotiation regarding that Chanel matter you told me about last time?" Manager Huang's voice was low, and he spoke faster than usual.

Zhou Xun didn't understand.

"What is it? Chanel, haven't we been talking about this?"

"I'm asking if there's absolutely no chance."

"Brother Huang, please explain yourself clearly."

Huang paused for a moment on the other end of the phone, organizing his thoughts.

"Something broke online today: Liu Yifei was photographed shopping in Paris, and the man next to her... We didn't pay much attention at first; these kinds of gossip happen every day."

But someone just found out the information—it's about a Chanel designer named Li Xun.

Zhou Xun's heart skipped a beat.

"Li Xun?" she repeated the name.

"A designer at Chanel? What level?"

"It is said that he is an important designer in the women's wear line and is highly regarded by Mr. Karl Lagerfeld. Someone in Tianya has already posted his resume. He is Chinese, graduated from Central Saint Martins, and joined Chanel at the age of 19."

Some even call him the youngest Chinese face in the fashion world. Public opinion has started to shift; initially just criticism, things have become complicated now that Li Xun's true identity has been revealed.

Zhou Xun didn't speak, her mind racing through the information.

"There's one more thing: Hua Yi is still relentlessly smearing Li Xun."

"What?" Zhou Xun frowned. "Hua Yi is badmouthing Li Xun?"

"Let me finish," Brother Huang's voice tightened. "It was Wang Jing from our Huayi PR department who stirred up this whole thing. She also had the press releases published. Originally, she just wanted to smear Liu Yifei, but a lot of people have joined in and started attacking Li Xun. Now the hype is getting higher and higher, and Chanel is probably..."

Zhou Xun straightened up.

"Does Wang Jing know who Li Xun is?"

"It seems we're only finding out now..."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze turned cold.

"Brother Huang, are you telling me all this to tell me that my Chanel endorsement was completely ruined by my own company's PR department?"

"..."

"Is that right?"

"...That's probably true."

Zhou Xun switched her phone to her other hand and walked to a more secluded corner. The crew members were packing up equipment in the distance, and no one noticed the expression on her face.

"Who at Huayi is handling this line?"

"Wang Jing is in charge, Zhou Qiang is carrying out the plan. Do you have any way to directly contact Li Xun? Are you able to speak with him?"

"It's no use," Zhou Xun replied quickly.

"First, I don't know him. Second, even if I did, the articles smearing him came from Huayi. Why should he believe us? It's not us, it's me. I'm also an artist under Huayi."

Brother Huang fell silent.

Zhou Xun's mind raced.

She had been eyeing the Chanel endorsement deal for almost two years, starting in 2007. She flew to Paris several times to make the contact herself and used all the connections she could in China. Chanel was very cautious about the Chinese market and had never signed a Chinese artist as a brand ambassador before. She was the first candidate with whom she had made substantial contact, and in March of this year, she thought she had it in the bag.

But Paris has not given up.

First they said they'd wait until the next season's ready-to-wear collection launch, then they said they were considering adjusting their regional strategy. All her work was put on hold while she waited, and she didn't even dare to accept endorsements from competing brands.

Although she received news last week that the matter had been put on hold, she wasn't too worried.

And now, to be stabbed in the back by your own company's PR department, who has smeared the only Chinese designer in Chanel's senior management—what kind of nonsense is this?

Zhou Xun mentally went through the whole thing.

Wang Jing wants to smear Liu Yifei, no problem, but Wang Jing doesn't know that the man next to Liu Yifei is a Chanel designer.

If she had known, she wouldn't have done it. The problem is that now that things have happened, press releases are flying everywhere, online trolls have joined in, and there are thousands of posts in the comments section cursing Li Xun.

It can't be suppressed.

Deleting posts only makes people think that they are trying to cover something up.

The only solution is that Li Xun himself doesn't care.

But that's impossible.

If it were her, a Chanel designer in her early twenties, young and ambitious, her reputation would be her second life in her career. How could she not care about being smeared like this?

Even if he doesn't care, does Chanel care?

I definitely care.

A well-known designer under our company has been smeared on the internet, damaging the brand image. Our legal department will not stand idly by.

So who will ultimately be held accountable?

Hua Yi.

Without a doubt, her Chanel endorsement is completely over.