Chapter 18: A sense of fashion
August 21st 2012:
3 days after the ending of episode 3's recording, we begin the recording for episode 4. All of the remaining trainees, now down to 14 people, are brought into the living room so we can receive the new mission from EVE. DongBang and Kyu-Bong were chatting happily, Akira and Hayashi were chatting away. Even Hyun-Shik was interacting with a few of the other trainees. Seol Young on the other hand still hadn't come out of his room. It didn't seem to matter to anyone though, as soon EVE lit up and gave us our next challenge.
"Greetings contestants. Congratulations on your fine performances in the last round. I have a slightly different challenge for you guys to compete with this time around."
Seol Young finally exits his room. White hair and contacts in. He leans against the wall. The smug look on his face made my anger rise instantly.
"An idol must not only be good at singing, rapping and dancing. They must also have talents in other areas. For this challenge, you will be required to perform in a fashion show, and model for a photoshoot" The unexpected challenge catches us all off guard. "All contestants will be used as models for a fashion show being held in Seoul next week. You will be sent daily to the workshop where you will be working with the designers to help them perfect their outfits. You will then present them as the models on the runway. Following that, you will all be out into a photoshoot, where your modelling skills and ability with the camera will be tested. With that, I wish you luck. Your first meeting with the designers is tomorrow at 7 am." With that, EVE shuts down, and we all head off to practice, relax or eat.
The next morning, we were woken up at 6 and taken to the workshops of the designers we were to work with. I happened to meet with one of the top designers from this year's Seoul Fashion Week, Lie Sang Bong. Our first meeting went well. He sat down with me and we spoke about the theme of the outfit, what he was creating and envisioning. He showed me what he had finished so far, and what he hoped to have completed in the end. He took my measurements so that he could make sure it was perfect. He asked me for my thoughts. Overall it was a very rewarding and progressive first meeting. Our meetings over the next few days went very well too. He was a very nice and energetic guy. He had a good sense of humour, and he was very passionate about his craft. He gave me various pieces of advice and even made notes on what I could do to improve my style. By the end of it, I would say that we were pretty close. Of course, part of it was his drive to win the fashion show, and my drive to get back in Seol Young in some way. He had spent his earlier years as a model before becoming a trainee.
Thanks to the many lessons that my mother had given me before the incident. I had a very in-depth, and well-practised knowledge of modelling and styling. So I was pretty confident that I could compete with him on this challenge. My mother was an actress, singer and supermodel in Italy. She was very passionate about her work and drilled as much knowledge about that aspect of the world into my head. She would iron out my faults, and make sure that I was perfect. She was serious about it because she loved it so much. I hoped that I could do this, to show her that all her work paid off. So that I could feel proud of being her son, and so I could feel even a little bit connected to her in some way. I would make her feel proud, and show her that I was her son.
The day of the fashion show arrived. The theme selected was exploration. The way this competition would work was that we would be judged on our modelling ability. How we showed off the clothing, and our posture and facial expressions while on the runway. We would get bonus points depending on the finishing place of the competing designers. Following that, we would then be styled by our designers and put into a photoshoot. There we would be scored on our performance in front of the camera. Points would be deducted based on how many takes we needed to get the best images.
First up. The runway. Boy was I ready. Lie Sang Bong had gone with a style influenced by the stories of Marco Polo, and the silk road. The outfit had a very Italian/Chinese influence, it contained aspects of both cultures, and seemed to tell a story, of arduous travel over land and sea. It showed the peace and tranquillity of discovering a new land. The awe that the explorer would have held. The interactions between new cultures. How sometimes it wouldn't end smoothly. Sometimes it would end in conflict. But other times, it would end in a successful encounter and trade. The outfit represented just that. The interaction between cultures. How they sometimes work and sometimes don't. The clashing of the two societies are different, but the same. It represented forging a new path while observing the old ones. It represented discovering both new and old knowledge, and it represented the relationship between the east and the west. I completely loved this Idea. When Lie Sang Bong found out about my half Korean, half Italian Roots, he was also very happy. As I was able to personify that East meets West culture. I wanted to help him win more than I thought. But also at the same time, I really wanted to stick it to Seol Young.
I was the second to last to go up. Most of the other trainees that went before me di ok. They didn't seem to have any previous experience in modelling, but they held themselves together pretty well. Akira managed to surprise me though. He looked completely professional in his movements. The only thing that let him down, was his facial expressions. My turn was up. I determinedly walked down the catwalk. I stopped a few times along the way to pose and finally reached the end. I breathed deeply while switching to a few positions before turning around and walking back. As I was walking back through the doors at the beginning of the catwalk, I heard a gasp. I looked back to see that Seol Young had come out in what I could only describe as a war between two opinions. It looked as though he had tried to make the designer do what he wanted after the designer was already halfway through his work. To top it off, someone seemed to have caught his attention, as he had stopped midway through his walk just to glare at someone in the audience. He almost stumbled as a result. Catching himself, he continued the walk and finished it effortlessly. I was smiling inside as he walked past me in a huff. He had made a fool of himself in front of a crowd. I couldn't wait to see the results. Of course, before that, we had a photoshoot to take part in.
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