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[A Paris date with cute Dohee ❤️ @Just_Do_Hee]
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6 hours ago
—What are these cute kids doing ㅠㅠㅠ
—Their combined visuals are seriously the best in K-pop history...
—LOL Lee Dohee flicking her sunglasses is so fucking annoying
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'What's this unni doing, posting a two-shot?'
That was the thought that crossed my mind as I fiddled with my phone in the car heading to the fashion show, when I came across Sera unni's social media post where she'd suddenly tagged me in a personal two-shot.
It hadn't even been a day since she posted about Fashion Week, and now a personal two-shot?
'She's going to get an earful from the JS staff again.'
More than anything, our groups were in fierce competition with each other, regardless of how close we were personally.
Still, I felt quite good thanks to Sera unni's affection.
The car slowed down.
"You may prepare to get off."
Hearing the staff member in the front seat, I draped an outer garment over my shoulder.
Outside, countless crowds were already gathered here and there.
It was my first overseas Fashion Week, so I was a little excited, but not nervous.
My manager was there, getting out first to open the door for me.
Robust-looking bodyguards were there.
And of course, countless reporters were clicking their shutters.
—DOHEEEEEE!!!!
Of course, the voices shouting my name were incredibly loud.
Still, I couldn't exactly go "come on, come on" like yesterday...
'Should I greet them the French way?'
This morning's greeting involved blowing hand kisses.
It was a bit chaotic, but before I knew it, I had quickly entered the fashion show venue.
* * *
"Hi."
Before the fashion show.
The exhibition hall was bustling with several reporters, various guests, and their personal staff.
"So we meet here. It's so hard to see your face these days. You haven't even checked your messages lately."
"Oh...?"
After exchanging brief greetings with other guests, Rira clicked over in her high heels, calmly brushed off her clothes, and sat down beside me, speaking in a whisper.
"Long time no see? Hello?"
"I can't say hello. Because of someone."
"...Who? Are you talking about them?"
I was a bit shameless, but I avoided Rira's gaze and subtly turned my head to point at our surroundings.
From famous celebrities whose names you'd know even in Korea to industry insiders including designers and models.
They each seemed relaxed, exchanging cheek kisses, half-embracing one another, and making small talk.
However, their sidelong glances were all fixed on Rira, who had just entered.
Though Rira herself was staring holes through me.
She'll shoot lasers out of her eyes.
"Unni, who's that person on the left? The one draped in beige pearl."
"Probably Editor-in-Chief Allis."
"What about the one in red?"
"A model and designer. Tehez Rina."
"Wow, even people like that? Rira unni is so popular."
To put it nicely, Rira looked sophisticated and cold.
To be honest, she looked like she had a shitty attitude.
People often found her intimidating.
Of course, her actual personality was like that too.
Still, thumbs up.
"As expected, one of the hottest women in the world."
"...What."
At most, to me she was basically just a weird text buddy anyway.
Perhaps she liked that her expressionless face relaxed a little.
"But wow, what a coincidence. Sitting right next to each other like this."
For me, it was simply a relief.
Since I'd have someone to chatter with beside me.
Fashion shows weren't my taste, so I'd been more than a little worried it might be boring.
"You think it's a coincidence?"
"Ah, so they seated us together because we're both Korean? Because we speak the same language? I guess. But I'm fine since my English is good. Your English is good too, unni."
"That's not it. I'm the one who had you seated next to me."
I whispered so only Rira could hear.
"As expected, even a powerhouse to Chanel."
Rira closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Was this some intimidation strategy to make herself look bigger?
It was meaningless since I was much taller.
"...I requested it. I asked if I could sit next to you, the one who just became a new ambassador."
"As expected, one of the hottest women who gets even Chanel to grant her every request?"
"Huu..."
Rira, exhaling the rest of her breath, raised her hand toward the camera pointed at her and muttered under her breath.
"I'll just get to the point. Did you copy me?"
"Me?"
It was the question I'd been inwardly waiting for.
Because from Rira's position, it was natural to think that way.
The fact that our fashion and jewelry ambassador brands both overlapped—she might feel the brand was snubbing her, so she wouldn't be in a good mood.
In fact, in Korea, articles were coming out calling me the "Second Rira?"
I wasn't exactly happy about it.
"Ah, no. You wouldn't have copied me."
But instead, Rira began to laugh.
"All of a sudden?"
"I like it. That title of being the second whatever. I hope they write lots of articles about it."
"Yes."
"Look at this, your expression is pretty. Do you know what your face looks like right now, Dohee? You should manage your expression. Ah, my pride is hurt. It's this kind of face. I really like it."
This narcissist bitch was starting again.
If you looked closely, she definitely had a genuine personality disorder.
Unlike my healthy self-esteem.
As if something had happened to her when she was young.
"But you're not going to answer? Why you deliberately overlapped brands. You knew it would become a topic of discussion, didn't you? Right?"
"Unni."
Rira patted my back.
As if urging me to talk.
"Yes, Dohee-ssi."
Obviously, I wasn't close enough to Rira to tell her my true feelings.
'I hadn't even been conscious of overlapping with her in the first place.'
I wasn't intellectually lacking.
If I said that outright, Rira would act even more pathologically.
And I didn't particularly want to fight with her.
So I decided to talk in a roundabout way.
"Do you know Stravinsky?"
Of course, she probably knew.
"I do. There's even a movie. Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky. The love story between Chanel and pianist Stravinsky. I found it quite entertaining."
"Yes, I was going to talk about that movie—."
"But... I think I know what you're getting at without even hearing it. Stravinsky, the pianist and master composer whom Chanel loved and sponsored."
Rira nodded with slightly waning interest.
"And you, Lee Dohee, a genius pianist and famous idol. Something like that?"
"It's a bit different..."
She was still chuckling, saying I was young and cute.
"Why, doesn't it seem like people have that kind of consciousness? That classical music is unnecessarily luxurious."
"All of a sudden?"
"Yes. It's random, but."
"Most people probably think that way. They say it's cultured."
"Then do you also know that Stravinsky didn't actually date Chanel?"
The fashion show venue was still noisy.
Whether she knew or not, Rira gave no answer.
"Stravinsky is one of the few pianists who wrote an autobiography, yet there's not a single mention of Coco Chanel in it. The peak of the affair rumors with Chanel was actually the same period when his affair with another woman was revealed. Anyway, the affair was real. What was her name... anyway, this mistress's story appears quite detailed in his autobiography."
"But Coco Chanel herself, the founder of Chanel... apparently never firmly denied the rumors and intentionally kept things vague. Even after her death, the brand and head designers supported making a movie out of what was still nothing more than a wild rumor."
That was the movie she had watched.
"Well, how many people would know the truth? It was just something Chanel used as a premiumization strategy. What I'm saying is just that. Stravinsky is a famous classical composer and pianist, and that conceptual image was simply beneficial for Chanel."
I continued, opening my mouth anew.
"Let me tell you another story. Since I became an ambassador this time, I studied a bit, and apparently the clothes at Fashion Week are all ready-to-wear? Prêt-à-porter. Was it called Ready-to-wear in English? Off-the-rack clothes you can buy and wear immediately, right?"
Rira nodded.
"Yes. And apparently there's another fashion show in Paris that's the opposite of prêt-à-porter. Haute couture. In Korean, the literal translation would be something like a high-class tailor shop, high-end custom clothing?"
"Right."
"Ah, these days it even comes up in other idols' song lyrics, like my clothes are haute couture. Anyway."
Rira was smiling, but it was obvious she was thinking, 'Hurry up and say what you want to say.'
"I keep saying I looked things up, but I searched for haute couture fashion shows several times too."
Of course, I was still slowly laying out the background.
"It was fun. Designers compete to see who can build more wondrous structures on the models' bodies. The models are like, wow, that's brutal, brutal. They're going to walk in that? Then the VIPs watch and go, ooh, ooh, that one's amazing!? and applaud, saying it's cool."
"But in my eyes... I didn't get it. Haute couture's original meaning is custom clothing, but I wondered if it was really clothing made by understanding an individual's style and direction. What should I call it, a group acrobatics show that everyone enjoys together? I've read quite a lot of books to build my culture, but I can't explain this."
Around then, I briefly surveyed the interior of the fashion show venue.
"If you look at articles or magazines, they only write that I can't understand it because I'm the general public. It's hurtful to my pride. But then again, I don't know much about art. I wonder if I'm thinking too old-fashioned..."
The bustle ahead of the show seemed to be settling down.
"Unni. Why do you think haute couture fashion is so abstruse?"
"Well, probably because they pursue experimental and innovative designs to emphasize artistry. They also use various materials and techniques for artistic expression."
Rira's words were no different from the expressions in articles.
Of course, that could be an answer too.
But I preferred a more intuitive answer.
"I always end up thinking this way. It's because the kings who originally set the standards for haute couture have disappeared. Some people still long for the royal families and emperors of the medieval or early modern periods. But there's no king left to imitate."
Rira smirked at my words but also pouted.
"So you're saying you'll be the one to provide that answer? Yourself?"
"Come on... I'm not some teenager. What I mean is that designers no longer make clothes for kings; instead, it's become a feeling of bestowing upon consumers the right to become kings themselves and provide the answer. The power dynamic between producer and consumer has been reversed."
Without affirming or denying, Rira just twitched her eyebrow.
"They say the customer is king, after all. Spending money and yet being looked down upon. Hmph."
Of course, I wouldn't be buying these expensive clothes with my own money.
"I think the reason the image that classical music is luxurious formed is the same. It's because classical music is what royalty of the past listened to. In reality, these days it's no different from music that plays on the radio."
I shook my shoulders and laughed playfully.
"So my conclusion is... if it's a brand so obsessed with image-making, wouldn't they benefit from me in various ways even if I don't go out of my way to do anything? That's the answer that came from that kind of calculated thought process."
'Anyway, it's not because I was conscious of you.'
However, Rira, who would interpret it self-centeredly anyway, seemed to understand what I meant, her eyes growing languid.
"I really don't know about you. You seem simple, yet needlessly complicated. Any other person would just condense it by saying, 'It's just a luxury image.'"
"Is that so? Well, I'm not exactly ordinary, after all."
Simply put, I'd lived twice.
"But unni, wasn't my way of thinking totally hip? Should I keep doing hip-hop? This 'New Vibes' did well too."
"Hip-hop started with a more fragmented feeling of overcoming a shitty world; it's not about criticizing consciousness or the system itself in that way."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes."
And Rira muttered.
"That feels more like Enlightenment philosophy."
"Huh?"
"Or a social movement?"
"Huh?"
"Ah, if you take it further, a coup d'état?"
What is she talking about, this crazy bitch.
She makes people weird.