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On the World-Stage [Fashion/NoM]

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Zuzu Mansur

Zuzu Mansur
A-Tier
A-Tier

Job Info:

ZUZU MANSUR
As the Sun shone down upon pink-hued Tisifun, he found himself surprised when he viewed the Collia estate. For he saw Zubaidah sunbathing underneath her Cinder Parasol amongst fig and orange trees, a piña colada cooling her manicured hands. But it was not her alone, since it seemed that the entire Ash Company was relaxing amongst the Al-Athair orchards, manicures and cocktails upon all their minds. Indeed, even Collia was trimming his beard out there whilst he treated himself to an ice-cold martini!

Were they not supposed to be working?

I presume that you’ve drawn up a guest-list of sorts?’ Well, it seemed that they had managed to combine work and play into one activity. ‘I have shortlisted about twenty people who would be best-suited for our discussions.

'If I’m honest, I still don’t entirely get what we’re doing here.’ As she lounged in the cold shade beneath some palm fronds, Amnet indulged herself in a small vanilla-scented dessert. ‘I mean, that’s not saying much.’ She shot some deadly side-eye towards Rafi before Denime stepped in-between, handing out some new and ice-cold drinks, ‘Now, now, no need for that tone, darling.

Come on, we’re just inviting guests from across our combined network to establish a customer base for our products, right?’ As he explained the situation so well, however, Rafi realised that all the Ash Company was staring at him like a red-crested rooster had taken flight. ‘Why are you looking at me so surprised!

I am heading up one of Tisifun’s main merchant companies!

I must be honest, I had not expected that either.

Even you, Collia sir?’ Gawping like some headless chicken, Rafi felt Collia’s comment hit harder than any other. ‘But we’ve literally worked together before!

Hey, hey, people! If you keep arguing amongst yourselves, I swear we will stop having cocktails at meetings! So let’s focus, unless you don’t value your piña coladas, eh?

-----

At the end of the week, and many a cocktail, Zubaidah had tailored a shortlist for who could front the Ash Company. She needed faces and personalities that would draw in customers across the world, thus herself and Collia had called in favours from Reim to Kou. After all, if they wanted to revitalise Parthevia, what better than putting Tisifun on the world-stage?

And so, with the sun shining proud over the Collia estate, the Ash Company welcomed their guests into the Al-Athair’s dining-room. Once there, each guest would be offered a glass of sweet alcohol for one hand and Zubaidah’s business-plan for the other. They could not waste a single moment to have them side with the Ash Company, and if they needed it then they would butter them up with alcohol and buttered pastries par excellence.

As they were gathered within the dining-room, however, something more sumptuous arrived. With the swish of her tight-fitting dress, woven by her Nazairi partners, Zubaidah drew the attention of all her guests. Henna swirled around her tanned skin, and crimson coloured her lips. If she was being honest, she deserved that attention because she looked like liquid fire.

Welcome, my dear guests.’ She smiled with dark-red thoughts, coloured with her passion for Tisifun. ‘I am sure that you are aware why I invited you. At least, I should hope that I remembered to write my intentions on your invitations.

If I forgot, however, let me reiterate them.

You are here because I consider you the most influential in your field. Whether leader or lead-singer, you have skills and talents that will allow the fashion that our Ash Company has made to spread from Reim to Kou. We want to change the way in which the entire world views fashion, and you will be the models who publicise how it should be viewed.

Any questions?
340/340 mag | 627/1000 | 390/390 stam


Cinder Parasol:

Zubaidah’s New Dress:


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Rameses

Rameses
C-Tier
C-Tier

The esteemed Collia estate was occupied at no expense to the host. Invitations were sent out with the professionalism he expected from an event like this. Though dabbling his hands in was something he did within his regimented schedule — it was a front for the underhanded trading he had done to supply himself and others with the finest materials their coin could purchase.

They had been corralled into the gaude dining hall and with the subpar wine placed within their fingers, Rameses believed he was rather unimpressed. That was what lives of mingling with courts of pharaohs did to a person.

He had come dressed in hanfu — a garb of great comfort originating from the land of Kou. The fabric was woven from fine, black silk and gold threaded knit; sash depicting the image of a phoenix. It was a fitting canvas for the trail of vibrant azure that blended into the bejeweled wings that tucked themselves close to it. A thin, long snake with brilliant golden scales nestled itself around his neck, content beside the warmth of his skin.

Where the host would reiterate the purpose of this gathering, Rameses would linger his attention as lax as he could manage. For the mediocre wine within his goblet wasn’t enough to bring a man like him to her favor. Yet there was one question he did have:

“What does your company bring us in exchange for this service of influence?”

As a careful man of business, he was not inclined to support a cause that did not bring him a secured form of equal value.






Last edited by Rameses on 26/05/22, 04:56 pm; edited 1 time in total


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On the World-Stage [Fashion/NoM] 7rvaACd

Zuzu Mansur

Zuzu Mansur
A-Tier
A-Tier

ZUZU MANSUR
As she looked around the star-studded room, fastening her Dancer’s Sail around her waist, Zubaidah saw new and familiar faces alike. She recognised the Rose and Lake Companies at an instant, her mentors Anna and Ho Lea tasting each every cocktail served behind the newly-depleted bar. At their side was an esteemed but unfamiliar dancer, Enguun from the Hoar Company based in the Plains.

She noticed lady Salma and lady Tanith soon after, heads of the Ganni and Ruiz estates respectively, both prominent members of Heliohaptian and Reiman society. Zubaidah had once worked a case for lady Salma, earning her respect and patronage ever since, and lady Tanith seemed to be one reward granted from said patronage. A few lesser nobles from across Reiman lands had accompanied them to Tisifun, but Zubaidah was more than content to entertain their idle leisure. After all, she was here to persuade everyone.

And she meant everyone.

Yes that is a good question, sir.’ She greeted Ramses with a vixen’s smile, sweet but savage towards his challenge. ‘You are all from different professions, thus you all have different wants and desires.’ She knew him from her black-market connections, same with the Harley troupe and the Ganzak Three or even the Rime and Dust Syndicates, hence she understood his concerns differed from high society. ‘For those who want quick profits, the Ash Company has calculated that Tisifun’s fashion industry should make double the projected amount every month from the Nazairi workshops alone.'

If we factor in our upper-class clientele, however, we might have four or five times more than expected, depending on the success of our closed-door negotiations with Reiman and Kounese nobles.’ She nodded towards lady Salma and Tanith, whose wine-soaked smiles flashed towards the suave Maelius and his Reiman retinue, before gesturing towards Anna, Ho Lea and Enguun. ‘We have also agreed to grant some ‘branded’ clothing towards the first-class Companies, such as the Rose, Lake and Hoar present today, who will advertise our brands to the wider public.

Zubaidah put some emphasis upon the word ‘brands’, before sipping her almond-flavoured drink. ‘If you are confused about the meaning of ‘branded’ clothing, for I will admit the idea to be novel, then let me explain.’ After one more sip, Zubaidah was ready to delve into the sugar and spice of this meeting.

Until this point, fashion has been considered an artisan business where specialists are enlisted and monopolised by upper-class patrons. As such, fashion has not been granted room to evolve, for the tastes of the nobles have coloured the art-form. Thus, by spreading creative decisions between the specialists, the patrons and the general public, we hope to create an industry that allows everyone to express their individual tastes.

For this, the Ash Company has grouped certain Nazairi workshops together into our so-called ‘brands’. These brands will work with techniques and materials different from one another, fostering the growth of unique fashion-styles. These brands can then produce for noble and common customer-bases.'

'For the upper-classes, they will establish patron relationships with specialists within a brand, whose clothes will feature the brand’s name and distinct fashion-style. For the lower-classes, they can buy standardised clothes from brands at an affordable price, spreading the brand’s influence through the act of buying and wearing branded clothes.


As you can understand, the fashion industry has some great commercial advantages against other industries, since everyone wears clothes, and we wish to weaponize this simple fact into an economic opportunity.
340/340 mag | 1000+/1000 | 390/390 stam


Dancer’s Sail:

Guests:



Last edited by Zuzu Mansur on 18/06/22, 02:34 pm; edited 1 time in total


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Rameses

Rameses
C-Tier
C-Tier

The company posed as a lucrative investment as the surrounding support of those with heavier pockets held in its favor. An investment of his time and resources could turnover a flow of decent profit. Not to mention that it would provide another layer of cover over his trades. It was imperative he kept the law at a distance and their attention directed elsewhere.

How this endeavor would fair for the common folk, however, was his next concern. For the industries of artisans were just one population within the ecosystems of cities around the globe. This could be like introducing a slew of elk into a forest. Without hunters to check their numbers, the vegetation needed for their survival will be consumed by their hunger.

“You seem to have this all worked out,” he said, taking a long sip of his goblet thereafter. He would need it for what came next. “However, I fail to see how different this would be from how the business forecasts itself in the present.”

“You stated that specialists are monopolized by upper-class patrons which holds some truth. I can agree, to an extent, that the general population deserve the right to better dress and an allowance to partake in trends inaccessible to them.”

“However, I hold my concerns with this company becoming a greater monopoly than the nobles that give their patron artisans their business. Providing what you promise would require these affordable items to be made with cheaper materials and mass labor which reduces the quality of your products if there is profit to be made. It would take away the value from smaller businesses which provide quality work made by true artisans with incomparable skill to a mere factory worker. It looks to me like this favors placing coins into the pockets of nobles and providing more of a reason to siphon the common folk of more of their coin under the guise of providing affordable, accessible fashion.”

It was a self-proclaimed duty to protect the natural state of the communities he involved himself in. Even in the interest of those he did not. For the lesser rich portions of them were home to the people he gave most of his business. So, he would stick the needle in further to prod the mind of the violet haired woman who stood at the head of this all. If anything, he could make a hole deep enough to inject his own interests.

“What would be your plan of action to prevent artisans outside of this circle providing similar services from being suffocated by the control over the industry that this company wishes to claim?”





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On the World-Stage [Fashion/NoM] 7rvaACd

Zuzu Mansur

Zuzu Mansur
A-Tier
A-Tier

ZUZU MANSUR


We have considered that issue of small business as well.’ She was interested in this Rameses, for Zubaidah knew that his work was based within the deep underground, and his wealth came from deeper still. ‘For it has never been our objective that we make ourselves a monopoly.’ She was uncertain whether he was concerned for those with less money and power - or for those who lined his pockets. ‘We are instead addressing all three tiers of customer-vase.

For the lowest tier, we will offer well-made but inexpensive clothes. To do so, we have contracted a number of Reiman and Parthevian farmers who will produce materials for all our brands. Once harvested, most of this material will be distributed to Nazairi specialists. Since the materials will vary with seasonal production-rates, the Nazairi will focus upon simple designs that can be reproduced with different materials. I believe that this tier of production is not represented within the current industry, instead most families are forced to make their own clothes with tools and materials that would cost more than buying pre-made products. As such, we would be offering a new service that does not interfere with other markets and producers.’

For the middle tier, we wish to foster a competitive market since most tailors and clothiers cater towards the middle-classes. In this customer-base, we do not want to alienate customers from other producers, but instead we want to encourage diversity within the product. For this reason, I have been in discussion about starting my own brand that focuses upon new materials and fashion-styles. Since the market does not have the sort of product which I have in mind, it will not interfere with pre-existing producers. I will instead create a new customer-base for my product through advertisement within the Rose, Lake and Hoar Companies.


This was more than a passion project, this was her life's dream of reviving Parthevia distilled into corporate essence.

‘It was not our intention that we drain money from any customers, but rather empower them so that they can dress as they please - no matter how much money they do have.’

340/340 mag | 1932/1500 | 390/390 stam


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