Rebirth of the Fashion King

Karl Lagerfeld's office.

"no."

Karl Lagerfeld sat in a high-backed chair, with the list of models for the next season's ready-to-wear show spread out in front of him. The themes of the haute couture show and the ready-to-wear show are different, so the list of supermodels is often different as well. He held a silver mechanical pencil in his hand and drew a horizontal line on the paper, crossing out three names.

"No." Another horizontal line.

"no."

Virginie Viard stood across the desk, arms crossed, without saying a word.

Li Xun sat on the black leather sofa by the window, holding a copy of the same list in his hand. He turned a page and looked up at the name that the old lady was crossing out.

"Karl, we already have seven blonde models this season," Viard said.

"so what?"

"Visually, we need more dark hair color."

"Then let's change Anja (Anja Rubek) to Magdalena (Megdalena Flekwiakko)." The old man wrote one name on the paper and crossed out another.

  

Anjaberuk

Megdalena Flaviakko

"McNeil's (Catherine McNeil) brow bone is too hard, it doesn't suit this season's soft brow line."

"She left the opening act last season," Viard reminded her.

"Last season is last season; fashion only lasts for one season."

The pencil continued to move across the paper, and Li Xun watched as the number of names still alive on the list dwindled.

"Natasha Poly left, Vlada Roslyakova..."

V仙

"Stay," Li Xun said.

The Empress Dowager raised her eyes.

"Were you making the decision for me just now?" The old man's expression became interesting. This was the first time Li Xun had spoken to him about the selection of models.

"It's not a decision, it's a suggestion." Li Xun placed a copy of the list on his lap.

"Vlada's neck and shoulder lines will be very suitable for this season's stand-up collar designs; she can carry those structures."

The old man's pencil paused on the paper.

"I'm planning to keep her here even without you telling me." He circled Vlada's name.

This is actually the initial screening. There will be an in-person interview in a couple of days. Only those who pass the in-person interview can become Chanel runway models.

The list continued. Karl Lagerfeld hesitated for a moment over Lily Donaldson's name before finally circling it.

"She's too healthy," the old lady said, as if "healthy" were a derogatory term.

The list was turned to the last page. The old lady's pencil lingered on the bottom name for a long time.

"Abbey Lee," the old man said.

"She's too..." Viard began.

"She needs to lose another two kilograms," the old lady interrupted her, writing the number 2 next to her name and then drawing a circle.

"Inform her that she will have a second fitting in four weeks. If her measurements do not meet the requirements, she will be replaced with a backup supermodel."

Vijay wrote it down in his notebook.

The old lady put down the pencil, picked up her water glass, and took a sip of water.

"This season's silhouettes, the tweed needs to fit the body's lines perfectly. Any excess fat will ruin the fabric's drape. I don't want to see any model walking the runway with any muscle jiggling."

"Except for the heart," Virginia said.

Li Xun closed the copy of the list.

"Mr. Carl," he began.

The Empress Dowager looked at him.

"We need to talk about the models."

"The list has been finalized."

"It's not a problem with the list." Li Xun stood up and walked to his desk.

"It's a matter of standards."

The old man leaned back in his chair, took off his sunglasses, and placed them on the table. This meant he was ready to listen attentively, but it also meant he was prepared for a debate.

"explain."

Li Xun glanced down at the densely marked list on the table, then looked up and met the old lady's blue eyes.

"The way you select models may be killing them."

The air in the office seemed to freeze instantly.

Virginia Wijard stood by the window, a notebook in her hand, but her fingers tightened slightly.

The Empress Dowager's expression remained unchanged, but the blue in her eyes deepened.

"continue."

"Last October, during Paris Fashion Week, a Brazilian model fainted backstage because she had been consuming no more than 800 calories a day for four consecutive weeks." Li Xun's voice was calm, without any emotional fluctuations.

In November, a Russian model was rushed to the emergency room in London with electrolyte imbalance; her agency was still arranging fittings for her on the day she was admitted.

In March of this year, Women's Wear Daily used the word "disturbing" to describe the models' physical condition, but no brand in Paris has publicly responded.

"The measurements of the male models featured in Women's Wear Daily's own magazine haven't changed at all," Karl Lagerfeld interrupted directly.

"It's precisely because everyone is waiting for someone else to make the first move," Li Xun continued.

"So nobody touched it."

Virginia's gaze shifted between Li Xun and the Empress Dowager.

"You are accusing me," the old lady said.

"I'm telling you a fact," Li Xun said, shrugging.

"You are the most important designer in the industry. The standards you set will be copied by everyone. If you choose a model with a 23-inch waist, the entire industry will set 23 inches as the passing grade."

If you make Abbey Lee lose another two kilograms, her agency will make her eat only two apples a day next week.

"Models' body management is their own professional quality."

"Their average age is eighteen or nineteen, Karl," Li Xun interrupted him.

"Eighteen or nineteen-year-olds lack the ability to judge what constitutes reasonable professional ethics; they only know that if they don't reach the designer's required weight, they will be replaced."

Their places will be taken by another, thinner, younger girl.

"The fashion industry is not a charity." Karl Lagerfeld's voice didn't rise, but his pace quickened.

"What I'm doing is presenting the clothing in its best condition. The thickness of the tweed fabric is fixed, and the lines it creates on the body depend on the lines of the body itself."

If there are any protrusions on a person's body that are not part of the design lines, the fabric will deform, and the visual effect will collapse. I'm not holding a beauty contest; I'm choosing a medium that can perfectly present the design.

"The problem lies in this word."

"What do you mean?"

"Models are clothes hangers, carriers, but they are also people. You treat them as tools to present fabric, and then you set a physiologically unreasonable standard for this tool, making young girls exchange their health, and then you call this standard a sense of sophistication."

The old lady stood up. She stood up not because she was angry, but because she needed to stand up to say what she had to say.

"I have been in the industry for fifty years and have experienced every silhouette revolution. I know what kind of body can best present what kind of design. This is not an aesthetic obsession, but a professional judgment."

"Professional judgment cannot be used as an excuse to shirk responsibility." Li Xun stood still, neither retreating nor moving forward.

"You said that tweed needs a flat body surface to show its drape, but have you ever considered that it's the design concept of tweed that needs to change, rather than the healthy weight of the models needing to change?"

"Are you teaching me how to design fabrics?"

"I'm telling you, if your design can only be presented according to one extreme body standard, then the design itself is problematic."

Virginie Viard took a deep breath. In all the time she had known Karl Lagerfeld, the last time anyone had spoken to him like that was Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé.

Their feud is one of the biggest sources of amusement in the Parisian fashion world.

I never knew Rhine had such a temper! She started arguing! She started arguing!

Virginia wasn't always like this. Four years ago, she would have already stepped in as a peacemaker, but now...

Watching a "grand performance" is such a pleasant thing!

The old lady stared at Li Xun for five seconds.

Li Xun picked up the list on the table, which was covered with names.

"The average waist of the models you selected this season is 23 inches, their height is at least 176 cm, and their average BMI is below the lower limit of normal weight set by the World Health Organization."

"Are you spying on my models?"

Li Xun put the list back on the table.

"You shouldn't care about this issue. The problem is that everyone has seen it, but everyone is choosing to pretend they haven't."

"Then what are you going to do?" The old lady's voice had a hint of sharpness.

"Use a model of normal weight to wear tweed, making the garment billow out on her body, and then the media writes the next day that Chanel's silhouettes this season made the model look like a barrel?"

"Then design a dress that looks good on a normal model. Many Chanel clothes are simply not suitable for Asian women. They are not Vic; not everyone has the money and access to buy designer-made clothes." Li Xun spoke without leaving any room for negotiation.

This isn't just something he made up. Many Asian women often feel that luxury ready-to-wear clothes "don't fit" when trying them on: the sleeves are too long, the waistline is wrong, the crotch doesn't stay on, and the shoulders are loose.

The issue isn't about "who has a better body," but rather that brands, in their designs, have long used body data from Caucasians in Europe and America as a benchmark for their default "human body templates" and sizing systems.

When luxury brands make patterns, they use standard "mannequins" and a set of average body size data, which has been based primarily on European and American models and consumers for the past few decades.

Europeans typically have wider shoulders and smaller head circumferences. The same suit, with its structured shoulders in a European or American cut, can easily make Asian women (who tend to have narrower shoulders and slender frames) look like their shoulders are too loose and the sleeves are too long.

Take dresses as an example. European-style "high-waisted" cuts often have a waistline that is lower than the actual natural waist of Asian women. If you force yourself to wear one, it will visually make you look shorter and your lower body will appear shorter.

The sleeve and trouser lengths of women's ready-to-wear clothing are basically designed for models who are 170cm or taller.

For Asian women, who are on average shorter, knee-length skirts often become long skirts and cropped pants bunch up at the ankles. This is not something that can be solved simply by shortening the skirt, because the knee position and the dimensions of the pant leg also change.

……

"You want to be a hero? You want to change all of this?"

"I'm not thinking that way right now."