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After the routine meeting with the post-production team of "My Left Foot", Deutschman came to the office to discuss the development plan of the Gucci documentary with Sophia and his daughter.

Although the outside world is most fond of talking about the grievances and grievances of the Gucci family, but these elements that will definitely affect the brand image of Gucci should obviously be mentioned in the documentary as much as possible.

After a morning of discussion, it was preliminarily determined that the documentary would start with the appointment of a new creative director by Gucci, and end with the Gucci 9 Spring/Summer fashion show at Milan Fashion Week in September, interspersed with various information about Gucci’s cultural heritage, brand style, classic styles and interesting stories An introduction to the anecdote.

Of course, this discussion was not without differences.

When Deutschman asked Gucci to provide at least half of the production funds as a 'sponsorship' fee, but did not enjoy the copyright and expected income of the documentary, Sophia firmly opposed it.The final agreement reached was that Gaomen Films and Gucci each contributed half of the budget and shared copyright and revenue.

However, as the distributor, Gaomen Films can draw 12.5% ​​of the income from all channels of documentaries as distribution commissions in the future.

Because time is very tight, after finalizing the plan, the preliminary preparations for the documentary started quickly. It is expected that at the end of this month or early next month, Gucci's new creative director will take office, and the shooting of the documentary will begin.

The next day is Monday, March 3th.

Sophia spent another day discussing with Amy about the brand cooperation between Gucci and Daenerys Entertainment. In fact, it was mainly the advertisement placement of the Gucci brand in Daenerys Entertainment's film and television works.

The synergy and cooperation mechanism proposed by Simon is not only implemented within Daenerys Entertainment, but also includes all subsidiaries under the name of Westeros Corporation.Therefore, Amy also tried her best to cooperate.

After finishing her trip to Los Angeles, Sophia flew to New York in a hurry. Her work schedule here is more intensive.

The first is the $2000 million that Simon just promised.

Westeros has continued to sell the stocks of 6 technology companies including Apple recently. However, the use of the cash has been determined, and Gucci can only continue to obtain the funds it wants through loans.Because of the priority agreement attached to the previous loan, the money still had to be taken from Citibank.

Secondly, Sophia also plans to adjust the management of Gucci's US branch, hire a new head of the US branch, and take this opportunity to completely control Gucci's North American business.

In addition, two of the Gucci creative director candidates that Sofia is interested in are in New York. This matter is related to the development of Gucci in the next few years, so it also takes a lot of time to communicate with the parties in detail.

Finally, there are some entertainment visits of a public relations nature.

When he was still in Melbourne, Simon helped Sophia determine the itinerary to visit the Murdoch family after arriving in New York. This time, the Murdoch family also invested [-] million U.S. dollars in the operation of Cersei Capital.

Definitely use favors when they should be used.

Gossip newspapers such as "The Sun", "News of the World" and "New York Post" under News Corporation in Europe and North America have been very happy to track various infighting scandals of the Gucci family in recent years.

Now that Gucci is already controlled by Simon, and it happens to have connections with the Murdoch family, he will naturally not allow this situation to continue.Obviously, Murdoch will not refuse this kind of favor.

第245章 恶棍（修）

Upper East Side of Manhattan.

The silver Chevrolet was parked under a light gray apartment building at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and East 68th Street. After getting out of the car, the woman in a black Gucci trench coat carefully checked the address and walked into the apartment building.

In the lobby on the ground floor, there was already a well-dressed girl in her early twenties waiting for her. However, the security guard carefully confirmed the identity of the woman before letting them go to the elevator.

Take the elevator to the 12th floor, and a girl named Megan who introduces herself familiarly leads the woman into an apartment.

This is a minimalist luxury duplex apartment, dominated by black and white tones.Although the style is simple, the details of the apartment, whether it is furniture, wall decorations or stairs, reveal a delicate and artistic atmosphere.

Standing at the door, looking at the luxurious duplex apartment in front of her that she had never dared to expect, the woman couldn't help being stunned for a moment.Until she felt the faint pride and contempt in the eyes of the girl beside her, she quickly calmed down, and then noticed that the apartment was being cleaned.

Moreover, just like Megan, the people in charge of cleaning are all young girls in their 20s with a figure and appearance of 80 points or more.

Megan stepped forward to talk to another girl in a low voice, then turned to her and said, "Ms. Fish is in the wine cellar, Miss Ahrendts, please come with me."

wine cellar?

Do you want to go downstairs?

Thinking of this, Megan made a gesture of invitation and went straight to the corridor next to the living room, and she hurriedly followed.

It's just that the living room just now was bigger than the apartment she rented in Greenwich. Walking along the corridor, I couldn't help but find that the duplex apartment only has a single-floor space of more than 4000 square feet.

The wine cellar is in a room at the end of the corridor, so it's not underground.

However, the closed retro brick wall design in the wine cellar is very different from other spaces in the apartment, but it gives people a basement feeling.

Megan entered the wine cellar, completely put away the arrogance just now, and said politely: "Ms. Fish, Miss Ahrendts is here."

Sofia Feisi was putting a case of wine on the wine rack. When she saw two people appearing, she continued to put a bottle of white wine on the shelf. Then she walked over and hugged the woman, saying: "Good afternoon, Angie, you wear this trench coat It's so beautiful."

The woman's name is Angela Ahrendts, 28 years old this year, and she is the president of Gucci's US branch just confirmed by Sofia.The two had contacted several times before, negotiated various details, and agreed to formally sign the contract this afternoon.

Angela Ahrendts responded to Sophia's hug, saying, "Thank you, Sophie."

"Maybe we'll have to wait a little longer," Sophia let go of Angela, and Sophia sent away Megan who was still standing at the door, and came to the box of wine just now, carefully picked up a bottle and put it on the wine rack, caressing the body of the bottle and said : "The 1971 white wine produced by Haiger Winery Zhufu Sundial Garden, 1971 was the only year in Germany's Mosel Valley wine region for decades that the comprehensive climate conditions reached 98 points. The best quality Zhufu Sundial Garden area It's only 3 hectares. I bought this case for Simon at Sotheby's last night, Angie, how much do you think it will cost?"

Angela Ahrendts looked blankly, thought for a while, and boldly said: "10 dollars?"

Sophia smiled, did not give an answer to the mystery, arranged the remaining two bottles of wine, and took Angela out of the wine cellar.

The girls had roughly finished cleaning the apartment. Sophia checked it out herself, and after confirming that it was correct, she sent the seven girls away. She then left the apartment with Angela Ahrendts.

The time is already noon.

The two chose a restaurant nearby and ordered food. Sophia took the initiative to explain: "Simon and Jenny are not in the United States, so let me help them clean the house. I am actually Simon's housekeeper."

Angela Ahrendts hesitated for a while, but still couldn't hold back her curiosity: "Those girls?"

Sofia said: "Simon is a perfectionist. He said that it is difficult for him to imagine a fat middle-aged Mexican maid helping him clean the room. Those girls are all students of Columbia University or New York University. This part-time job, They only need to work three hours a week to get $3."

Angela Ahrendts did a quick mental calculation, seven girls, $7 each, would cost $500 for a single cleaning.If the frequency is based on once a week, the cleaning cost of the apartment just now will exceed 3500 US dollars a year.

Oh my goodness.

The annual salary of my last job was only $12.

Just leave the job to me.

With a smile on the corner of Sophia's mouth, she waited patiently for a moment before asking, "How do you feel?"

Angela looked up at Sophia and said, "Our boss..."

It was just a start, but Angela still didn't dare to speak out her inner thoughts.

Sophia helped her make up with a relaxed tone: "Asshole, or villain?"

Angela laughed: "I didn't say that."

In the past two years, the minimum hourly wage in a metropolis like New York was less than $5. These college students can only earn one or two hundred dollars a week if they want to subsidize their daily expenses through normal part-time jobs.

However, some guy offered a group of young girls an easy job for $3 a week for 500 hours of work, and more importantly, she also exposed these girls to the luxury scene at the top of the world's pyramid .

It's hard to imagine what will happen when these girls step out of the ivory tower and start to face the real society, after a certain psychological gap accumulates.

Sophia said: "They are all very good girls, with outstanding appearance and excellent grades. Although it is only a part-time job, they have all undergone background checks before to confirm that they and their family members have no tainted records. They need to receive very strict housekeeping training. Simon actually has no other intentions in hiring them. He does not lack women, he just likes everything beautiful. But for these girls, they have been immersed in a world that does not belong to them. It may be difficult to keep your heart.”

Angela thought of her brief absence when she first entered the apartment and the unreasonable arrogance of the girl named Megan, and couldn't help asking: "Sophie, what kind of person is he?"

"Well, you will know when you see him," Sophia couldn't find a suitable adjective for a while, and said, "However, the reason why you can get this job is because of Simon. Several applicants Among them, your qualifications are the least."

Angela became curious again: "Westeros has seen my resume?"

Sophia nodded: "Yes."

"So, what does he think of me?"

Sophia smiled again, and said, "He said, this woman is very beautiful, let her try."

Angela and Sophia looked at each other for a moment, and found that Sophia didn't seem to be joking, and raised her hand in disbelief: "Then, that's how I got this job?"

"Yeah, as a subordinate, I'm very good at observing words and deeds."

When she was in Melbourne, Sophia showed Simon the information about candidates for positions such as the creative director of Gucci and the president of Gucci’s US branch that she was preparing for the interview. , did not express any opinions on the most important creative director candidates, but carefully read the information of Angela Ahrendts.

Then there is the unserious evaluation above.

Sophia certainly wouldn't hand over the job to Angela Ahrendts just because she was 'reading her words'.

The most fundamental reason is that in the previous interviews, Sophia found that the business philosophy proposed by Angela was exactly what Gucci needed urgently. The information gathered by all parties also confirmed her excellent working ability, which prompted Sophia to finally hire the other party.

Of course, Simon's inadvertent treatment of Angela is also an important plus.

Angela was still a little hesitant when she heard Sophia say this, and said, "Sophie, you must be joking with me, right?"

Sophia didn't want to give her subordinates the impression of blind obedience, so she nodded with a moderate smile and said, "I like your entry point on improving the customer experience of Gucci stores. A long time ago, as a bystander, I I often hear that Gucci stores are rude and arrogant to customers. This arrogance is even the result of deliberate connivance by the management. The decline of Gucci over the years is not unrelated to the self-righteous arrogance of the Gucci family. Gucci is a luxury brand , It is right to uphold your own pride, but this kind of pride should be inner pride, not superficial rude arrogance. Angie, the first thing you have to do after you join the job is to change this.”

Angela nodded sympathetically.

From the day she submitted her resume, although she felt that the possibility of getting the job was very low, she still made a lot of preparations.The Gucci trench coat I was wearing at this time was the result of repeated visits to the Gucci store in New York these days.

Compared with other luxury brands, the service attitude of Gucci stores is really hard to compliment.

For customers, not only will the clerks not provide considerate service, they will buy or not buy, and sometimes they will comment on them unabashedly in front of customers, and even call them some indecent nicknames.

Angela also heard an old story in the circle.

In the 70s, a New York magazine criticized Gucci stores for neglecting customers with the headline "New York's Rudest Famous Boutiques". At that time, Aldo Gucci, the head of Gucci in the United States, not only did not care that the article affected Gucci's reputation, but sent The reporter sent a bouquet of flowers to the reporter, thanking the other party for 'advertising' for Gucci.

"Sophie, there is one thing I need to discuss with you first." After Sophia finished speaking, Angela said, "After joining the job, the first thing I will do is to fire all the clerks at the Gucci store in New York. Over the years, I have also accumulated some resources, so I can find someone to fill their vacancies at the first time. As for the specialty stores in other regions, I will visit them one by one before making a decision.”

Once the employment contract is signed, it is actually within Angela's authority to hire and dismiss employees.

However, Sophia also knew why she brought it up.

Many of the clerks in the Gucci store in New York are Italian upper-class children living and studying in the United States. These people generally only regard the work in the Gucci store as a temporary part-time job.

Gucci's roots are in Italy, and it is impossible to leave this country for future operations.If these people are dismissed rashly, it will inevitably offend some Italian local snakes and bring some troubles to Gucci more or less.

However, Sofia also knew that to bring Gucci back to life, she had to.

Because not only New York, but Gucci stores in many parts of the world, the clerks are occupied by various "relationship households". These people are the root cause of the service quality of Gucci stores.

Nodding seriously, Sophia said again: "This time I came to the United States, I also personally conducted some evaluations and audits on the two specialty stores in Los Angeles and New York. I will give you the relevant documents in the afternoon. work to help."

After lunch, the two women rushed to the Gucci US headquarters in Midtown together.

After a busy afternoon, Angela Ahrendts officially signed a contract to become the president of Gucci's US branch, responsible for the operation of Gucci's 52 directly-operated stores and many brand authorized counters in North America.

After the contract was signed, Sofia immediately contacted some fashion media in New York to publicly announce Angela Ahrendts' employment.

Increase the exposure of the brand as much as possible. This is the experience that Sofia learned from Dior and LVMH before taking over Gucci.

Although Angela Ahrendts has a very good resume in the fashion industry in the past few years, the media obviously prefers controversial gimmicks. A short seniority of 28 years at work.

Is such a young woman really capable of managing the crucial North American business of an established luxury company?

Now that the decision has been made, Sophia naturally supports Angela in the media.However, the pressure of the media's questioning still needs to be borne by the other party.

Opportunity and pressure have always been symbiotic.

Speaking of which, many corporate executives under the Westeros Corporation are very young, just like Amy Pascal, who happened to be 28 years old when she first worked for Simon two years ago.However, Amy was the first group of people to follow Simon to start a business. Coupled with the existence of Simon as a 'tall man', the media would naturally ignore Amy's age.

Simultaneously with signing Angela Ahrendts, Sophia completed her interviews with two creative director candidates.

Both are rookies in American fashion design in recent years, one is Tom Ford and the other is Marc Jacobs.

When Sophia showed the profiles of several candidates to Simon, Simon remembered from the information in his memory that Tom Ford happened to be the creative director of Gucci 90s in the original time and space, and he did not leave Gucci until 2004.

In addition to Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs and John Galliano of the United Kingdom are also very dazzling top designers in the fashion industry for many years to come.

In Simon's view, luxury brands never need to seek the approval of the public, but should be the forced indoctrination of a fashion style.

This concept is similar to the Apple mobile phone many years later.When Apple designs a curved antenna, everyone has to imitate the curved antenna. When Apple launched the notch, a lot of manufacturers followed suit.

As for the ugly design?

This is an apple!

The same goes for luxury brands.

Whatever design style the top luxury brands promote, the second and third tier fashion brands will flock to follow suit.

Therefore, Simon did not deliberately seek to let Gucci follow the original development track. As long as a suitable operating model is confirmed, no matter which one of several outstanding designers is hired, it is enough to revive Gucci.

As for the different styles among designers, it will only become Gucci's style in the end.

Sophia is actually very inclined to John Galliano. This talented designer who graduated from Central Saint Martins College in the United Kingdom is only 29 years old this year, but his resume since his debut is quite brilliant.

However, these days when Sophia was in the United States, the person in charge of Gucci Europe did not negotiate a contract with John Galliano. The other party asked for too high a price, so Sophia had to give up.

In the end, between Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs, although Marc Jacobs was more talented in design, Sofia chose Tom Ford in the end.

Both Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York. Both have very rich design experience and have been recognized by the industry.

The reason why Sofia chose Ford was mainly due to language considerations.

Although Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs are both Americans, Tom Ford has experience working in Europe and can communicate with people proficiently in French and Italian, which is Marc Jacobs' shortcoming .

第246章 织网（修）