Chasing Stars in Hollywood

The aftershocks of the European currency crisis continued, but Simon and Janet's schedule remained unaffected. Even the article in the Wall Street Journal on September 26 was pre-arranged.

After visiting Helsinki and attending Gucci's fashion show, the rest of their time was spent traveling.

Europe in autumn boasts countless breathtaking sceneries, with fairy-tale towns surrounded by red leaves everywhere.

This continued until September 29, when Milan Fashion Week concluded.

Simon and Janet made a special trip back from the Alps to attend the closing party of Fashion Week.

Due to Gucci's rapid rise, Milan Fashion Week, which previously garnered only slightly more attention than London Fashion Week, had become increasingly lively in recent years. The number of supermodels, celebrities, and stars attending was noticeably higher.

As the Westeros system's influence in the fashion and entertainment industries grew, many of these people were actually drawn to Simon.

"I want to visit Los Angeles after New York Fashion Week ends. Simon, can you let me walk in the Victoria's Secret show? Even if it's just for one segment."

At the closing party, Nadja Auermann, holding a glass of red wine, looked at Simon with her beautiful blue eyes and leaned slightly towards him, her expression tinged with a bit of pitiful pleading.

Nadja was wearing a black spaghetti strap dress tonight, a simple design, but her excellent figure made it hard to conceal her tall, slender frame.

As one of the 'leggy' girls supported by Simon, Nadja Auermann had not only failed to secure a Victoria's Secret Angel endorsement like Yasmeen Ghauri, but she hadn't even qualified for a regular Victoria's Secret show.

The main reason was that Nadja Auermann's appearance and figure were more suited for high fashion, lacking the pretty face and curvaceous figure needed for a Victoria's Secret Angel. Additionally, her career had always been centered in Europe, primarily based in Paris. Even after gaining fame, she had only started to expand her business to North America, and she still struggled with English. She had spoken to Simon in German just now.

Because of this, Nadja Auermann hadn't even participated in the initial selection for Victoria's Secret Angels.

Of course, being supported by Simon, it wouldn't be appropriate to skip the fashion show he personally operated. Nadja Auermann had specially explained the situation to Simon through the senior management of Elite.

Simon also thought she wasn't suitable for the Victoria's Secret show and didn't mind.

Many people in the circle understood the reason, but that didn't stop some media from making a fuss about it.

Both the 'waist' girl and 'leggy' girl supported by Westeros; the 'waist' girl got the Victoria's Secret Angel endorsement, while the 'leggy' girl didn't even participate in the show.

So, was she out of favor? Did she offend Westeros somehow?

Or, was there some other unknown inside story?

In the fashion world, models rely on becoming the muse of certain brand designers to gain fame. Even if they fall out of favor, their fame will still remain.

However, in this circle now, falling out of favor with Westeros could be serious.

Hollywood has had such precedents.

For example, Meg Ryan.

Westeros was really good at promoting women. Conversely, if they neglected a woman, the consequences were also dire.

Nadja Auermann's agency had repeatedly stated, either overtly or covertly in the media, that she didn't participate in the Victoria's Secret show simply because her image was not suitable. Moreover, she had endorsement deals with the CK brand under Melisandre, so the matter had nothing to do with being neglected by Westeros.

Unfortunately, the media always loved to stir up trouble.

Moreover, the fashion circle was relatively small. If someone had the potential to become a supermodel, suppressing her wouldn't be something competitors and agencies would hesitate to do.

So, explanations were just cover-ups.

The cooperation with CK? That's because the agreement couldn't be canceled. Whether there would be future collaborations was uncertain.

Conclusion: She must have been neglected!

Sophia had mentioned these gossips to Simon as a pastime, and he didn't take them to heart.

Now, seeing Nadja Auermann's pitiful appearance, he realized the matter had quite an impact on her.

After thinking for a moment, Simon shook his head and said, "But, Nadja, the main fittings and rehearsals ended last month. If you join now, at least one segment would have to be rearranged."

Seeing that Simon's tone wasn't too firm, Nadja immediately said, "I've contacted Mr. Casablanca, Simon. If you agree, Elite can replace one of its models with me."

Casablanca was John Casablanca, the founder and president of Elite Model Management.

This year's Victoria's Secret Angels team had 40 members, many of whom came from well-known modeling agencies like Elite and Ford. Replacing a lesser-known model with Nadja Auermann didn't seem like a big issue.

Since she had already planned it out, and Elite was cooperating, Simon agreed.

As for who would be replaced, Simon didn't care much.

However, he still instructed, "Make sure this is handled properly. No messy news. Also, since you missed the August rehearsals, stay in Los Angeles after New York Fashion Week to prepare for this."

Nadja Auermann's pitiful expression vanished, replaced by a few traces of joy. She nodded and said, "I promise."

Simon, looking at the girl in high heels who was slightly taller than him, couldn't help but sigh.

Women are indeed fickle.

Noticing Simon's expression, Nadja Auermann quickly toned down her excitement and added, "Simon, are you returning to North America next?"

Simon, not understanding her intention, said, "Yes."

"Then," the girl's expression showed more anticipation, "can I hitch a ride?"

Simon was momentarily stunned, then smiled, "Tomorrow morning at 9, Milan International Airport."

Seeing her excitement, Simon quickly added, "But there will be many people together."

Recently, not only Nadja Auermann but also many others had inquired if they could hitch a ride on Simon's Boeing 767 back to North America.

From Madonna and Cindy Crawford to Nadja Auermann, Simon initially couldn't resist Madonna's small pestering and agreed. Madonna had specifically come to Europe to support Gucci's show, so it wasn't too much to ask for a lift.

Once he agreed, others who brought it up were also accommodated, and Simon eventually even invited some people proactively.

This kind of favor certainly wouldn't hurt.

As a medium-sized airliner with a standard capacity of 200 passengers, even after being modified into a private jet, carrying dozens of people was still easy.

Apart from the couple's own entourage, more than twenty other men and women would join the return trip to North America. Janet even prepared an air party for the occasion.

Having settled her own matters, Nadja Auermann noticed Rolling Stones' lead singer Mick Jagger and his wife Jerry Hall walking over. After greeting them politely, she tactfully stepped aside.

As one of the renowned models of this era and Mick Jagger's wife, Jerry Hall naturally wouldn't miss the Big Four fashion weeks.

Simon exchanged greetings with the couple, casually chatting with Mick Jagger about movies and music.

Wearing a silver gown, Jerry Hall, whose aura was much stronger than Nadja's, stood nearby, occasionally echoing the conversation.

However, when she made eye contact with Simon, her expression would inadvertently show a slightly teasing smile.

It seemed to remind Simon of something.

Simon certainly hadn't forgotten the weekend he spent in Hawaii with Jerry Hall and another Australian supermodel, Elle Macpherson.

However, in front of the woman's husband, Simon felt no guilt.

Both the couple were not easy to deal with.

Despite being married to Jerry Hall and having two children, Mick Jagger's romantic escapades frequently appeared in tabloids.

Simon had no position to judge Mick Jagger; he was just good at not giving the media any leverage.

After some casual conversation, they were about to part ways when Jerry Hall, who had been relatively quiet, said, "Simon, I heard from Madonna at the party the other night that she will be taking your private jet back to North America. Can I join too?"

"Of course," Simon nodded, then looked at Mick Jagger, asking, "Isn't Mick going to North America too?"

Mick Jagger shook his head, "I have other plans here."

"That's a pity. Because of the large number of people, Janet even prepared an air party. It would be more fun if you could join."

"Indeed a pity. Maybe next time."

After a few more pleasantries, the couple left. Simon continued to socialize for a while, then found Janet in the crowd, intending to leave the party.

Sophia also returned to the villa by Lake Como in Milan's northern suburbs with them.

It was already past ten at night. Janet, very conscious about her skincare, went to take a shower, planning to rest early. Sophia, however, was not sleepy and discussed some recent ideas with Simon.

Melisandre Company now had four brands. Gucci was the main revenue driver, accounting for over 70% of Melisandre's sales. Van Cleef & Arpels and CK were also doing very well.

The last one, Château Latour, was basically Simon's personal collection and wasn't focused on commercial profit.

However, due to her past experience, Sophia managed Château Latour with ease. The best wine was mostly kept for private use, and the surplus each year, through Sophia's operations, also generated stable income.

In general, apart from the recently acquired CK still in adjustment, the other three brands continued to provide more or less profit for Melisandre.

For most companies, having ample funds usually meant further expansion.

Compared to LVMH, which had Dior and LV as its pillars, Melis

andre indeed had a significant gap to close.

However, Sophia hadn't found suitable acquisition targets yet, and starting a brand from scratch in the luxury industry was challenging. Hence, she had the idea of developing other side businesses.

Inspired by her interactions with the media while managing Melisandre over the past few years, Sophia recently had the idea of establishing a dedicated fashion TV channel.

This would greatly enhance Melisandre's voice in fashion media.

The fashion print media landscape had long been established, making it hard to enter.

Dedicated fashion TV channels existed but weren't very influential and were usually just channels people would skip over.

The television industry didn't think a specialized fashion channel could grow significantly.

After all, fashion was somewhat distant from most ordinary people.

In Simon's memory, the most famous fashion channel should be Fashion TV, headquartered in France.

However, after Sophia finished her idea, Simon turned on the living room TV and searched for a while but didn't find Fashion TV.

Asking Sophia to switch to a few fashion channels, none of them were Fashion TV.

After some careful thinking, Simon remembered that the well-known Fashion TV probably didn't officially start until 1997. It hadn't appeared yet.

For specialized TV channels, Simon didn't have the traditional TV industry's bias.

When Ted Turner founded CNN, the entire industry thought a single news channel couldn't succeed.

Now, no one would think that anymore.

Fashion channels would be the same.

In Simon's memory, Fashion TV, though headquartered in Paris, was a typical global channel, with coverage not much less than those well-known cable channels.

The established facts in his memory also proved the feasibility of a fashion channel.

Since the original Fashion TV, founded in 1997, could develop into a global fashion media, starting a fashion TV channel from scratch five years earlier, with proper management, would certainly have similar potential.

Now, the Westeros system also had the channels and capital to operate a TV channel from scratch.

"This is a great idea. I'll have Bob find some suitable people to draft a proposal first," Simon said, noticing Sophia's expression and smiling, "Do you think if it's just a fashion TV channel affiliated with Melisandre, how much development potential could it have?"

Sophia initially wanted to establish an affiliated fashion channel for Melisandre. Hearing Simon's words, she quickly realized that this idea was directly taken over by the young man in front of her.

Thinking carefully, if it was just under Melisandre, it would indeed struggle to grow significantly.

Such an exclusive TV channel, if established, not only couldn't collaborate with other fashion brands but might also face hostility.

Melisandre's few brands couldn't support the content needs of a TV channel.

The final result would likely be a failure.

In contrast, if the project was handled by Daniele Entertainment, avoiding the Melisandre label, this fashion TV channel could truly gain recognition and collaboration from the entire fashion industry. Moreover, if this channel rose, even if it appeared neutral, resource tilt would be inevitable due to the shared ownership of Westeros.

Understanding the correctness of Simon's decision, Sophia let go of her reluctance.

However, driven by certain instincts, she still appropriately expressed her dissatisfaction.

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