Guilty Pleasures

‘Somewhere in the book, yes,’ she said, waving a hand vaguely. ‘But you have to understand that On Style is being sold on my persona in the industry.’

She reached into her Bottega Veneta tote and pulled out an envelope which she put on the table.

‘Of course I will pay you a fee,’ she said tapping the envelope. ‘And you can take the rest of the week off to make a start.’

Giles looked at the envelope wondering how much was inside. Whatever it was, it was probably a drop in the ocean compared to the advance Cassandra had received. Still, she had him over a barrel, and a drop in the ocean was better than nothing. He looked at the envelope without saying anything and finally picked it up.

‘Good,’ smiled Cassandra. ‘I knew you’d see what a wonderful opportunity it is for you. Now I’ve just made a few notes; Leighton Best keep phoning me demanding to see some copy so it would be great if we could get something to them pretty quickly …’

She reached into her bag again, pulled out a Dictaphone and a sheaf of papers and handed them to him.

‘I’ve dictated some notes and done a chapter outline.’

She glanced at her watch and stood up without having touched her coffee. ‘I think Andrew will be outside. Come on, let’s go,’ she said, the discussion over.

Giles stood slowly and followed behind her, feeling rather as if he’d been ambushed. He watched Cassandra stride towards the street, thinking how unsettling it was having a friendship that was underpinned by fear.

Across town, Emma and Stella were sitting in the reception area of Sheldon Saks, a small American lending bank with their UK headquarters on Threadneedle Street in the heart of the City. Emma idly picked up a copy of the Economist and leafed through it, trying to compose herself. Sheldon Saks were, quite frankly, her last chance and she was desperate not to show it. It had been a demoralizing week for Emma; bank after bank had refused her application for corporate finance. Of course, she could still go to the investment banks; through her time with Price Donahue she had good contacts there, but that was a road she really didn’t want to go down. Investment banks meant giving away a slice of your business and once they’d got hold of that, it was usually the beginning of the end; either you did a good job and they forced you to sell for a profit or you did a bad job and they fired you and took all of your assets. Emma hadn’t come this far to give up on the dream just yet.

‘This really isn’t what I had in mind for my second day of work,’ said Stella, fiddling with the cuffs of her one smart black dress. ‘I have to say I feel a bit more comfortable behind my drawing board.’

Emma looked at Stella with sympathy. She wished she didn’t have to put her through this, but Sheldon Saks had asked to meet Milford’s new head designer and besides, Emma wanted to show her off. She didn’t have much to show for her time as CEO of Milford, but Stella was one of the things she was definitely proud of. Of course, Emma had tried to hide the desperation of the financing situation from Stella – how would that look when she had moved her life halfway around the world to join a new company – but Stella still looked nervous. Emma hoped she wouldn’t crack under interrogation. Banks were intimidating places at the best of time.

‘Listen, you’ll be brilliant, just be yourself,’ whispered Emma as they were called into the office. ‘Remember, this is where the Milford renaissance begins!’

Ralph Wintour was around fifty, with a standard-issue navy banker’s suit that seemed at odds with his American Deep South accent. If Wintour was surprised to see two such young and attractive women in front of him to present their vision for a luxury goods company then he did not show it.

‘Ms Bailey, good to meet you,’ he said, shaking Emma’s hand firmly. ‘And Ms Chase? Please do have a seat and let me know how I can help you.’

Emma had prepared a document which she placed on the desk in front of him. It detailed Milford’s stores and concessions worldwide, the company assets and debts with sales performance charts showing profits, both current and projected. There was an overview of the multi-billion-pound luxury goods market which explained how accessories accounted for up to 80 per cent of the sales for some of fashion’s biggest household names. She included her own CV as well as those of Stella and Ruan and outlined the additions she would make to the team once additional financing was in place: an experienced marketing director, a full-time PR firm.

‘Milford is a sleeping giant,’ said Emma, meeting Wintour’s gaze when he looked up from the document. ‘Everybody thinks of Louis Vuitton as this ancient colossus of the fashion industry, but until the late 1970s it was just a small family luggage company with a couple of shops. A decade later and with good management, they had increased profits so much, they could afford to buy out two champagne houses and so created one of the world’s most prestigious luxury goods companies.’

‘And you believe you can do that with Milford?’ said Ralph Wintour, his eyebrows raised.

‘I believe there is a great deal of

money still to be made in the luxury sector, yes. The short-term goal is to quadruple profits and then roll out the brand globally in the medium term…’ To her surprise, Emma found herself confidently talking about the luxury goods market as if she had been working in the sector for decades. She told how Miuccia Prada and her husband Patrizio Bertelli had transformed Prada from a twenty-five-million-dollar business to a three-quarters-of-a-billion-dollar business in just six years. She explained how Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole had rescued Gucci from the verge of bankruptcy to become the fashion brand of the Nineties. She felt good, she felt confident. She had to; there was nowhere else to go.

Ralph Wintour sat back in his seat and regarded Emma and Stella silently.

‘Well, I should tell you that I’ve had one of our luxury retail analysts look at Milford and their report back is good,’ he said. ‘Milford is underperforming considerably, but he believes with the right management team, it could be turned around quickly.’

‘I think my professional credentials speak for themselves, Mr Wintour. I have just promoted Ruan McCormack to be my number two and he has fifteen years experience of working for Milford. Stella here was one of the top young designers in America before I approached her to make the move to us.’

‘With your commercial background, Ms Bailey, I’m sure you know how nervous everyone is becoming of debt financing, especially in the current climate. Milford is already running at a loss so some banks would consider lending to you as highly risky without wanting a stake in the company and representation on the board.’

‘We are running at a very small loss,’ corrected Emma. ‘But we also have considerable assets such as Winterfold and Byron House.’

‘And would you be prepared to raise a mortgage on them?’

‘Yes,’ replied Emma coolly. Inside, however, her heart was pounding.

‘Now Ms Chase?’ said Wintour, taking a cursory glance at Stella’s CV. ‘I don’t see any formal fashion training from this information? Why should Sheldon Saks risk their money on an untrained design director?’

Stella felt her cheeks warm under Ralph Wintour’s gaze. She knew from the worn look on Emma’s face that this appointment with Sheldon Saks was life or death, in fact she had suspected the company’s finances were shaky when she had accepted the job. But she reasoned that if Emma was prepared to believe in her, she was prepared to return the favour. For once, Stella felt part of a team and she liked it. Besides this man was trying to frighten her, bully her into backing down. Well, what had her mother always told her to do in that situation? Fight back. Don’t be intimidated and use words as a weapon.

‘It’s true, I studied sculpture at the Slade,’ said Stella evenly. ‘But then Tom Ford studied architecture. He wasn’t a big-name designer before he got his chance at Gucci, but his designs transformed the company. Similarly, Miuccia Prada was a mime student before she inherited her family’s luggage company. You’ll also see from my CV that I have three years of experience building up a company from nothing into an award-winning multi-million dollar business.’