After they were done with personal chitchat, Shu Yan asked about the clothing factory.
Every family had cows and sheep over at the grassland and leather and wool were necessary materials for clothing. If they were to have a processing plant set up there, it would be very inexpensive for them and could help out the herdsmen there.
Their company had already sent their scouts over three days after Shu Yan's call. After their onsite surveillance, their scouts determined that building a processing plant there was do-able and the location was not too far from capital city. They already have clothing factories at capital city and the processed products could be sent directly to capital city for production. The labors there were cheap. Costing half or even less than half of what would otherwise have cost them in City Nan or capital city. And, buying direct from the herdsmen also cut out the middleman.
Most importantly, the local government provided them with a lot of deals – the land would be free and no taxes for 10 years. Some local bank also reached out to them and offered no interest on their loans for three years. All in all, they would be building a leather and wool factory for free.
"We have already decided on moving forward on that and are in the processing of picking out the location. We can start the construction as soon as we decide on that," said Hu Ruixue with a smile.
"What about the ranch?" The source was very important when buying wool and leather from the herdsman. For a company, it Wushuang important to ensure that there would be an abundant support of resources and not to have to worry about shortages. That being said, a big part of the reason that Shu Yan picked to build at that location was to help out the old village head and the others.
"Don't worry. The village that you've travelled to will be one of our suppliers. Plus, we will be spending our specialists over to help improve them on scientific large-scale sheep raising."
"When are we announcing our designs?" Shu Yan knew that all of the designs had been finished and even the samples had been completed. Production would begin as soon as there was final confirmation.
"That will take place before Mid-Autumn Festival, probably around August 20 or so. We have quite a few designs in the women clothing, some basic ones and a few that we will be pushing. Take a look at them when you get a chance." Hu Ruixue had noticed that Shu Yan had exceptionally good eye when it came to clothing trend. Anything that she picked up would end up being super popular.
"Sure. I will take a look when I get back to my office." Shu Yan did not decline her. She did have an eye for the future when it came to fashion trend.
Hu Ruixue picked out 12 styles that she said would be hits. Shu Yan looked at them and noticed that most of them were modifications of designs from foreign designers. All she could say was that they were plain and nothing stood out about them.
She called for a small meeting with both the designers and Hu Ruixue.
"What we are trying to do here is to build our own brand. Women's clothing and undergarment are very different. Undergarment are for home use and comfort is the most important thing. It was alright for us to modify what we have seen on magazines. But doing the same for women's clothing, we are just lowering the class of our brand."
Hu Ruixue immediately noticed how serious this problem was. Perhaps their undergarments had been so successful their employees felt that they could just repeat what they had done before. She felt that it was alright as well. She had forgotten that women's clothing and undergarments were very different.
Women's clothing is outerwear. It would be fine if they only wanted to become an ordinary brand. Except that their dream was to become a luxurious brand, a light luxurious at the very minimum. If that was the case, then borrowing the concepts from foreign brands would be a smudge on their record. Worst case scenario, all the shows would refuse to work with them.
Hu Ruixue glanced over at the designers who looked gloomy. She didn't chastise them. First of all, she made the same mistake herself. Besides, chastising them now wouldn't do them any good.
"I have already contacted the advertising agency and they will be filming the commercials in a few days. We might not have enough time now. Should we delay our announcement date?" asked Hu Ruixue.
They were already having samples of the designs made. They would not have enough time to change them now.
"I am sure there are more. Just give me all the design drafts. In addition, have all the designers, including the interns, turn in all their designs."
"The interns' as well?" The department head of Designs double checked cautiously.
"Yes." Shu Yan gave her a look and said, "The younger they are, the bolder they are. Perhaps there will be something eye-catching. We shouldn't just gloss over the work of interns. You should pay it more attention on a regular basis as well. Our company does not stress on experiences or generations. As long as they are competent, their ages, education levels, or work experiences are not important."
Especially when it came to design. It was all about one's artistic talent and didn't have much to do with one's experiences or background. Some could design at a young age what others couldn't in their entire life.
Those from Designs pulled out all of their past drawings. Boss Shu would be looking at them personally. If any of their work was picked by chance, they would be promoted instantly.
"Have you heard? Boss Shu said she would look at the designs from interns as well. Xia Rou, I think your designs are great. If it wasn't for our team lead, you are probably already a permanent hire."
"Don't say that. Someone might overhear us." Xia Ruo looked around them. She felt pretty helpless as well. Who would have thought that her team lead happened to be someone senior to her in college?
Xia Ruo was a design major and Lin Shanshan, her current team lead, attended the same school as her and was a year ahead of her. She liked a boy in her class. Lo and behold, this boy was interested in Xia Ruo. And that was when Lin Shanshan started to dislike Xia Ruo. Xia Ruo didn't think that the two of them would end up at the same company. Lin Shanshan was referred to this company when she graduated a year ahead of Xia Ruo and quickly became a team lead.
"I trust that you have heard the news already. Now hand me all of your designs." Lin Shanshan came in her high heels and glanced over at Xia Ruo. "Xia Ruo, give me your design drafts."
"Sorry. I haven't had much lately," said Xia Ruo as she avoided Lin Shanshan from seeing the look on her face.
After Lin Shanshan had walked away, the girl next to Xia Ruo tucked her on her sleeve. "What's up with you? This is such a rare opportunity."
Xia Ruo smiled at her but did not elaborate. She knew very well that even if she had handed in her drafts, there was no way that Lin Shanshan would submit the for her. All in all, as long as Lin Shanshan was still with this company, she would never have the opportunity to shine. She might as well take a chance here.
Using going to the bathroom as an excuse, Xia Ruo went in front of Shu Yan's office. She cheered herself on and knocked on the door.
"C'mon in."
Shu Yan looked up. Standing in front of her was a very beautiful woman. The corners of her eyes rose up some and she looked a little seductive when she blinked but her eyes was virtuous.
"Which department do you belong to and what do you want to talk to me about?"
Xia Ruo stood up straight and bowed to Shu Yan. "Hi Boss Shu. I am Xia Ruo, an intern in Designs. I would like to recommend myself to you."
Shu Yan leaned back. "I have already talked to the manager of Designs. He should have already pass down the order and all you need to do is to hand your drafts in to him."
Her draft designs in her hand, Xia Ruo tightened her lips a little and summoned up her courage to go on. "I went to the same school as my team lead. There had been some misunderstandings back then and we didn't have a good relationship, so......"
Shu Yan got it now. She was not a fan of someone going above their superiors but neither was she a fan of management acting on their personal interests.
"Okay, show me your drafts."
Shu Yan's eyes lit up when she saw the first design. The designs were simple and poised. Most importantly, it had Chinese elements in them. A set of the fall clothed used the lucky cloud as its main theme and was very eye-catching.
"These are all your designs?" If the girl in front of her was the one who designed all these, then they had definitely struck gold.
"Yes, I never received any assignments since I have joined the company so I had been doing designs on my own. I have some more at home as well."
Shu Yan put down the design drafts. "Okay, I get it. Go back to your spot first."
Xia Ruo bravely checked out Shu Yan's look but she couldn't read anything from Shu Yan. She left in disappointment. Did Boss Shu not like her designs? But she didn't sound that way. She could only leave and wait for the outcome now.
Immediately after Xia Ruo had left, Shu Yan called up Hu Ruixue right away. She finally let her excitement shown. "Hurry up and come over. We have our new styles now."
Hu Ruixue came quickly and her eyes beamed when she saw the design drafts that Shu Yan had in her hands.
"These are from one of our designers?" said Hu Ruixue incredulously.
Shu Yan's advantage was that she knew the trend for the next few decades. Otherwise, Hu Ruixue definitely had better eyes than her.
If Shu Yan could tell, then so could Hu Ruixue. When she set her mind on high-end women's clothing, she had considered Chinese elements. She didn't expect that someone had already done it and they meshed very well together.
"Not bad, eh?" Shu Yan pulled out the lucky cloud design sets specifically. "What say we modify this a little and use them for our fall/winter styles?"
"But I like this chrysanthemum series too," said Hu Ruixue as she pulled out the chrysanthemum series on. Shu Yan, too, liked this one a lot. The series included Malan chrysanthemum, small feverfew chrysanthemum, and daisies. They were equally eye-catching.
"This will work for early fall. I think lucky clouds are better for late fall." The flower series was more refreshing and more fitting for early fall.
"Okay. Let's do both sets." Hu Ruixue appreciated some of the other designs. They were not as good as the lucky cloud and flower series, but they were still quite good after all. "You still haven't told me who designed these."
The few well-known designers at their company were recruited by headhunter companies. Hu Ruixue had seen their work and none resembled what she was looking at now.
"An intern."
"Intern?" Hu Ruixue was shocked. Hu Ruixue didn't think much of it when Shu Yan said to have the interns submit their designs drafts as well. She didn't think that they would truly strike gold. "What is going on with Allen? How is this intern still an intern and not a permanent employee yet and not being valued?"
Allen was the lead designer that she had recruited for top dollars and he was also the head of the department. If he couldn't even tell good designs from bad, then there was no reason to keep him at Yanxue.
"Allen may not know about this either. I want to talk to you about this. This intern came to me directly and handed these to me. She said her team lead attended the same university as her and they had some conflicts back then. As such, she had received pushbacks since she joined our company. I feel that we need to look into this. Our company hasn't been around for very long and we already have people who are abusing their powers. This is a very dangerous sign."
Hu Ruixue slammed her hand down on the table and said angrily. "Hot dang, a team lead is power tripping? We don't even know if this is a single incident or there had been more. If that was the case, did that mean many talents had been driven away before we discovered them?"
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She picked up the phone and called Allen. "Come to Boss Shu's office right away."
They have just had that big issue this morning and he was now being called to meet with the two bosses. Allen was somewhat worried.