Rebirth of the Fashion King

Paris Fashion Week.

Many people know it as one of the world's four major fashion weeks, but it is at the very top of the entire fashion pyramid.

It's not just a series of clothing shows, but a grand event that blends exquisite craftsmanship, artistic expression, commercial competition, and cultural influence.

Among the four major fashion weeks (New York, London, Milan, and Paris), Paris holds an unshakeable supreme position.

If New York showcases commerce, London showcases avant-garde fashion, and Milan showcases craftsmanship, then Paris showcases the ultimate in fashion art and the dream of luxury.

Paris Fashion Week is held in multiple seasons.

For example, 2010.

2010秋冬男装周时间是2010年1月21日– 24日。

2010春夏高级定製周时间是2010年1月25日– 28日。

2010秋冬女装成衣周时间是2010年3月2日– 10日。（李寻的计划是在这个时间办秀）

然后就是2011春夏男装周：时间2010年6月23日– 27日。

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紧接着就是2010秋冬高级定製周：时间2010年7月5日– 8日。

最后的2011春夏女装成衣周时间是2010年9月28日– 10月6日。

As the artistic director of Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld was involved in every show, while also overseeing Fendi and his own eponymous brand.

That's absolutely terrifying!

Fashion Caesar lives up to its name.

This is the main reason why Li Xun came to Chanel to curry favor.

Although being reborn made it easy for him to make money, once someone is financially independent, he starts to dream of even greater things. Since Li Xun didn't have any special advantages, he chose to develop his career quietly at Chanel instead of starting his own brand right after graduation.

……

After Wednesday.

31 Rue Cambon, Paris.

Li Xun's office.

He sat down at the drawing table.

Several lines have already been drawn on the sketch paper, which is the initial concept for the venue of the next fall/winter ready-to-wear show.

巴黎时装周2010秋冬女装成衣周的官方日期：2010年3月2日至10日。

Chanel's show is traditionally scheduled for the first Tuesday, March 2nd.

It is now late May 2009, and there are still about ten months until the show.

For the creative process of ready-to-wear collections, this timeline means that the silhouette and color story must be finalized before July, fabric development begins in August, all design drawings are completed in September, sample production begins in October, and the first fitting takes place in December.

As for the runway concept, Mr. Karl and Ms. Virginie usually finalize it after the silhouette is determined, which is between June and August.

He knew their requirements for the show space.

The show is held annually at the Grand Palais in Paris, in a glass-domed hall built for the 1900 World's Fair, which covers an area of ​​over 13,000 square meters.

Karl Lagerfeld's fashion shows never repeated themselves.

For the Fall/Winter 2008 ready-to-wear show, a carousel was built in the Grand Palais, with huge Chanel classic elements magnified to a surreal size, including quilted patterns, camellias, and pearl necklaces.

In the spring/summer of 2009, the facade of 31 Cambon Street was created, and models walked out from the "door".

The Fall/Winter 2009 collection, which just ended in March, was themed "Haute Couture Workshops." It brought artisans from Lesage Embroidery Workshop and Lemarié Feather Workshop directly to the center of the runway to complete their final work in front of the audience.

So what to do in the fall/winter of 2010?

Li Xun picked up a pencil.

Before his rebirth, he remembered the show in March 2010 very clearly; Karl Lagerfeld had created an iceberg.

A real iceberg, weighing 265 tons, was transported from northern Sweden. The temperature inside the show was controlled at minus four degrees Celsius, and models wearing artificial fur walked in melting snow water. It was Karl Lagerfeld's response to the issue of global warming.

But Li Xun wasn't the Empress Dowager; he wasn't prepared for a grand, icy show.

He turned to a page of the sketch paper and started drawing again.

A sphere, or globe, with a diameter of over fifteen meters, has the coordinates of Chanel boutiques around the world on its surface, and the outline of each city is marked with metal relief.

The base is a black painted steel structure with a built-in mechanical device that allows the entire sphere to rotate slowly.

The sphere wasn't at the edge of the stage; it was right in the center. Models walked around it once before returning backstage. The entire show didn't have a traditional runway; the path was a circle around the sphere.

Li Xun painted very quickly.

The surface of the sphere is divided into sections based on the hand-drawn globes used by 19th-century explorers, with latitude and longitude lines inlaid with metal wire.

The outline of the mainland is simplified, with almost no coloring, retaining a pure black background, except for the location of the boutique.

Paris, New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, London, Moscow, Dubai, Hong Kong, Beijing...

Li Xun used a pencil to write a line of words on the edge of the draft paper.

Lighting sequence: The entire venue is dark at the start of the show, with warm light shining through the inside of the sphere, illuminating only the boutique's marker points.

As the music begins, the sphere starts to rotate, the lights gradually illuminate, and finally, at the end of the performance, the sphere is fully lit up...

This was a feasible solution given the technological environment of 2009.

There was no explicit statement about global warming, no frantic logistics of transporting icebergs from Sweden, and no need to turn the Royal Palace into a cold storage facility.

The core of this plan is Chanel's global footprint, the brand's imperial narrative.

In 2009, when the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis was still lingering, the theme of "the world" conveyed the message that no matter the economic situation, the brand continued to expand and remained unshakable.

And it's suitable for Chanel.

Li Xun understood the Empress Dowager's aesthetic preferences better than anyone else.

A giant globe with mechanical devices simultaneously taps into three preferences: mega-worship, fascination with mechanical devices, and obsession with mixing classicism and modernism.

He marked the date 2009.05.26 in the lower right corner of the drawing and signed his name with the initials LX.

Then turn to the next page.

……

"Has Rhine been in this state for several days?"

The old lady frowned slightly when she saw the sign on Li Xun's office door that read "No Disturbance".

This kid wants to put on a big show, and he doesn't even come to consult him? Does he think he can produce a satisfactory result by just burying himself in his office?

Virginia looked at the closed office door and slowly opened her mouth.

"I don't know. I only remember that after saying that last time, it's been like this ever since. I suspect that Rhine is serious this time."

"He was serious, of course. Little Rhine never jokes about work, and he knows we don't like young people who talk big."

As the old lady spoke, she walked toward her office, and Virginie followed.

"Has Emily gone back to the ready-to-wear department?"

Virginia Wyard paused for a moment.

"Yes, she did something that was detrimental to the workshop's unity, but Rhine kept her. You know, I can't refuse Rhine when she's making faces at me."

"He's still so kind, hahaha..."

The Empress Dowager was amused, a genuine smile, but after a while, she became sad.

As the person who has spent the most time with him every day over the years, Virginie can sense this subtle emotional shift.

"We'd be lucky if the three of us stayed this way. If he were more ordinary, we could stay like this forever..."

"Karl..."