Chapter 140: The Star of Milan

Taeha was stunned.

The reason was simple.

A note had been enclosed along with the new outfit sent by Prada.

The note contained the following message:

+ Interest

[I suddenly had a stroke of inspiration, so I’m sending you a newly completed outfit. Think of it as a preview of the next S/S collection, and I hope you’ll wear it today. I sincerely wish you like it.]

A reinterpretation of Korean culture.

The outfit Camilla Prada sent was part of an upcoming S/S collection themed around that concept.

Even without reading the note, it was obvious—Camilla Prada’s outfit was steeped in Korean characteristics.

The outfit consisted of pants, a jeogori, a vest, and a magoja, but what stood out was the way the gentle curves unique to hanbok had been preserved.

Among them, what caught Taeha’s eye was the durumagi.

Made of a material so thin it was almost see-through and printed with embroidered birds, the durumagi embraced the essence of hanbok while exuding a modern beauty.

Kim Su-jin, who had been examining the outfit sent by Camilla Prada alongside Taeha, was overwhelmed by its beauty. She stood there dazed before finally snapping out of it.

“Wow! It’s so beautiful! How can such a hanbok exist?”

Even a specialist like Kim Su-jin found it stunning.

Taeha felt relieved that his judgment was correct and replied.

“Right. Should I try it on?”

“Yes! Hurry up and put it on!”

A moment later.

Taeha was wearing all the clothes sent by Prada.

When he put on the Prada signature logo-embossed brushed leather comeback boots, the true value of the outfit was revealed.

The modern-feeling brushed leather comeback boots didn’t seem out of place at all.

In other words, this outfit was a realization of Camilla Prada’s ambition to reinterpret Korean culture.

“Whoa! Amazing!”

Kim Su-jin kept exclaiming in admiration.

Beside her, Taeha was looking at his own reflection, and an unconscious thought crossed his mind.

‘Maybe I’ll end up being the star of this fashion show.’

***

Daniele Bertelli, a journalist for one of Italy’s leading daily newspapers, La Repubblica, was a person of close interest to Prada lately.

The reason was simple.

He had been continuously writing unfavorable articles about Prada.

Of course, among Daniele Bertelli’s articles, there were definitely some that exposed the truth and cut to the core.

But he held Prada to an overly strict standard and constantly criticized them with somewhat aggressive expressions.

Prada couldn’t possibly see Daniele Bertelli in a positive light.

If he hated them that much, they wished he would just stop paying attention altogether.

In fact, Daniele Bertelli’s interest in Prada was only growing.

That was only natural, given that every article he wrote about Prada received enthusiastic support from readers.

And today, Daniele Bertelli attended the F/W fashion show to cover Prada.

‘Let’s see what I can dig up today.’

With that thought, Daniele Bertelli thoroughly searched the venue where the fashion show was scheduled.

But perhaps he had been too critical for too long.

Prada’s preparation for the fashion show was impressive beyond expectations.

Even when he scrutinized it with burning eyes, he couldn’t find anything worth writing a critical article about, as he had done before.

‘This won’t do… I guess I’ll have to hope for a mistake on the runway, even if it’s a bit cheap.’

Daniele Bertelli was thinking this as he waited for the show to begin.

In the meantime, Prada’s global ambassadors began arriving one by one at the venue to watch the runway.

At that moment, a brilliant idea flashed through Daniele Bertelli’s mind.

‘Right! Let’s dig into a global ambassador for a change!’

Prada’s global ambassadors were already notorious for being involved in all sorts of incidents and scandals.

Because of that, Daniele Bertelli had also gotten a lot of mileage out of articles related to them.

Even trivial flaws became interesting to readers due to Prada’s image.

So, in a situation where there was nothing to criticize, running an article about a global ambassador wasn’t a bad choice.

‘Who’s here?’

Daniele Bertelli scanned the list of global ambassadors attending this fashion show.

Indeed, Prada’s global ambassadors were impressive.

Every single one of them was a globally renowned star.

In some cases, their names were so big that Daniele Bertelli felt hesitant to touch them recklessly.

‘Let’s skip the ones with too big a name. Even if I dig into their past, there won’t be much to find. Others have already covered everything.’

With that thought, he continued to examine the global ambassadors.

Then, a piece of information he had recently acquired came to mind.

It was the fact that Prada had appointed a new global ambassador.

‘Who was it? A Korean? Anyway, it’s not a bad idea to go after that one.’

Daniele Bertelli believed there was no one without a flaw.

It just hadn’t been exposed yet.

And a new Prada global ambassador was bound to have undiscovered flaws.

That was exactly what Daniele Bertelli was after.

‘Let’s check the name first.’

Daniele Bertelli was searching on his phone when it happened.

“Whoa!”

“What’s that!”

“Fantastic!”

“Amazing!”

Cheers erupted from behind Daniele Bertelli.

The cheers were on a completely different scale from when other global ambassadors had appeared.

‘What is it?’

Unable to contain his curiosity, Daniele Bertelli moved toward the source of the cheers.

He wasn’t the only one.

Everyone present turned their attention to the direction of the cheers.

And a moment later.

The reason for the cheers became clear.

At the end of the commotion, a person caught Daniele Bertelli’s eye.

Surprisingly, it was Taeha, wearing Camilla Prada’s outfit.

“Huh…”

A dry laugh escaped Daniele Bertelli’s lips without his control.

It couldn’t be helped.

Even in his own eyes, Taeha’s appearance was astonishing.

People were showcasing various high-fashion styles befitting a luxury brand’s fashion show, but Taeha stood out with an unparalleled presence.

First of all, it was the outfit Taeha was wearing.

It exuded Korean beauty while not losing its chic and sophistication.

The shape of the durumagi Taeha was wearing, in particular, completely overturned the aesthetic sensibilities common in the fashion world.

Perhaps that was why the people who had turned their attention here out of curiosity couldn’t take their eyes off Taeha.

The same went for Daniele Bertelli.

After a long while, he came to his senses and muttered.

“Who is that?”

Then, he happened to overhear the voices of people nearby.

“Is that the guy? The Korean actor who just became Prada’s new global ambassador?”

“Yeah, Kang Tae-ha. The main character of Byeonghwa, which has been number one on Netflix for days.”

“What? Then that outfit Taeha’s wearing—did Prada prepare that too?”

“Probably.”

The moment he heard that, Daniele Bertelli felt as if his head had been hit with a hammer.

If the person who had just passed by, Kang Tae-ha, was indeed Prada’s new global ambassador…

And if Taeha’s outfit was really prepared by Prada…

The implications were significant.

“…A preview of the S/S collection.”

Daniele Bertelli felt a chill run down his spine at the hypothesis forming in his mind.

At the same time, he opened his laptop and frantically began writing an article.

Unlike before, Daniele Bertelli’s article was full of praise for Prada.

***

Prada’s F/W fashion show, which used sheer organza as its main material to create elegant silhouettes, came to a successful close.

The collection’s goal of reexamining the classic outline of strictness had been achieved.

In fact, many people praised this Prada F/W fashion show.

The general consensus was that it was a perfect runway where not a single mistake could be found.

The show generated a lot of buzz, but surprisingly, something else drew the most attention.

A reinterpretation of Korean culture.

As a preview, it was the existence of Taeha, wearing Camilla Prada’s outfit.

When Taeha’s appearance was first revealed through someone’s SNS, opinions were divided.

There was a sharp conflict between those who thought Taeha’s outfit wasn’t Prada’s and those who insisted it was.

But gradually, the opinion shifted toward it being Prada’s, and at the same time, curiosity grew among people.

How could Taeha be wearing a Prada outfit that had never been publicly released?

Some speculated that Camilla Prada had personally gifted the outfit to Taeha because he was Korean, while others guessed that Taeha’s stylist had personally modified it.

But the next day.

Daniele Bertelli of La Repubblica presented a new hypothesis, changing the flow of the story.

[…The surprising outfit of new global ambassador Kang Tae-ha is interpreted as a preview of the next Prada S/S collection.]

Like other guesses, it was only speculation, but it somehow made sense.

Otherwise, there was no reason for Taeha to appear wearing a Prada outfit that no one had ever seen before.

Thus, Daniele Bertelli’s hypothesis began to gain public support and spread worldwide.

As a result, just as he had sensed, Taeha became the star of this fashion show.

And not just any star.

Even after the praise for Prada’s F/W fashion show faded, Taeha’s name remained, drawing attention from the global fashion world.

***

Having completed his first schedule as Prada’s global ambassador, generating a huge buzz, Taeha had now arrived back in Korea.

In the meantime, the weekly broadcasts of Byeonghwa recorded ratings of 18.4% for episode 18, 18.8% for episode 19, 19.2% for episode 20, 19.7% for episode 21, and 20.5% for episode 22.

The 20% rating that had once felt like an insurmountable wall to Taeha.

He had finally succeeded in surpassing it.

Now only episodes 23 and 24 remained.

And the question was whether Byeonghwa could surpass tvM’s all-time highest rating of 21.7%.

Just one more week, and the answer would be revealed.