The next day, Simon continued to spend the morning on the set of "Wonder Woman" in Naples and flew to Milan in the afternoon.
Freni district in the eastern suburbs of Milan.
The abandoned factory where the show was held two years ago has been bought by Gucci.
Referring to the design style of Daenerys Studios office loft, Sofia successively converted the original abandoned factory into Gucci's Milan branch campus. Now it has more than 60 employees, and has also set up a product display area and a more professional Show.
Gucci’s recent spring and autumn shows have been held here.
In the park's show venue, Simon briefly visited the preparations for tomorrow morning's show. Without disturbing Tom Ford to lead the team in the final rehearsal, Simon and Sophia found a seat on the bench under the T stage.
"Angie will come to Europe at the end of the year to take over the Gucci business. She and Tom are both Americans and they work very well together. This is the most reassuring thing for me."
The Angie Sofia is talking about is naturally Angela Ahrendts, the president of Gucci America.
When they first hired Angela Ahrendts, Simon and Sofia had the idea of letting Ahrendts run Gucci, and the female executive has proven her ability in recent years.
Sofia let go of Gucci this time, so she can turn her energy to the development of Van Cleef & Arpels and Melisandre's other businesses.
Since it was the original plan, Simon just nodded to show his understanding.
Sophia and Simon mentioned this matter, and then changed the topic, saying: "Also, regarding the spokesperson of Van Cleef & Arpels, I am considering several candidates, Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, and Valerie Golino, which one do you think is suitable?”
With the success of The Last Day, Pretty Woman and Batman Begins, Demi Moore, Julia Roberts and Valerie Golino are three of Hollywood's hottest stars. Actress.
It’s not surprising that Simon didn’t hear Sandra, who was closest to him.
Although Sandra is young, she is not beautiful enough, and her personal image does not suit a high-end jewelry and watch brand like Van Cleef & Arpels.
After thinking about it, Simon smiled and said: "You are more inclined to Demi Moore, right?"
Among the three actresses, Demi Moore, who has worked as a model and has better temperament, is obviously more suitable for Van Cleef & Arpels.
Sofia nodded and said: "Julia is a little younger, Valerie is not pretty enough, and her appearance is not very good."
When he first cast Catwoman, Simon did not consider launching a large vase similar to Michelle Pfeiffer. Instead, he considered acting and appearance factors. Valerie Golino won the Venice Best Actress, and her appearance is just right. In addition, she is very young and malleable enough to complete a large part of the action scenes required by Catwoman, so she got this role.
Speaking carefully, the casting of this version of Catwoman is similar to what Simon remembers as Scarlett Johansson, the Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Scarlett Johansson is actually not very beautiful. As for her figure, after watching "Under the Skin", probably not many people will have any illusions about Scarlett Johansson's figure.
Marvel’s casting also considers comprehensive factors.
In his previous life, Simon occasionally complained about the looks of many of Marvel's female characters. Now that he was in the middle of the game, he realized that Marvel's casting strategy was actually very correct. Launching a big vase that only curls its lips and frowns may be successful for a while, but it is difficult to support the framework of a huge movie universe with this strategy.
Simon didn't have much feelings for Demi Moore, but he still said: "Since you are leaning towards Demi Moore, then it's Demi Moore. You don't need to ask me."
"But when I invited her to participate in Gucci's show this time, they said they couldn't spare the time."
"You really can't find the time?"
"Fake."
Simon was a little speechless.
Before "Ghost", Demi Moore was very enthusiastic about Gucci, and deliberately dragged her husband Bruce Willis to participate in Gucci activities several times in a row.
After the success of "The Love of Ghosts" and this summer's "A Few Good Men", this woman immediately became 'busy'.
If it's someone else, you can just pretend there's no schedule.
For Sophia, with her connections in Hollywood, it was just a phone call away to find out Demi Moore's schedule.
Simon asked again: "Have you disclosed the endorsement to her?"
Sophia nodded and said: "So, I think there is another possibility. Moore should be in contact with other brands, so he deliberately avoided it."
"Have you asked which one it is?"
"No."
"Forget it, I actually think Moore is not suitable either."
Although she became famous at the same time as Julia Roberts, Demi Moore relied on "The Ghost Story" to be more like a flash in the pan.
Compared to Julia, who was at her peak throughout the 1990s, Demi Moore's vision for selecting films is really unsatisfactory. While Julia Roberts won the Best Actress award with "Never Give Up", Demi Moore had been reduced to playing a supporting role in "Charlie's Angels 2".
"In that case, Julia, or Valerie?"
"The two of them are not suitable either."
As a high-end jewelry and watch brand, Van Cleef & Arpels’ spokespersons should be more glamorous. Both Julia and Valerie are famous enough, but they lack that eye-catching temperament.
After thinking for a moment, Simon suddenly thought of someone and said, "Nicole Kidman, what do you think?"
Nicole Kidman has that kind of radiant temperament. Think about Satine in "Moulin Rouge" or "Princess of Monaco" in which Nicole starred. She comes to endorse the brand Van Cleef & Arpels. , it seems perfect.
Sofia thought for a moment, nodded, shook her head, and said, "Nicole's image is very good, but her reputation is not big enough."
After her stunning appearance in "Pulp Fiction", Nicole Kidman's development in Hollywood in recent years has indeed not been as smooth as that of Sandra and Roberts. Although there is no shortage of film contracts, due to the image and drama, there are no more outstanding masterpieces.
Simon also has no idea of being 'responsible to the end' for the actresses he has supported. Given the opportunity, their subsequent development can only depend on them.
After the ridiculous incident with Cindy Crawford last time, Nicole Kidman also seized the 'opportunity' to mention to Simon that she hoped to get the female lead in "Jurassic Park", but Simon also refused .
Nicole was too young for the role of the botanist.
However, Simon gave Nicole a chance to play the role of Poison Ivy in The Dark Knight Rises.
The two Batman movies have made a lot of people famous. Poison Ivy, the important villain in the Batman series, is also the target of competition for many Hollywood actresses. Nicole failed to get her wish in "Jurassic Park" and got the role of Poison Ivy. Fujime is also quite satisfied.
However, according to previous arrangements, in order to further improve the envisioned special effects technology, "The Dark Knight Rises" will not be released until 1994. There will be three years in between, so Nicole naturally cannot be idle.
"You talk to Nicole, I will make other arrangements. Besides, you don't need to choose the most famous spokesperson. I think the most important thing is to be suitable."
Simon said, already thinking about which film to choose to help Nicole secure her first-line position.
Hollywood has shown a trend of saturation with A-list actresses in recent years. If you want to achieve this, you need to plan carefully.
Sophia nodded: "I will contact Nicole as soon as possible."
After finalizing this matter, we discussed some related matters related to Gucci.
Gucci has no spokesperson, which is the practice of many luxury clothing and luggage brands in this era.
Of course, conventions are meant to be broken.
As the luxury market continues to expand and competition becomes more intense in the next decade or two, luxury brands have also begun to invite spokespersons.
Just like in the 1980s, few luxury brands invited celebrities to watch their shows. In most shows, there were magazine editors, journalists or fashion buyers on the catwalk.
The trend has grown rapidly since Gucci was the first to invite celebrities to attend its big show two years ago and it was a huge success.
Superstars and celebrities have also realized that this is a matter of improving each other's style, and they have been very enthusiastic about participating in big shows in the past two years.
It’s not like Sofia hasn’t considered inviting a spokesperson for Gucci.
However, as the first luxury brand she built by herself, Sophia was very cautious. Gucci, which has a full product line, has higher requirements for spokespersons than Van Cleef & Arpels, which focuses on jewelry and watches.
Cindy Crawford was initially considered.
Gucci's current consumer group is urban elite women, and Cindy's temperament is just right.
However, the supermodel's style is too commercial. Not only did she turn to hosting last year, she opened a fashion show on MTV, she also took over the job of Pepsi spokesperson.
It is impossible for Gucci to put itself on the same level as Pepsi-Cola under any circumstances. It would be too cheap, so Sophia completely gave up the idea.
Then there was no suitable candidate.
The recent consideration is to select regional spokespersons in different consumption areas.
However, in recent years, thanks to Daenerys’ entertainment, Gucci’s exposure has been sufficient, and it does not seem urgent to be a spokesperson.
After talking about the spokesperson, Sophia looked around, but no one came close, and mentioned another thing: "The three groups of people I recruited, they and their families have recently immigrated to the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Canada. One group of people They will continue to stay in Europe, and the other two groups will be able to rush to the United States to start work probably next month."
Sofia was talking about the former East German Stasi agents she recruited.
Moving all the selected people out of Germany is not only a welfare, but also a kind of pledge and surveillance.
According to the original idea, Sophia still chose people with families and homes.
This matter is actually very sensitive, so I do it very carefully. Although East Germany has collapsed, it is difficult to say whether there will be people with ulterior motives sneaking in.
Simon had only read the information of these people, and out of caution, he did not meet any of them. Even Sophia only contacts these people through intermediaries most of the time.
Running a private intelligence network is definitely not as simple as imagined.
Now that large sums of money have been dispersed, Simon feels no pity, but does not have high expectations either. After a few years of continuous operation, Simon would be satisfied if he could gain a small group of loyal people.
It just so happened that another T-stage rehearsal started.
Naturally, several of the featured models did not have time to attend in person, and most of the others came in person.
Seeing the cold-looking models walking out of the background to the background music, Simon and Sophia automatically stopped their conversation.
Gucci also led changes in show style in the fashion industry.
In the 1980s, fashion shows were not as aloof as later generations remembered. Models tended to walk more casually in groups, with very casual expressions, and there was no shortage of teasing, blowing kisses and winking gestures.
Simon couldn't stand the lack of order at all, and Tom Ford was also a perfectionist.
Therefore, starting from the catwalk two years ago, Gucci has shown the high-end style that Simon remembered, and it has also become popular in the past two years.
Humanity's pursuit of beauty is endless.
After seeing too many beauties, Simon was still admiring the long-legged and waisted beauties passing by on the stage with great interest. Many girls on the catwalk noticed Simon's figure, and their eyes visibly lit up.
Sofia noticed that a girl with frighteningly long legs was obviously giving Simon a wink as she passed by. The man next to her also raised an eyebrow in return, and took the initiative to explain very "knowingly": "This is Nadja, she is 20 years old. , has just been signed by Elite, and is one of Elite’s key training targets in the next stage. They have also applied for a Guinness record for the longest-legged supermodel for this girl.”
Simon nodded: "Very good, call her later and I'll have a private chat with her."
Sophia rolled her eyes: "Do you need me to avoid it?"
"Of course, well, you can go get busy now."
I really wanted to pinch this man's waist, so I raised my hand, but didn't pinch him.
Thinking of something, Sofia said: "I almost forgot to tell you that Natasha Kinski moved from the villa in Cannes."
"it's common."
"It's not a pity for you at all. How many millions did you spend?"
“It’s still a good deal to buy a piece of fragrant lace that can last for a long time for tens of dollars.”
"It's not tens of dollars, it's millions of dollars."
"To me, it's just a few dozen dollars." Simon looked at Sophia and smiled: "You know, women are like cats to me."
"Well, I feel the same way. You are discriminating."
"No, I just don't have expectations."
"what does it mean?"
"A cat's temperament is like this: alert, lazy, lonely, and alienated. No matter you are rich or poor, healthy or sick, happy or sad, good or bad, it will never be loyal to you."
Sophia was stunned for a moment, wanting to laugh, but suddenly looked at Simon seriously and said, "I think you are more like a cat."
"Maybe, so they are similar."
"That's a bit pessimistic."
"It's not pessimism, it's perspective."
Simon leaned back, crossed his legs and looked at the beautiful girls on the catwalk. He muttered in a low voice with emotion: "Seeing him building a Zhulou, watching him entertaining guests, watching his building collapse. , this pile of moss and green tiles, I once slept in a romantic sleep, watching the rise and fall of fifty years..."
Sofia couldn't understand Chinese, but she felt the strong sense of vicissitudes in the man's words. Ignoring the gazes around her, she couldn't help but reach out and take his arm, and whispered in a comforting voice: "I'm not a cat, so is Jenny. No, Jenny, well, not either.”