Upper East Side, Manhattan.
A silver Chevrolet stopped in front of a light grey apartment building at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and East 68th Street. A woman in a black Gucci trench coat got out, carefully confirmed the address, and walked into the apartment building.
In the lobby on the ground floor, a stylish girl in her early twenties was already waiting for her. However, the security guard meticulously verified the woman's identity before allowing them to head to the elevator.
Taking the elevator to the 12th floor, the girl, who introduced herself as Megan, familiarly led the woman into an apartment.
This was a luxurious, minimalist duplex apartment, predominantly in black and white tones. Although the style was simple, every detail in the apartment, from the furniture and wall decorations to the stairs, exuded a meticulously crafted artistic flair.
Standing at the doorway, gazing at the luxurious duplex apartment she had never dared to dream of, the woman couldn't help but stare blankly for a moment. It wasn't until she felt the faint pride and disdain in the girl's eyes beside her that she quickly composed herself, then noticed that the apartment was being cleaned.
Moreover, just like Megan, all the girls responsible for cleaning were around twenty years old, with looks and figures scoring above 80 points.
Megan stepped forward, spoke a few words in a low voice with another girl, then turned to her and said, "Ms. Fessey is in the wine cellar, Ms. Ahrendts, please follow me".
Wine cellar?
Do we have to go downstairs again?
Thinking this, Megan made a 'please' gesture and walked directly towards the corridor next to the living Room, and she quickly followed.
The living Room alone was larger than the apartment she rented in Greenwich. Walking along the corridor, she couldn't help but realize that the single-floor space of this duplex apartment probably exceeded 4,000 square feet.
The wine cellar was in a Room at the end of the corridor; it wasn't underground after all.
However, the enclosed, vintage brick wall design of the wine cellar, which was distinct from the other spaces in the apartment, gave it a basement-like feel.
Megan entered the wine cellar, completely shedding her previous arrogance, and politely said, "Ms. Fessey, Ms. Ahrendts has arrived".
Sophia Fessey was placing a box of wine on a wine rack. Seeing the two appear, she continued to arrange a bottle of white wine before walking over and embracing the woman, saying, "Good afternoon, Angie, you look really beautiful in that trench coat".
The woman's name was Angela Ahrendts, 28 years old this year, and she was the newly confirmed president of Gucci's American branch, as confirmed by Sophia. The two had met several times before, finalized all the details, and agreed to formally sign the contract this afternoon.
Angela Ahrendts returned Sophia's hug, saying, "Thank you, Sophia".
"It might still be a while", Sophia said, releasing Angela and dismissing Megan, who was still standing at the door. She walked to the box of wine she had just placed, carefully picked up a bottle, and placed it on the wine rack, stroking the bottle as she said, "A 1971 vintage white wine from Haig Estate's Juffer Sonnenuhr vineyard. 1971 was the only year in decades when the overall climate conditions in Germany's Mosel Valley wine region reached 98 points. The finest Juffer Sonnenuhr vineyard is only 3 hectares. I helped Simon bid for this case of wine at Sotheby's last night, Angie, how much do you think it cost?"
Angela Ahrendts looked bewildered. After thinking for a moment, she boldly said, "100,000 dollars?"
Sophia smiled, not revealing the answer, and after placing the remaining two bottles of wine, she led Angela out of the wine cellar.
The girls had mostly finished cleaning the apartment. Sophia personally inspected it, confirmed everything was in order, and then dismissed the seven girls. She then left the apartment with Angela Ahrendts.
It was already noon.
The two chose a nearby restaurant. After ordering, Sophia proactively explained, "Simon and Janette are not in America, so they asked me to help clean their house. I'm actually Simon's housekeeper".
Angela Ahrendts hesitated for a moment but couldn't resist her curiosity: "Those girls?"
Sophia said, "Simon is a perfectionist. He said he could hardly imagine a middle-aged, overweight Mexican maid cleaning his Room. Those girls are all students from Columbia University or New York University. For this part-time job, they only need to work 3 hours a week to earn 500 dollars".
Angela Ahrendts quickly did the math: 7 girls, 500 dollars each, one cleaning session would cost 3,500 dollars. If it were once a week, the cleaning expenses for that apartment alone would exceed 180,000 dollars a year.
Oh my god.
Her previous job's annual salary was only 120,000 dollars.
Just give me all that work.
Sophia smiled faintly, patiently waited for a moment, then asked, "How do you feel?"
Angela looked up at Sophia and said, "Our boss..."
She only started, but Angela still didn't dare to voice her inner thoughts.
Sophia, however, easily finished her sentence: "A jerk, or a scoundrel?"
Angela laughed: "I didn't say that".
In the past two years, the minimum hourly wage in big cities like New York was still less than 5 dollars. These university students usually could only earn one or two hundred dollars a week through normal part-time jobs to supplement their daily expenses.
However, a certain person provided a group of young girls with an easy job that paid 500 dollars for 3 hours of work a week. More importantly, he also allowed these girls to repeatedly experience the top tier of luxury in this world.
It's hard to imagine what would happen when these girls leave their ivory tower and start facing the real society, after a certain psychological gap accumulates.
Sophia said, "They are all very good girls, with outstanding looks and excellent grades. Although it's just a part-time job, they all underwent background checks beforehand to confirm that neither they nor their family members had any derogatory records, and they had to undergo very strict housekeeping training before starting. Simon didn't have any ulterior motives in hiring them; he certainly isn't short of women. He simply likes everything beautiful. But for these girls, after being immersed in a world that doesn't belong to them, it might be difficult to maintain their original intentions".
Angela recalled her brief daze when she first entered the apartment and the somewhat inexplicable arrogance of the girl named Megan, and couldn't help but ask, "Sophia, what kind of person is he, exactly?"
"Well, you'll know when you meet him", Sophia couldn't find a suitable adjective for a moment. She added, "However, the reason you got this job is because of Simon. Among the several candidates, your qualifications were the least extensive".
Angela became curious again: "Westeros saw my resume?"
Sophia nodded: "Yes".
"Then, how did he evaluate me?"
Sophia's lips curved into a slight smile again, and she said, "He said, 'This woman is very beautiful, let her try.'"
Angela and Sophia stared at each other for a moment, and Angela, finding that Sophia didn't seem to be joking, raised her hand in disbelief and gestured, "And that's how I got this job?"
"That's right, as a subordinate, I'm very good at reading people's expressions".
While in Melbourne, Sophia showed Simon the profiles of candidates for positions such as Gucci Creative Director and President of Gucci America that she was preparing to interview. At that time, Simon was still under Janette's strict 'supervision' to control his working hours, so he only glanced through them quickly. He didn't express any opinions on the most important creative director candidates, but he carefully read Angela Ahrendts' information.
And then came that rather informal evaluation.
Of course, Sophia wouldn't have given the job to Angela Ahrendts just by 'reading her expressions'.
The fundamental reason was that in previous interviews, Sophia discovered that Angela's proposed business philosophy was exactly what Gucci needed, and numerous aggregated pieces of information also confirmed her extremely outstanding work ability. This ultimately prompted Sophia to hire her.
Of course, Simon's unintentional special regard for Angela was also an important bonus.
Angela, hearing Sophia say this, was still a bit hesitant, saying, "Sophia, you must be joking with me, right?"
Sophia didn't want to leave her subordinate with an impression of being rash and blindly obedient, so she smiled and nodded appropriately, saying, "I like your approach to improving the customer experience at Gucci boutiques. A long time ago, as an observer, I often heard about the rudeness and arrogance of Gucci boutiques towards customers, and this arrogance was even a deliberate result of management's indulgence. Gucci's decline over the years is not unrelated to the Gucci family's self-righteous arrogance. Gucci is a luxury brand, and it should uphold its pride, but this pride should be an internal pride, not superficial rudeness and arrogance. Angie, the first thing you need to do after joining is to change this".
Angela nodded in agreement.
From the day she submitted her resume, even though she felt her chances of getting the job were low, she had made many preparations. The Gucci trench coat she was wearing now was the result of her repeated visits to New York Gucci boutiques during those days.
Compared to other luxury brands, the service attitude at Gucci boutiques was truly hard to compliment.
For customers, the staff not only wouldn't provide thoughtful service, adopting an attitude of 'buy it or don't buy it,' but sometimes they would also openly criticize them in front of other customers, even giving guests inappropriate nicknames.
Angela also heard an old story in the industry.
In the 1970s, a New York magazine published an article titled "New York's Rudest Luxury Store," criticizing Gucci boutiques for their neglect of customers. Aldo Gucci, then head of Gucci America, not only didn't care about the article's impact on Gucci's reputation, but instead sent a bouquet of flowers to the journalist, thanking them for 'advertising' Gucci.
"Sophia, there's one thing I need to discuss with you first", Angela said after Sophia finished speaking. "After I start, the first thing I'll do is dismiss all the staff at the Gucci boutiques here in New York. I've accumulated some resources over the years and can find people to fill their vacancies immediately. As for boutiques in other regions, I'll visit them sequentially before making a decision".
Once the employment contract was signed, hiring and firing employees were actually within Angela's authority.
However, Sophia also knew why she brought this up.
Many of the staff at Gucci boutiques in New York were children of upper-class Italian families living and studying in America. These individuals generally treated their jobs at Gucci boutiques as temporary part-time work.
Gucci's foundation is in Italy, and its future operations cannot be separated from that country. Casually dismissing these people would inevitably offend some Italian local powers, causing more or less trouble for Gucci.
However, Sophia also understood that to revitalize Gucci, she had to do this.
Because it wasn't just New York; in many regions around the world, Gucci boutiques' staff were occupied by various 'connected individuals', and these people were the root cause affecting the service quality of Gucci boutiques.
Nodding seriously, Sophia added, "During this trip to America, I also personally conducted some evaluations and audits of two boutiques in Los Angeles and New York. This afternoon, I will provide you with the relevant documents, hoping they can assist you in your upcoming work".
After lunch, the two women went together to the Gucci America headquarters in Midtown.
After a busy afternoon, Angela Ahrendts officially signed on as the President of Gucci America, responsible for the operations of Gucci's 52 directly operated stores and numerous authorized brand counters in North America.
Immediately after the contract was signed, Sophia contacted some New York fashion media to publicly announce Angela Ahrendts' appointment.
Maximizing brand exposure, this was an experience Sophia had learned from Dior and LVMH before taking over Gucci.
Although Angela Ahrendts' work experience in the fashion industry over the past few years was excellent, the media clearly preferred controversial gimmicks, such as Angela Ahrendts' age of only 28 and her brief six-year tenure in the fashion industry.
Could such a young woman truly manage the crucial North American regional business of an established luxury company?
Since the decision had been made, Sophia naturally supported Angela in the media. However, the pressure of media scepticism would still need to be borne by Angela herself.
Opportunity and pressure have always been coexistent.
Speaking of which, many senior executives at Westeros Company are very young, just like Amy Pascal, who was also 28 when she first started working for Simon two years ago. However, Amy was among the first group of people to start the business with Simon, and coupled with Simon's presence as the 'tall one,' the media would always naturally overlook Amy's age.
While signing Angela Ahrendts, Sophia also completed her interviews with two candidate creative directors.
Both were rising design stars in the American fashion industry in recent years: one named Tom Ford, and the other Marc Jacobs.
When Sophia showed Simon the candidates' profiles, Simon recalled from his memory that in the original timeline, Tom Ford was indeed Gucci's creative director in the 1990s and only left Gucci in 2004.
Besides Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs and John Galliano from England were also very dazzling top designers in the fashion industry for many years to come.
In Simon's view, luxury brands never needed to seek public approval but should rather forcefully instil a fashion style.
This concept is similar to Apple phones many years later. When Apple designed curved antennas, everyone copied curved antennas. When Apple launched the notch screen, a bunch of manufacturers followed suit with notch screens.
As for whether the design is ugly?
This is Apple!
The same goes for luxury brands.
Whatever design style top luxury brands promote, second and third-tier fashion brands will rush to follow suit.
Therefore, Simon didn't deliberately try to make Gucci follow its original development trajectory. As long as the appropriate operating model was confirmed, any of the excellent designers would be enough to revive Gucci.
As for the different styles among designers, they would ultimately all become Gucci's style.
Sophia actually leaned towards John Galliano. This talented designer, a graduate of Central Saint Martins in the UK, was only 29 years old this year, but his career since his debut had been quite brilliant.
However, during Sophia's time in America, the head of Gucci Europe had not finalized a contract with John Galliano. His asking price was too high, so Sophia had to give up.
Finally, between Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs, although Marc Jacobs' talent in design was superior, Sophia ultimately chose Tom Ford.
Both Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York, both possessed extensive design experience, and both had already gained industry recognition.
Sophia chose Ford mainly due to language considerations.
Although both Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs are Americans, Tom Ford has experience working in Europe and was able communicate fluently in French and Italian, which is Marc Jacobs' weakness.