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The issue was that because the design was so unconventional, its success would be determined by how well it was promoted.
Rowena carefully examined the boy’s drawing.
‘He draws incredibly well.’
Even though it was a black-and-white drawing, the expressions and the texture of the clothes were all vivid.
For someone to be able to draw this much during a short break meant that his hands were very fast.
“You seem to draw really well, so why aren’t you the teacher’s disciple?”
“Me? H-how could I possibly dare….”
“Oh, there’s no such thing! What’s your name?”
The boy’s face turned red again at those words, and he spoke cautiously.
“Dante.”
At that moment.
A breeze blew from somewhere and whipped away the hair covering the boy’s eyes.
The boy’s face, thus revealed, was incredibly handsome!
His curly hair, his sharp and prominent bridge of the nose, his round eyes, and his balanced lips were nothing short of a work of art.
The moment she saw him, one thing flashed through Rowena’s mind.
‘Could it be… this boy is the genius handsome painter, Dante?’
The one who is said to draw only in black and white, expressing every single ripple reflected in a lake and every single shadow of a leaf with just a piece of charcoal!
However, because no one recognized him, he suffered from financial difficulties and sold his self-portrait, which then became a huge hit!
The genius rookie painter who appears like a comet a few years later!
‘Yes! If I think about it, there’s no need to use colors!’
That is only for the sake of description. Color is also an important part of clothing.
But the chemise dress is white. This means there is no need to paint colors.
‘And if it’s him, he’ll be able to draw sufficiently with just black and white!’
Then wouldn’t the cost of the flyers be easily solved?
As expected, I am smart!
Rowena grinned and took the hand of the boy, Dante.
“Dante, do you like drawing?”
“Huh? T-that’s… of course I like it. That’s why I’m working here…. My dream is to become a painter someday. Of course, paints are too expensive… and I don’t even know how to use them….”
“It’s okay!”
Rowena smiled brightly.
“That dream, I’ll make it come true for you!”
“So, you want to proceed by putting the chemise dress forward? And you want those flyers to be in black and white.”
“Yes, that’s right!”
Rowena nodded energetically. This was Seymour’s company.
And right in the middle of a meeting about the brand, Rowena had come looking for him, saying it was urgent.
And she brought along a scruffy boy.
“What do the others think?”
“This must be proceeded with at all costs, Your Grace.”
The first person to speak up at Seymour’s question was the head of planning, Derrick.
“It’s a direction that can capture both impact and topicality! If it succeeds, it’ll be a huge hit!”
“But to tell people to wear a nightgown as outdoor wear right away, isn’t that too unconventional? I wonder if anyone will actually buy this….”
“No! What’s important now is the buzz! Buzz has just rolled in without spending a single penny!”
He slammed the desk, jumped up from his seat, and began to speak passionately.
“First, we need to imprint the brand in people’s minds! It’s important to make them stop by the shop once! If they see something they like among the items, they’ll buy something!”
“N-no. Still, if it doesn’t sell, it’ll be troublesome….”
“They are noblewomen who came to buy clothes anyway, do you think they won’t buy a petticoat to wear inside? The chemise is bound to sell one way or another! Then we can just claim again that the chemise dress is this popular! That’s how trends are made! Hahaha! To think I couldn’t come up with this!!”
Derrick eventually became so frantic that he hopped around and even threw his pen.
“No! It’s not that I couldn’t think of this, but the young lady who thought of such a thing is amazing! Your Grace! The young lady is a genius! This must be proceeded with immediately! Immediately! Before someone else snatches it away!!”
“Drag that fellow out.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Only after Axel Portman dragged Derrick out did the meeting proceed again.
However, perhaps because Derrick’s words were so powerful, no further opposing opinions were voiced.
“Certainly, if it works, it is the best method.”
“It’s difficult to think of another way at this point, and above all, there is no loss in the budget….”
“It’s a risky method, but isn’t it an all-out war regardless? Since it’s going to be risky anyway, it’s better to bet on the side with potential. At any rate, doing it this way will help sell at least a little more.”
As the conversation went on, the gazes toward Rowena, who was sitting on one side, softened. It was to the point that even Rowena could feel it.
‘This is a bit embarrassing.’
But anyway, it means things went that well, right?
Hehe!
When Rowena smiled brightly, several employees clutched their hearts. It was not a surprising thing that Axel Portman was among them.
In the end, by a unanimous vote, Rowena’s opinion was passed.
Seymour closed the documents as if there was nothing more to see and spoke.
“Proceed. Use the entire scheduled budget for the flyers. Instead, have Dante proceed as the person in charge. Have his name put on the Somerset sponsorship list.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
The employees, who answered briskly, left their seats.
Seymour, who remained, rubbed his eyes, which were deeply stained with fatigue, a few times and then stood up.
“Rowena, you should go back now too.”
“What about you, Duke? You too-”
“I will go with you even if you don’t ask.”
Yay!
Rowena, jumping with joy, followed Seymour quickly while chattering.
“Can I hold the Duke’s hand? I won’t ask for a shoulder ride!”
“You may hold it.”
“Then what about hanging onto you?”
“That is not allowed.”
“Hmph.”
Rowena gloomily took Seymour’s hand and left the company.
A short while later, a new clothing brand was launched by Seymour’s company.
The brand name was ‘White Rose’.
It was a name that would change the trends of high society in an instant.
White Rose was a literal hit.
Of course, it wasn’t like that from the very beginning.
“Madam, did you see that flyer?”
“Do you mean the nightgown flyer? Of course I saw it. My goodness, how could such an embarrassing thing happen….”
The aristocrats were conservative. To be told to wear a petticoat, which was naturally worn inside until yesterday, as outerwear was something that would buy resentment.
Everywhere in high society, people talked about how absurd the ‘nightgown dress’ promoted by White Rose was.
At first glance, this could be interpreted negatively, but in reality, it was not.
Conversely, it meant that the name White Rose was being heard everywhere.
In fact, it’s a natural story. It was no exaggeration to say that there was no one in the city now who had not seen the black-and-white flyer of White Rose at least once.
“Still, the child drawn on the flyer was very cute.”
“Especially because the drawing is in black and white, I think it feels more pure.”
With the unconventional dress and the mass offensive of flyers, White Rose literally became a hot potato.
At least in terms of topicality, there was no brand that could keep up with White Rose.
Rather, the situation was such that Eden, which launched at the same time, was being completely buried.
Then, that incident occurred.
“Your Grace! A request for an inspection of the fabric quality of White Rose has come in!”
“Regarding the quality assurance, wasn’t that something already carried out?”
“Well, it seems someone filed a complaint saying they couldn’t trust the quality assurance. Articles are already pouring out in large numbers!”
It was obvious who had filed the complaint.
Picking a fight with a competitor’s quality to somehow generate articles was already an age-old tactic.
[‘Rural Life with Family’ White Rose, Allegations of Fabric Quality Abnormality]
But unfortunately for Eden, White Rose was a brand that was created because good cotton fabric had become available in the first place.
“It doesn’t matter, so proceed with the inspection. No, rather, it turned out well. It would be fine to let them know everything in detail on this occasion.”
Thanks to that, the news that the fabric quality of White Rose was top-notch spread quickly.
Eden’s trickery had instead become an opportunity to promote White Rose.
With the good image obtained through that, another event occurred that served as the finishing touch.
“By the way, have you been to the Countess of Queensberry’s tea party?”
“Of course. The Countess’s tea party is all the rage these days. I tried it too, and it was novel and fun. Having a tea party as if going on a picnic.”
The famous figure who was swaying high society, the Countess of Queensberry, had popularized something called a ‘Picnic Tea Party’.
It was about enjoying tea time with a cloth spread out in the garden and refreshments laid out, rather than sitting around a tea table and talking.
Just like being on a picnic!
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