Chapter 386: Distinctly Different Souls

Chapter 386: Chapter 386: Distinctly Different Souls

The sun in Los Angeles was as intense as ever.

When Irene’s flight landed at Los Angeles International Airport, the familiar dry air rushed to meet her, instantly pulling her back from the mild atmosphere of Milan.

The week-long trip to Fashion Week felt like an intense and wonderful dream.

Now that she had awakened and returned, her heart was filled with a heavy sense of accomplishment.

Walking out of the airport VIP channel, Vera Cecil was already waiting at the entrance.

"Irene, welcome back." She took the suitcase from Irene’s hand, her tone filled with a smile. "Did the trip to Milan go smoothly? Looking at your state, you have gained quite a bit."

"I am certainly very happy." Irene sat into the car, unable to hide her excitement beneath her fatigue. "Not only did I watch several top-tier shows from Gucci and Prada, deepening my understanding of fashion, but I also met quite a few interesting people, especially Elizabeth Newhouse from the Condé Nast Group."

The car drove steadily toward Malibu.

As Irene gazed at the streetscape flashing by outside the window, her thoughts involuntarily drifted to her time spent with Elizabeth.

It had to be said, the refinement etched into the very bones of Elizabeth Newhouse allowed Irene to truly witness the upbringing and style of top-tier elite families.

As the little princess of the Newhouse family, she had been immersed in an atmosphere of fashion and art since childhood.

She received a customized elite education, was proficient in English, French, and Italian, excelled at classical ballet and oil painting, and possessed knowledge of fashion history comparable to a professional scholar.

Even when selecting the vessel for a cup of coffee, she could recite the craftsmanship heritage behind it.

This was completely different from Irene’s own upbringing.

Although the Coppola family was also a renowned Hollywood dynasty that never lacked financial support, her parents were busy with film shoots year-round and adopted a typical American laissez-faire approach to her upbringing.

Her childhood was spent beside the monitors on various film sets, wearing loose jeans and sneakers, eating boxed lunches with the crew, and growing up listening to directors shout "Action" and "Cut."

Her parents never forced her to learn any specific talents, only encouraging her to follow her own passions.

This free-spirited growth environment was friendlier to her; after all, she had not had an easy time in her past life under the high pressure of an exam-oriented education system.

It could be said that Irene and Elizabeth were typical representatives of the two educational models on the East and West Coasts of the United States: one was a hands-on practitioner who grew up with a laissez-faire approach and scrambled through practical experience, while the other was an elegant representative of elite cultivation, steeped in rules and style.

Yet, strangely, these two distinctly different souls got along exceptionally well.

During the last two days in Milan, they were almost inseparable, chatting about everything from the design concepts of fashion shows to the narrative techniques of films, and from art exhibitions in New York to the tech wave in Los Angeles.

Their perspectives always managed to spark fresh ideas.

What Irene appreciated most was the sobriety and foresight Elizabeth possessed, which transcended her age.

As a reincarnated person, Irene’s greatest wealth was her clear knowledge of every change the world would undergo in the next twenty years.

She could accurately "foresee" every important node and avoid all risks in advance.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, was only twenty-two years old.

As a direct descendant of the Newhouse family, who held the power of discourse over global fashion magazines, she could have simply rested on the laurels accumulated by her ancestors and enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

After all, magazines like Vogue and GQ remained the benchmarks of the fashion circle, with circulation and influence that were unmatched.

But Elizabeth was not at all blinded by the achievements before her; instead, she keenly perceived the changes in the tides of the era.

"Irene, have you noticed that more and more young people are starting to get their fashion information from the internet?" In a secluded cafe in Milan, Elizabeth had once earnestly discussed with her.

"Although our family’s magazines remain strong, the rise of social media like Facebook and blogs is changing the way information is disseminated. Young people are no longer satisfied with passively accepting content filtered by editors; they are more willing to see authentic outfit sharing, recommendations for niche designers’ works, and even the fashion insights of ordinary people."

Her thoughts were perfectly aligned with the future development direction of fashion.

And Irene, knowing full well the explosive power of internet traffic, was the one who wanted to seize the opportunity to acquire Facebook.

"You are absolutely right," Irene responded. "Facebook’s user base is still growing geometrically. Now, global monthly active users have stabilized at 180 million, and the proportion of young users is extremely high. They share their lives and follow trends on the platform, forming massive interest communities. In the future, the center of gravity for traffic will inevitably shift from traditional media to online platforms. This is an irreversible trend."

"Actually, this time in Milan, after watching this fashion show, I came up with a new idea: to produce a film, or perhaps a television series, related to the fashion circle. I want to showcase the charm of fashion, present those beautiful things to young people today, and bring them some inspiration and insights into beauty."

Unexpectedly, Elizabeth’s eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this, her tone filled with anticipation.

"That idea is fantastic! I can absolutely get involved. As the core bastion of the fashion circle, Vogue can provide you with the most authentic industry materials, networking resources, and can even serve as a filming location for the movie. With the endorsement of Vogue, the professionalism and influence of this work will be greatly enhanced."

The two talked more and more enthusiastically, and on the spot, they finalized their preliminary cooperation intentions.

Elizabeth would be responsible for providing resource coordination in the fashion circle, Sophia would be the technical consultant, mainly participating in editing the work content of various professions in the film, and Irene would lead the general content of the script and the filming production.

With the three of them working together, plus the added boost of the internet traffic trend, this project was full of infinite possibilities from the very beginning.

Returning to the manor in Malibu, Irene did not rest; instead, she immediately threw herself into scriptwriting.

She locked herself in the study, and in her mind, she began to continuously replay the film The Devil Wears Prada.

She first copied the entire film into a script format one-to-one, just as she had done when she first started making films.

At that time, she dared not modify the plot, fearing that her lack of ability would instead lower the quality of the script.

But after experiencing Pirates of the Caribbean and Million Dollar Baby, she began to learn how to adapt the script based on reality, adding some of her own understanding and objective evaluations of the films from later generations.

In short, it was about discarding the dross and selecting the essence.

This approach seemed even more suitable for The Devil Wears Prada.

Although this film, as a movie set against the backdrop of a top-tier fashion magazine, successfully satisfied the public’s curiosity about this luxurious world, the most important thing was the professional visual presentation.

The film not only created one of the most expensive wardrobes in film history with a costume budget of up to $1 million, but it also received an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design thanks to its excellent costume design.

Andy’s gorgeous transformation from a "dowdy" assistant to a fashionista—that montage sequence remains a classic segment that fashion fans still talk about with relish to this day.

But there were also quite a few points to criticize.