Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 157
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Infinite Talent Reset Life Episode 157
-Has anyone heard Johann’s fan song?
└I heard it.
└Sigh… When the handshake event I won was canceled, I thought Johann was just like other American stars…
└Me too. But I was wrong.
└I’m reflecting on myself.
-I swear. I, Mitsuko, will love Johann forever!
└Me too!
└I envy Japanese people.
└American fans get lost! You guys have received so many gifts!
└We also want to receive a song as a gift!
└This is the Japanese Wolfie board! Speak in Japanese!
└You can see Johann anytime and receive gifts, but you want to receive songs as gifts too? You greedy people!
-The biggest winners are definitely the Nishihara family, right?
└I’m jealous! Grandmother!
Japan’s community board.
Johann’s Japanese fans and American fans clashed.
* * *
“…You’re saying all the schedules are finished?”
H&M New York Office.
The secretary nods at Ben Wood’s question.
“All official schedules ended a week ago.”
The schedules for movie promotion.
“North American box office totaled 160 million dollars. It ranks within the top 4 among June releases, and worldwide box office is currently 250 million dollars.”
Industry officials evaluate that even if more revenue is generated, it won’t exceed 20 million dollars.
This is purely screen performance, and the prevailing assessment is that it will be a work that steadily runs long through subsequent DVD sales and OTT services.
“Reviews on sites like Rotten Tomatoes are also decent.”
There were many good reviews, such as it being a realistic disaster film and a time when you could feel human psychology well during disasters.
“And school starts next week.”
The beginning as a 10th grader.
The start of full-scale academics.
From now on, things will get busy in a different sense than before.
“270 million dollars from his first starring work…”
Even with an outstanding actor like Mark Wahlberg, it’s an amazing performance.
‘America will start burning from now.’
Slowly burning is characteristic of Americans.
Some of the audience who watched the movie will start exploring, digging into, and loving Johann from now on.
As the box office proves, there are already many who fell in love the moment they saw the movie.
“Then we’ll start from now.”
The collaboration design.
He’ll draw designs intermittently while continuing his studies.
“What should we do?”
The design needs to come out within at least six months to benefit from the current popularity. If it exceeds a year, it might just create a small issue and end.
‘Though that possibility is low.’
Johann, who never knows when he’ll create what kind of issue.
But there’s anxiety because he already has a record of disappearing for 4 years.
Ben Wood also nods at the secretary’s words.
The 4-year gap was too sudden and long to deny.
Johann, who chose freedom over fame at the time, might find the current popularity burdensome.
“Let’s do this. Since he said he’s coming today anyway, let’s attach a mid-level designer to his return trip so they can exchange education and ideas about design…”
Ring! Ring!
“Wait.”
Ben Wood, who checked his phone, chuckles.
“It’s Johann.”
The secretary’s eyes also light up.
“Yes, Johann. Huh? …What?”
-I finished making all the clothes.
Ben Wood stared blankly at the secretary.
H&M New York Branch conference room.
“Phew.”
A woman in her 40s dressed stylishly in a white blouse and black slacks blows out cigarette smoke.
“A model?”
“Plus actor, singer, and composer, Andy.”
Andy Murray.
Chief designer of H&M New York Branch.
“The founder of Saint Rock, holy knight, Eric you want to hug. Haven’t you heard of him?”
“I haven’t heard of him.”
When would she have time to look up such things when she’s busy designing.
“Ah, then that’s it. Marketing to ride on popularity and increase sales.”
Issue marketing.
“Aw, I thought… our Ben Wood was inserting a parachute like other bastards.”
“Hey, Andy!”
Andy Murray, who snorted, puts out her cigarette.
She couldn’t smell like cigarettes when a precious person who would boost sales was coming.
‘Who should I assign.’
Should she assign a designer with declining sales but who’s diligent, or someone with good skills but high pride who might cause opinion conflicts.
As chief designer, she couldn’t help but worry.
“Isn’t this a bit wrong?”
“…What is?”
Andy Murray looks at a woman in her late 20s who became a mid-level designer this quarter.
“Even if that kid is somewhat popular, it’s not really a collaboration.”
Fashion design is the designer’s territory.
No matter how popular someone is, she can’t tolerate them invading this territory.
“And he’s only 16 years old!”
This is treating them, treating designers, with disrespect.
“…Wow.”
Andy Murray, who clapped, looks at the other designers.
“Do you all think the same?”
“Well…”
The young people look reluctant, while designers who have worked as mid-level for over 5 years send pleading looks asking to be chosen.
“Right. That’s normal.”
If they knew how much revenue star collaborations generate and how much incentive that provides, they couldn’t help but show such reactions.
“Andy!”
“Hey. If you want to do art, go independent and open an atelier, or go to the haute couture teams of high fashion brands like Chanel.”
H&M’s motto is to dress more people in H&M clothes and make them happy.
Popular yet pretty clothes.
That is H&M’s identity.
“What kind of worthless pride is that… Did you design from inside the womb?! So how much sales have you brought in?! More than me?!”
“…”
There’s no way that could be true.
“It’s because of kids like you that H&M gets criticized. Nobodies trying to do art!”
Attaching grass-like tassels to sleeves or 2-inch short mini skirts.
Besides these, there are too many bizarre things H&M’s designers have done.
The fact that they didn’t reject those and sold them shows just how good a company H&M is.
“So if you’re going to do it, don’t think those turds in your heads are art, do the art that the public thinks of! At least for this company that treats half-baked people like you as designers!”
“…”
“If you understand, go buy some coffee…”
Knock knock knock!
Andy Murray and the designers looked toward the door.
* * *
“If your goal was to surprise me, you succeeded.”
Until he contacted them about coming to New York, Ben Wood had simply thought it was just to share opinions about collaboration designs with designers and fabric dyeing.
“Then I succeeded. Haha.”
“Mm.”
Ben Wood looks at the suitcase Johann brought.
“Can I look forward to this?”
“To some extent?”
“Oh.”
Ben Wood smiles and turns around.
‘He must have received praise from acquaintances.’
Johann knows that he’s a genius with outstanding artistic sense.
However, drawing and design are completely different in nature.
Moreover, when it comes to clothing and fashion, it becomes even more demanding.
Because people actually wear them.
Because H&M is a company.
Various factors must be considered.
‘I hope he won’t be too disappointed.’
Fashion is such a mysterious world that even Andy Murray, the head designer of the New York branch, only gets about 10 out of 100 designs approved.
Even if he becomes discouraged, he hopes Johann will consider it nourishment for his future life.
‘This child will quickly shake it off and get back up.’
Ben Wood hoped for this as he headed to the conference room.
“Just some 16-year-old!”
“…Seems like they’re having a conversation. Shall we have some coffee for a moment?”
“No. It’s fine. It seems like they’re talking about me.”
“Mm.”
Ben Wood’s expression, who had been staring intently at the conference room door while hiding his displeasure, soon changes.
‘That’s Andy for you.’
As befitting a head designer, she has her head on straight.
“If you understand…”
“Let’s go in.”
Knock knock knock!
Opening the door and entering, the surprised designers jump to their feet.
The young designers fidget nervously, wondering if their conversation was overheard.
‘If you’re going to be this scared, you shouldn’t have said anything.’
For some reason, it seems like responsibility and thinking are disappearing from young people as the years go by.
Ben Wood, clicking his tongue internally, sat in an empty seat, and Johann stands before them.
“Nice to meet you. I’m 16-year-old Johann Jefferson, who will be conducting a collaboration with H&M thanks to my modest popularity, which is more than I deserve.”
The young designers turn their heads away as Johann’s indifferent gaze sweeps over them.
Andy Murray and the older designers’ eyes light up with interest.
Seeing the divided reactions, Johann smiles.
“Rather than many words, it would be better to look first and then discuss, right?”
Click! Click!
Johann opens his suitcase and pours the clothes inside onto the table.
“These are the outfits I made on my own after signing with H&M’s New York branch. And…”
Thud! Thud thud!
Johann takes out photos from his jacket and sticks them on the whiteboard.
“These are photos taken wearing these actual clothes. Except for one, all the models are ordinary people.”
“Oh, you prepared thoroughly…”
Andy Murray, who had been smiling warmly and praising, closes her mouth and stares intently at the photos.
The other designers and Ben Wood do the same.
Thud!
Andy Murray hastily grabs one of the clothes and unfolds it.
“Huh?”
A linen short gown.
Large letters written vertically from the left shoulder to the hem and a wide knot that ties at the chest catch the eye.
A red knot painted with mysterious patterns.
‘This is quite a fresh attempt.’
Due to the knot’s position, it looks like outerwear rather than a bathrobe.
But what surprises her even more is the color.
At first glance it seems white as snow, but when light hits it, a faint pink emerges, evoking the word elegance.
The kind of elegance you can only feel from high fashion luxury items.
‘This outfit isn’t complete!’
There must be a matching skirt.
Looking at the photo again, she nods and rummages through the clothes to pull out a black 3/4 button-front skirt.
A button-front skirt with buttons along the body’s center line.
But four buttons have been removed, creating a 1-foot (about 30cm) slit that maximizes the thrilling exposure.
What about the bright blue fabric painted with a golden dragon, or the fabric clearly painted with ancient Japanese art?
Wrapped around the waist, it’s a wrap skirt; spread on a chair, it’s a towel.
The durag, a headwrap commonly worn by Black people, features a jade ornament with a flowing cursive ㅎ pattern that gives off a distinctly Oriental feel.
‘Everything is Eastern style.’
There are many Korean and Japanese influences, but the elegance of high fashion is infused within, making it not jarring at all.
The level where you’d suspect hidden cameras if you spotted it on the street.
‘The difference between tackiness and luxury is just a few millimeters of line.’
With just slightly more or less, the boundary between luxury and cheap goods becomes clear.
“And this fabric color…”
Andy Murray thinks of one person.
Once, during the industrial era, California fabric very briefly swept America’s fabric market.
‘It was because of just one person.’
One artisan who was obsessive to the point of being called a pervert in the field of dyeing.
Though he died without his name being known, being just a humble weaver, she knew his name, having fallen into fashion after seeing the fabric he left behind.
‘Ned Walton.’
The dyeing craftsman of California.
‘It looks like something he made!’
Even after entering the modern era, despite being able to make detailed settings with computers, Ned Walton’s unique color sense still produces many defective products.
From these colorful fabrics, the rich scent of that Ned Walton can be strongly felt.
“Oh, and this is a design I couldn’t produce due to lack of time.”
Johann attaches a design sketch to the whiteboard.
“A suit? A dress?”
The concept is spy.
It was designed with his work in Japan as the motif.
“This is what you call something you made yourself?”
“How is it?”
At Johann’s innocent gaze, Andy Murray and the designers burst into hollow laughter.
“So where is the person who made this outfit?”
“…Excuse me?”
“I mean the person who did this design and the person who made this fabric.”
Not you, a 16-year-old kid.
“We need to have the collaboration meeting with them.”
“Ah…”
‘I suppose they could think that way.’
Johann chuckled softly.
“Should I sketch here? Or should I try making something?”
There are dozens of designs still only in his head.
He could pull out as many as they wanted if they wished.
“But if we could add just one more contract clause.”
Placing scar-covering stickers in all H&M stores in New York, both online and offline.
Johann looked at Ben Wood as if asking whether he would accept.
* * *
‘He really did draw it himself…’
After finishing the verification and Johann had left.
In the sample production room located within the company, Andy Murray, who had been looking at the clothes Johann had quickly made, turns her gaze to Ben Wood.
“Just what kind of monster did we sign a contract with?”
“…Would you believe me if I said I didn’t know either?”
It’s the truth.
Ben Wood never even imagined that Johann would bring such masterpieces.
“I have to believe it… when the evidence is right here like this.”
He clearly knew what intention he had when designing and drawing the lines.
An aspect that could never be shown if someone had taught him.
It even seems like he learned sewing for this contract.
Andy Murray’s gaze turns to the young designers.
‘Now who’s the real designer?’
“…”
The young designers who couldn’t lift their heads.
‘Idiots.’
There are geniuses in any field.
It’s just that the genius named Johann was beyond specifications.
‘Not only singing, composition, and acting, but even costume design genius…’
What kind of monster is this.
Andy Murray shook her head and looked at Ben Wood again.
“There’s a unit cost issue, so we can’t produce everything, but…”
“Congratulations, Andy. You’ll have at least one season of vacation.”
H&M presents new designs every month and removes the bottom 5 percent of designs from online and offline stores.
Johann presented over 30 pieces of clothing.
Ben Wood’s words were exaggerated, but still, the workload would be reduced to less than half for one season.
However, Andy Murray’s complexion is dark.
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
Johann’s designs are luxurious like high fashion brands.
Subtle luxury that’s not excessive.
Slight avant-garde elements.
That’s the problem.
H&M’s main customer base is teenagers, ordinary people who would find it burdensome to buy expensive clothes.
Such customers’ standards will rise.
“Hmm…”
Ben Wood smiles coldly.
“Is that a problem?”
If there’s a complaint, he wants to ask this.
Is there a reason to keep paying you expensive salaries and incentives when you’re being outpaced by a mere 16-year-old?
“…No.”
“Then there’s no problem.”
If customers’ standards rise, then we just need to keep producing designs of this quality.
Just like we’ve been doing until now.
Like competing with ZARA, Uniqlo, and others to win.
“…Yes.”
“Then let’s wrap up the first meeting here.”
Ben Wood stood up, and Andy Murray let out a long sigh.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
