Rebirth of the Fashion King

Chanel China official website homepage, 2:00 PM on May 16, 2009.

A static banner appeared in the top center of the full-screen view without any prior notice.

Chanel's iconic double C logo is embossed on a pure black background, with serif fonts in both Chinese and English below, wide letter spacing, and a large amount of white space.

Original Chinese text:

Specially invited to attend.

Ms. Liu Yifei.

2009-2010 Autumn/Winter Haute Couture Fashion Show.

The Grand Palais in Paris, July 6.

Karl Lagerfeld personally invited me.

English version:

Crystal Liu.

Chanel Fall-Winter 2009 Haute Couture.

Grand Palais, Paris. 6th July.

By Personal Invitation of Karl Lagerfeld.

There are no modifiers, no brand prefixes or formalities, no qualifiers such as "Greater China" or "Asia Pacific", and no titles such as "Brand Friend" or "Brand Ambassador".

The mere line "By Personal Invitation of Karl Lagerfeld" was enough to bring the entire Chinese-language fashion media to a standstill for a while.

The first screenshot on the entire internet came from the Tianya Fashion section, posted by an ID named "Even gossip needs to follow basic principles," with the title: "Holy crap, Chanel's official website homepage has changed its image, you guys go check it out."

The post was made at 14:08 PM, and the main text consisted of only three words plus a screenshot from the official website: "I am dead."

The first three pages of replies contained garbled text, exclamation marks, and repeated confirmations asking "Is this a photoshopped image?"

At 14:15 PM, a pop-up news alert from Xinlang Entertainment stated: "Chanel officially announced on its website: Liu Yifei has been personally invited by Karl Lagerfeld to attend the July Paris Autumn/Winter Haute Couture show."

Without using terms like "it is reported," "it is suspected," or "it is rumored," the news flash ended with the editor's original words: "As of press time, Chanel China's public relations department has not made any further response, but the information on the official website has been confirmed as an official release."

At 14:21 PM, Liu Yifei herself reposted the official website screenshot, adding the caption: "Thank you, Mr. Carl."

At 2:22 PM, 27 posts simultaneously appeared on the homepage of Liu Yifei's Baidu Tieba, also known as the "Yi Family" main forum.

Sisters, my hands are still shaking, can someone pinch me?

"A personal invitation! A personal invitation! It's from Karl Lagerfeld, the artistic director of Chanel! Do you even know how to read? It's Karl! A personal invitation!"

I cried for a year after "The Forbidden Kingdom," and today I cried the loudest.

When everyone online was criticizing Sissi, saying she'd lost all her resources, where were those people who came forward?

"Damn it, I'm going to thank Huayi on their official website right now, hahaha!"

All members of the Yi family stand up.

At 14:25 PM, an ID named "茜茜的小龙女本命" posted: "In just one week, she went from being universally criticized online to appearing on the Chanel official website homepage. Now that's what you call resources. Those who say Xixi is being blacklisted by capital, aren't you ashamed?"

  

Replying to the first comment: "Huayi essentially paid 127 million euros to get a featured spot on the official website for Xixi. What a benefactor!"

Reply to the second comment: "Here's a joke: Hua Yi went through a lot of trouble trying to secure a Chanel collaboration for his artist, but after two years he couldn't even get a spot on the waiting list. Meanwhile, Xixi got a front-row seat personally invited by Karl Lagerfeld. That's what you call a dimensional reduction attack."

Reply to the third comment: "Sisters, I propose that we all go to Huayi's place today to write 'Thank you Huayi brother'. Who agrees and who disagrees?"

At 14:30 PM, Huayi Brothers Media's official account posted a new update, and within fourteen minutes, over three thousand new comments were added to the comment section. The top-rated replies all followed a uniform pattern:

"Thank you, Brother Huayi, for spending 127 million yuan to promote Xixi globally (heart)."

"Without your rumors, Chanel might not have noticed Sissi so quickly. Thank you. (Hands clasped together)"

"I give this reverse PR a perfect score. I suggest your company smear Xixi more often in the future; the more she smears her, the better her resources will be."

"Is your Ministry of Justice still hiring? I see you guys are pretty good at throwing money around."

14:35 PM, Fan Bingbing's studio.

Fan Bing sat in front of the makeup mirror, her agent standing behind her, holding a newly printed screenshot of the Chanel website, the edges of the paper already wrinkled from being pinched by her fingertips.

Fan Bing didn't take the paper. She glanced at herself in the mirror and asked, "Confirmed?"

"It's true. Many people say that Chanel is supporting their designer."

Fan Bing remained silent for a moment.

She's been to Paris to see big shows, but she's never been to a high-fashion show like Chanel's, or even just sat in the front row...

Chanel's Asia-Pacific media invitation seats, three rows away, are separated from haute couture clients, global editors-in-chief, and royal guests by an insurmountable seating boundary.

She remembered that the dividing line was a dark gray carpet seam, with the media area on the left and the core area on the right.

Liu Yifei was a special guest at the front row of the haute couture event, personally invited by Karl Lagerfeld, and was adjacent to Anna Wintour and the European royal circle.

"She didn't even sign with Huayi Brothers." Fan Bing's voice was very soft.

"She did nothing, just sat at home and got a call from Carl?"

"She didn't do nothing." The agent paused. "She was lucky enough to meet Li Xun on Kangpeng Street."

Fan Bing remained silent.

The dressing room was quiet for a long time before the agent added, "Li Xun is Karl Lagerfeld's man. Why did Hua Yi fall so badly this time? Do you think it's just because of rumors? They targeted his personally taught apprentice. Karl is protecting his own, and incidentally dragging Liu Yifei into the spotlight as well."

"So it wasn't Chanel who chose Liu Yifei, it was Mr. Karl who chose Liu Yifei."

"Is there a difference? Karl is Chanel."

Fan Bing looked in the mirror again, picked up her lipstick, then put it down again: "Organize the information on those affordable luxury brands we talked to before. I'll look at it tonight. Also, what's Zhou Xun's reaction?"

"Her team withdrew all the press releases for the Chanel collaboration that were originally scheduled for late May, and didn't release a single word of them."

Fan Bing smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes: "She's in a worse situation. I've never even been in contact with Chanel, but she had already reached the door, and the door was locked from the inside."

14 points.

Zhou Xun sat on the sofa flipping through a magazine, a Chinese edition of VOGUE from three months ago. She turned the pages slowly, one by one, as if she were reading a publication that had nothing to do with her.

Agent Huang Feng hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and didn't speak immediately.

Zhou Xun didn't look up: "Is it completely cleared away?"

"They've completely withdrawn everything. Press releases, advertorials, and replies to brand cooperation letters of intent have all been withdrawn. The brand has also confirmed that the previously discussed ambassadorial candidate status is no longer being held. Chanel has completely abandoned us."

"What's the reason?"

"Without any reason, Chanel's Asia-Pacific headquarters directly issued a letter terminating communication. The wording was very polite, but the core message was that the brand ambassador had been selected and thanked them for their cooperation."

Zhou Xun placed the magazine on the coffee table, cover down.

Agent Huang Feng hesitated for a moment: "Brother Xun, should we send a blessing? To Leon Lai or Liu Yifei, to save face."

She thought for a moment and said, "I won't post it. Posting anything now would be wrong. Sending blessings would seem sarcastic. I was filming the whole time. Black Li Xun and Liu Yifei have nothing to do with me from beginning to end. It's Hua Yi and Chanel's business."

"But your name has already been dragged out on the forum. Someone dug up your previous Chanel-related press releases and said that you almost got selected as well."

"Let them talk. In this industry, almost is a big difference."