New York, Bryant Park, Manhattan.
It was Saturday, February 26, the penultimate day of the 2000 Autumn and Winter Fashion Week in New York. Backstage at the show of an emerging fashion brand named Skelton Lee, the show was about to begin. When a certain News came from the front desk, and there was a lot of excitement here.
Simon Westeros is here.
Brand founder Skelton Lee quietly went to the front show to say hello to the big shot, and thoroughly confirmed that it was not a rumor. A group of big and small Madou backstage were very energetic, and some people ran to the dressing table. To touch up their makeup, some people wanted to change their clothes temporarily, while others couldn't help but wanted to run directly to the front desk to contact someone. Unfortunately, they were stopped by the Weijia bodyguard team who temporarily took over the security of the show, and they returned disappointed.
Skelton Lee is a tall and beautiful Asian girl. She is 33 years old. She was born in Hong Kong and graduated from the Royal College of Art. After coming to New York and working hard, she founded her own fashion brand five years ago. studio.
Because his personal design concept combines Eastern traditional culture and Western modern art, China fever has happened in Europe and the United States in recent years. The brand has taken advantage of the momentum and was acquired by Melisandre Group, the current fashion industry giant, last year.
However, if Melisandre's Gucci, Bulgari and other brands can be regarded as 'aircraft carriers', the little Skelton Lee can only be regarded as a person with less than a thousand tons of displacement within the system of this fashion giant. Little gunboat, Skelton never expected that the big man who is known to stand behind Melisandre would come to watch his brand catwalk.
Seeing that all the supermodels backstage were more or less calm and eager to give it a try, Skelton Lee couldn't help but look forward to it when he heard discussions about some important person's personal gossip whispered in his ears.
In this exciting atmosphere, the time came to 4:15 in the afternoon, the music started, and the catwalk officially began.
Standing at the exit of the backstage, he personally completed the final inspection. Seeing Paulina Priskova, the fashion industry's "Audrey Hepburn" who was in charge of the opening, coming on the stage, Skelton quickly turned to Angela, who was second in line. Lindwall felt uneasy in his heart, not knowing whether the big shot would like his design.
As we all know, Simon Westeros is very interested in Chinese culture. However, in order to be more in line with popular Western aesthetics, Skelton's design this year further compressed Eastern elements.
Skelton Lee is a very realistic girl. She feels that Westerners’ interest in Eastern culture cannot last too long or too deeply. If she wants her brand to grow, she has to follow the local customs.
For example, the cheongsam elements she liked to use in her original designs were well received. However, the reality is that Western women with generally larger frames are actually not suitable for cheongsams.
Such worries about gain and loss inevitably lead to some illusions.
If... maybe one day in the future, my own brand can rent a large manor in Long Island as a show venue like CK, and the models in charge of the show are all big names. Instead of being like now, we can still only squeeze into a tent in Bryant Park to hold catwalk shows with many small brands.
I just don’t know if the big shot after the show will extend an invitation to her, and whether she should go to the appointment, or if Westeros wants to go further and maintain a long-term relationship, how should she deal with her well-off family and... Her boyfriend is a senior executive at Citigroup.
Fortunately, the other party went to London on a business trip this time.
Show front lobby.
The guests on both sides of the catwalk clearly felt that the models on the stage were a little distracted, but they were not surprised. Everyone already knew that a certain big shot was sitting somewhere in the guest gallery, and even they themselves were thinking about how to talk to Simon Westeros later.
After all, it is a small brand. Even if it is taken under Melisandre's command, it is not yet a key support target. The guest lineup can be imagined.
After Simon entered the scene, the only person he could recognize was Sarah Jessica Parker, the heroine of "Sex and the City". Sophia had introduced Simon in advance that the Skelton Lee brand was mainly for urban women, so this person fit the brand. Style TV stars are obviously the kind who are paid to support the show.
When the show started, Simon could name three or four of the models on the T stage, including Paulina Preskova and Angela Lindewald.
Of course, since we are just here for fun, it doesn't matter.
After watching the Falcon 9 rocket launch yesterday, Simon spent the night in Florida and flew to New York this morning.
I decided to take a break over the weekend and randomly picked a show to watch.
In the last row on the left side of the catwalk, Simon sat in a corner, next to Grace Krepp.
Originally, Sofia Feisi also said she wanted to come together. In the morning, she received a temporary news that there was an urgent matter to be dealt with in Europe. Regarding the Hermès brand, in which Melisandre had been quietly eating away at her shares recently, Sofia flew to France temporarily.
Over the years, Melisandre's fashion, jewelry, watches, furniture, wine and other brands have reached more than 80. For Skye, who can't even be considered a 'ship', it can only be called a 'boat'. Simon had never paid attention to the Skelton Lee brand before, so he didn't know about the changes in founder Skelton Lee's design ideas. The reason why he chose this small brand was indeed because of its oriental elements.
Seeing the design style on the catwalk that didn't quite match what Sophia had introduced earlier, my thoughts changed a bit, and I probably understood what the Oriental girl who just came over to say hello was thinking. However, there is no doubt about the talent of the other party. Even if the oriental elements are compressed, the fashion on the catwalk is still pleasing to the eye. Simon just appreciates it and has no special intention to interfere.
Grace sticks to Simon's side. Sofia's temporary schedule allows her to be alone with her little man unexpectedly, and she is very happy inside.
I was enjoying the feeling of cuddling up to him while quietly admiring the really good fashions on the catwalk. When I saw an Asian model, apparently in order to attract someone's attention, her shoulder straps 'accidentally' slipped down, exposing her naked body. Half breasted, he still couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Too clumsy.
However, Grace still tilted her head to Simon's ear: "It's pretty good. I'll call you over tonight. He happens to be from my company."
Simon had a vague impression of the model. She seemed to be a girl who appeared in the Elite World Elite Model Contest the year before last. Hearing what Grace said, he smiled and tilted his head slightly and asked, "Japanese girl?"
"Well," Grace nodded, remembered, and said with a smile, "Why don't you like Japanese girls?"
Simon didn't make any more excuses and just said softly: "I don't like Japanese very much."
"That's not a problem," Grace said, "I'll ask them to speak English."
Simon subconsciously changed some classic Japanese words in Ivy's short film into English and performed it, but he still smiled and shook his head: "Forget it."
Grace looked very interested: "Then, let them not talk, is that okay?"
Simon couldn't help but imagine.
This, Sakura Mute Girl theme night
Um…
Grace glanced at the man's expression and understood, and said with a smile: "Then I can help you arrange it?"
"Forget it this weekend," Simon said, "Just take some time."
Grace notes.
The fifteen-minute show ended quickly.
Simon did not leave early. After the curtain call came, he chatted with the guest models in front of and behind the scenes. Grace also specially called the Japanese model over to introduce her. The girl’s name is Risa Kiyohara. She is 20 years old this year and has a petite face. , has a pure temperament, but has a height of 183cm.
However, considering the little trick of dropping the shoulder straps on the catwalk, this girl's innocent appearance, which seems harmless to humans and animals, is obviously just a disguise.
Having said that, in the past year, one of the most high-end and most popular gossips in the fashion industry, which has not appeared in any media but has spread quite widely, is that several big models accidentally became pregnant and successfully gave birth to children because of a certain super tycoon. things.
After all, among the six women, some could bear to keep a low profile, while others would inevitably want to show off. What's more, although one of them gave birth to a child, something unexpected happened and she almost caused trouble.
Not to mention these, it’s just a woman who gave birth to a child of a certain big shot, and she rose to the top in one step.
Reach heaven in one step!
Therefore, seeing that a certain Japanese girl attracted the special attention of Simon Westeros due to some tricks that were very unpopular in the industry, the other models present greatly regretted it.
If I had known it earlier, if I had known it earlier...
Unfortunately, this opportunity has been missed.
Simple communication, Simon rejected Paulina Priskova's explicit request to ask if she was free in the evening, declined Skelton Lee's suggestion to invite for coffee, and ignored the grievances of 'Little Fox' Angela Lindwall With a small expression, and of course more disappointed looks, he still took Grace away.
The time is approaching five o'clock in the afternoon, and there will be Melisandre's official New York Fashion Week party in the evening, and I plan to join in the fun. Before that, it's dinner time.
In the rare world of two people, when they returned to the penthouse in the Westeros Towers, Grace took Simon to cook together, which would make it more atmospheric.
Simon didn't refuse either.
Both of them are the kind of people who seldom enter the kitchen, but it is more than enough to prepare a dinner.
After chasing away the other waitresses who wanted to help, and after some discussion, Grace took out the ingredients from the refrigerator and planned to make a cream of mushroom soup. She said to Simon who was working on a piece of beef: "I saw about your Rocket Company I’m very curious, the recycling technology seems to be very powerful, but in reality it seems to be of little use?”
Simon sliced the beef, took the condiments on the side and began to marinate it. After hearing this, he explained casually: "Take yesterday's Falcon 9 as an example. For a rocket with the same load, other aerospace companies' quotations are around US$100 million, and We can keep the cost within 50 million..."
Grace interrupted: "I've seen all this in the news. I also know that if mature multiple recycling can be achieved, the cost of Falcon 9 can be reduced to less than 10 million or even 5 million, and it may even be used in the future. Each launch only requires hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel costs. The question is, counting the world, does the world have so many rocket launch needs? Just like the federal space shuttle, which was originally designed and planned to launch 30 times a year, but now it is Not even three times a year?”
Simon listened to Grace say and realized that the woman had obviously done a lot of homework.
Smiling, Simon waited for Grace to finish and then continued: "The space shuttle was marginalized. The Challenger incident was one of the reasons, but the key is the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The confrontation between the East and the West disappeared. The Federation and many other countries in the world We have all lost the motivation to continue exploring space and pursuing the limits of science and technology. I told you this, the 3G plan is a continuation of the pursuit of the limits of science and technology. Maybe I have my own selfish motives for the 3G plan, but if it succeeds, it will be a great benefit to mankind. There must be great benefits. Otherwise, if the existing technological productivity cannot meet mankind's continuous demand for resources, the world will just reincarnate in the cycle of war, recovery, and war again, as it has for thousands of years. and even the complete self-destruction of mankind.”
Grace added water to the soup pot, turned on the fire, and started to clean the mushrooms she had just taken out of the refrigerator. This time she did not interrupt, nodded, and smiled: "Then, you are talking about rockets, as a heavy rocket." What are you going to do when launch costs drop to millions or even hundreds of thousands of dollars?”
Simon didn't need to think about it and said quickly: "We are already planning. The first step is to build a space city, one with a 10,000-ton capacity, instead of the 400-ton capacity of the International Space Station in recent years."
Grace paused this time, obviously surprised, and glanced at the man next to her: "The scale of the International Space Station is 400 tons, and the budget is 50 billion U.S. dollars. Do you plan to spend 1 trillion U.S. dollars on a 10,000-ton space city?"
Simon shook his head: "The International Space Station's budget of US$50 billion is only the initial plan. According to the investment trend that has been officially implemented in the past two years, US$100 billion may not be enough in the future. However, the budget of the International Space Station, to be more straightforward, there is too much waste. Gray area of funding. Just like our Falcon 9 heavy experiment this time, why does it cost hundreds of millions of dollars for other aerospace companies to launch a launch vehicle of the same size? Because there are too many stakeholders who want to suck blood from it, and I Here, just like SpaceX produces its own parts as much as possible, even if external procurement cannot be avoided for the planned space city, I will definitely not leave it to thousands of suppliers around the world. This alone can save a lot of money. cost."
In Simon's opinion, the construction cost of the International Space Station, like the U.S. military expenditure, is too high.
One of the most direct evidences is that China's space station once had a set of data, which may not be accurate, but it is enough for comparison. The total cost of the International Space Station is US$160 billion, which is equivalent to about 1.2 trillion RMB. However, even if the design volume of China's space station is only 60 tons, the cost for decades before and after is only about 50 billion RMB, even if subsequent operations and maintenance are included. The cost, calculated at 100 billion, is still less than a fraction of the International Space Station.
Why
The key is that there are too many stakeholders plucking hair and blood from the International Space Station.
That's not even the worst part.
Later, the situation evolved further to the point where NASA kept throwing money at the project, and the contractor took the money and then said it couldn't be done.
Need more money!
As for whether spending more money can get things done
This is not guaranteed. After all, scientific research is very risky.
In fact, to put it bluntly, various stakeholders are too lazy to cover up.
As a result, the U.S. government has to hand over some projects to emerging private companies like SpaceX that can still get things done.
In any case, Simon would not allow this to happen to his family.