Idols, Scissors, and a Verdict of Modern Fashion

The Big Man

Marliz took a deep breath, trying to fill the abyss and sickening feeling in her gut. The time had come for her to present her designs to New York’s top fashion icon, Vincent Bernard Dom, in hopes that he would pick her up in his agency and help her launch her designs into the world. It had taken her an eternity to receive a spot in showcasing her designs to him and she knew she had to give it her all. “Mr. Dom is available for you now.” announced his assistant. “Ok, ok, deep breaths. You got this. Do not stutter, do not fall. Be confident” Marliz thought to herself. As she walked into the office, all the pep talks she prepared herself with dispersed from her mind. Not only was she on the 158th floor of a skyscraper with a full-pan window that gave a clear view of New York City, as well as the possible plummet down to the

ground, but she found herself in front of the Big Man himself. Vincent Bernard Dom, her idol, stood peering at her portfolio from across the long rectangular table. A look of intrigue upon his hostile self. She knew impressing him would not be easy but as she was already in his office, there was no point in giving up then. She took a deep breath and began her presentation.

“If Mr. Dom is interested in your designs, you will hear a callback from us in about a week or so regarding your next meeting. However, if he is not, then you’ll receive an email notifying you that your designs have not been chosen”, said his assistant politely. Marliz gave her a blank stare, still starstruck of who she had just been with, then a meager “Thank you”, and left the office. Trying to free herself of the nagging “what if’s”, she went to a nearby cafe, ordered herself a coffee, and sat and replayed the meeting back in her head. She knew she should not be worrying about it or it’ll consume her, so she put her earbuds in and went outside to flag down a taxi.

Second Chances for Second Place

A few days later Marliz woke up with notifications upon notifications practically crawling out of her phone. Messages and Google alerts spammed her lock screen. “EXCLUSIVE: VINCENT BERNARD DOM’S CHOSEN DESIGNS” and “I can not believe it!” were the first words that caught her eye. Confused and overwhelmed she went straight to the news and stared at her phone in shock. Posted on the front page of an article were the most jaw-dropping designs ever. Underneath the image were the words: Vincent Bernard Dom’s Choice: Avery de Pultz. She felt her stomach drop more and more as she read further down the article. “There is no way I could ever amount to that level of beauty,” she thought,

“Even her name screams ‘Fashion Designer’”. Though she felt deeply hurt by the news, the biggest offense would be that they did not even send her an email in regard to the situation, not even the slightest acknowledgment that they cared about her as an applicant. Marliz knew she could not just stand there and let her dreams fall to a crash below her. It had always been her dream to become a top-of-the-line designer and she could not let go of it now. She wanted to show Vincent Bernard Dom the opportunity he lost by not signing her and prove her worth in the industry. So she opened up her laptop and searched “Fashion agencies with open applications”. “Dom has no idea what's coming to him”, she cunningly whispered to herself.

“We are pleased to inform you that we would like to offer you the opportunity of signing into our agency.” read the email. Marliz squealed with glee. She felt the blood rush back into her face, and a sense of exhilarating joy rise upon her. The 2nd highest-ranking fashion agency in New York

was willing to sign her as a C-level designer of their agency! Her time to shine and broadcast her designs to the world had finally come. “Take that Vincent,” she thought to herself. The best part about being signed into an agency would be that it comes with huge perks, such as immediately a spot in an NYFW show to broadcast her designs!

Competition is Near

“This is blasphemous! This is unacceptable! How did she manage to get signed by anyone if I rejected her? She must have bribed them because she could not possibly get into any sort of business with those designs! And the worst part is that she’ll be going head to head with my designer, Avery de Pultz… in Fashion Week! I will be looking like an absolute idiot if her design range is anywhere near Avery’s,” screamed Vincent

Bernard Dom, “Her success must be stopped, but how…?”

Arts and Crafts

Marliz couldn’t help but wake up bright and early on the day of the show. Her body was too boisterous to think about sleep, plus, she had to arrive at the show extra early to ensure all her runway designs were nice and ready for their debut. Full of eagerness to see her designs being strutted down the catwalk, she rushed to the location of the show, only to see complete horror backstage. All of her designs, which had been carefully placed on mannequins the night prior, were torn up and stained with red dye. She ran to the extra closet space, remembering that she had two backups of each design in case an accident happened, not that she ever imagined she would see what she saw a few moments earlier, but when she swung open the doors, each of gowns was ripped up and dyed in the same way the other ones had been. Marliz

broke down sobbing, barely being able to grasp any air into her lungs. The worst scenarios flashed through her mind; she would be fired, made a fool of on the internet, and never get another chance in the industry ever again. “Who could do such a thing?” she screamed, catching the attention of workers outside the room, who gasped in utter shock at the disaster they walked in on. “I’ve worked so hard to get here! I’ve gone through countless rejections and I finally get-”, Marliz stops mid-breakdown. Her face turned pale as the idea of who vandalized her work entered her head. “It couldn’t be him though,” she thought to herself, “He has too much to lose… right?”

Win or lose... the judge will choose