172: Chapter 176 Rihanna Invites People to the Fashion Show

Chen Mo did not stay long in Beijing. After finishing his lecture, he hurried to the airport without stopping and flew to New York, where Jessica forced him to apply a face mask on the plane.

Winter in Manhattan was the same as always. The wind blew in from the Hudson River, carrying a cold dampness, and rose petals from the eve of Valentine's Day still lingered in the shop windows of Fifth Avenue.

The invitation for the FENTY x PUMA Fall/Winter 2016 show had been sitting in Chen Mo's phone for a week. The message was sent personally by Rihanna. There were no pleasantries, just one sentence: "You come, sit in the front row, I have a gift for you."

He replied with a "Sure," then flew from Changsha to Beijing, and from Beijing to New York. He hadn't adjusted to the jet lag yet, and the dark circles from the continuous work for the Spring Festival Gala were still under his eyes.

Sleeping on the plane at least made his skin look good.

The show venue was in an abandoned stock exchange building in Lower Manhattan.

The old building's cast-iron columns were painted a dark black, and the runway ran through the entire trading hall. In the background was a huge LED screen, playing a short film of black and white static on a loop—

Street graffiti was washed away by rain, Japanese Bosozoku modified motorcycles roared through the streets late at night, and African American models posed on Brooklyn rooftops facing the morning light.

The lights hadn't fully brightened yet, and cold-toned smoke drifted up from both sides of the runway, submerging the ankles of the front-row guests in gray mist.

Chen Mo was led by a staff member to the center seat in the front row. To his left was Vogue Anna Wintour; she was wearing a dark blue suit today, her sunglasses pushed onto her forehead, and she was looking down at her show notes.

To his right was the global CEO of Puma, Bjørn, a silver-haired Norwegian who was speaking in a low voice in German with the vice president next to him.

Seeing Chen Mo sit down, Bjørn turned and extended his hand, saying: "Rihanna said you talked a lot with her last time at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. After she returned to the hotel, she video-called me and said that the Chinese boy understands fabrics—do you know whether our Puma textile technology or Anta's nitrogen technology midsole is lighter?"

Chen Mo shook his hand, thought for a moment, and said: "Anta's nitrogen technology midsole is probably a few grams lighter than your latest cushioning material, but your knitted upper has better breathability. I wore it when recording songs, and the air conditioning was on too cold, so my toes were frozen and stiff."

Bjørn was stunned for a moment and then laughed out loud, his laughter echoing in the not-yet-started show venue for several seconds.

He took a card from his cardholder and handed it to Chen Mo: "If you are interested in designing a collaboration, Puma's design department in Germany is open to you at any time. Rihanna said your sense of touch for materials is more accurate than many designers."

Chen Mo took the business card and put it into his suit inner pocket.

The lights backstage were brighter and more chaotic than in the show venue.

A dozen models were putting on makeup at the same time in front of vanity mirrors, hairstylists were running around holding spray cans, steam was coming out of the garment steamer, and the air was filled with the scent of hairspray and Rihanna's signature perfume—sweet and cloying with a hint of spice.

Rihanna was standing in front of the monitor, holding a hand-drawn blocking chart, repeatedly instructing the closing model, Gigi: "You walk to here and stop, don't rush to turn around, let the lights dim, and then let the spotlight follow your waist."

Gigi nodded, broke free from the hairstylist, and walked toward the exit wrapped in a sequined robe.

Just then, Rihanna saw Chen Mo. She stuffed the blocking chart into the assistant's hand next to her, let out a scream, and rushed over to give him a tight hug.

Her hair was dark green today, braided into countless tiny braids, with tiny metal rings hanging from the tip of each braid. When she hugged him, those metal rings jingled, pressing all the scent of her perfume into the collar of his coat.

Chen Mo was hugged so tightly he could barely breathe. He patted her back and said: "Your clothes look great, especially that black military jacket. The shoulder tailoring is very neutral, but the waist is cinched very well. The female models will look very cool wearing it."

Rihanna stepped back and spun around proudly. She was wearing the sample of that military jacket today, with the positioning pins for the design still hanging on the cuffs.

"I know, but you wouldn't buy it anyway." Her English had a Barbadian accent, with an upward inflection.

Without waiting for his answer, she pulled his sleeve and walked toward the menswear section, pointing at the samples hanging on the rack as she walked.

"This one, with a stand-up collar, I embroidered the Chinese character 'Dream' on it. Look at the density of this embroidery; it's definitely not ordinary computer embroidery. It was hand-stitched by a craftsman, stitch by stitch. I revised it five versions!"

"After the whole piece of clothing was finished, I looked at it in the mirror for a long time, but I always felt something was wrong. It was too stiff, like a bulletproof vest. Later, I took this part apart—" She nudged him gently with her elbow, signaling him to lean in to look at the seam of the armhole. "I adjusted this stitch length several times alone."

Chen Mo bent over to get close to the men's jacket, felt the lining of the armhole, and rubbed the weave of the main fabric with his fingertips.

"This fabric is like Anta's tech-knit, but Anta uses 3D weaving from local machines in Fujian. Yours is thinner, feels rougher, and has more friction."

Rihanna raised an eyebrow, her fingers still toying with the metal rings on the tips of her braids.

"I respect crossover talent. This fabric is Japanese Kurashiki indigo dye. Each roll of cloth is only a little over a meter wide, woven on old-fashioned looms."

"Next time I come to Los Angeles, you take me to that Anta research center of yours and let me see your nitrogen technology."

As soon as she finished speaking, the show director called her from a distance to confirm the lighting program. She patted Chen Mo's shoulder and turned to run back to the monitor. After running a few steps, she turned back and shouted at him: "Watch carefully!"

The fashion show officially began.

The lights dimmed, the cast-iron columns of the trading hall disappeared into the darkness, and the black-and-white static on the LED screen switched to images of burning Japanese Bosozoku motorcycles.

The first model walked out of the smoke, wearing a black military jacket with a deconstructed Japanese-embroidered strap tied around her waist. Her steps were long, but every step landed on the beat of the heavy bass.

Chen Mo sat in the front row, crossing his legs, his fingers resting on his knees.

Anna Wintour tilted her head slightly and asked: "What do you think of this season's deconstructivism?"

Chen Mo thought for a moment and said: "Others deconstruct to break the rules; Rihanna breaks the rules to make people comfortable wearing them."

The closing model Gigi appeared, wearing a full-black military coat, and the Japanese strap on her waist was particularly eye-catching under the spotlight.

She walked to the end of the runway and paused. The lights dimmed for half a beat, and then the spotlight followed, illuminating her waist, where the strap was embroidered with black and red characters.

When all the models exited, all the static on the LED screen converged into a huge FENTY logo.

Rihanna walked out from backstage, passed through the low-hanging smoke, walked into the light, and waved to the audience. Then she turned to the front row, winked her left eye in Chen Mo's direction, and mouthed, "Buying it?"

Chen Mo gave a thumbs-up and said one word.

The whole audience stood up and applauded, and the dark paint on the cast-iron columns of the trading hall trembled slightly from the cheers.

Not long after the show, Rihanna, still wearing that military jacket with the pins on the cuffs, stood in front of the monitor to accept a group interview with the media.

A reporter asked what her relationship was with Chen Mo, and she pushed her sunglasses onto her forehead.

"He is my friend, a very cool boy. I used his 'dont stop' concept on the last model of this show."

"The strap on the closing model Gigi's waist is embroidered in Japanese with 'dont stop,' he said 'dont stop,' so I embroidered it on the runway."

Only after the media release did Chen Mo notice the black and red characters.

"I'm not charging you a copyright fee."

"Then I'll treat you to a drink."

"I don't drink."

"Then what do you drink?"

"Water."

Rihanna grabbed a custom water bottle from the coffee table next to her, unscrewed the cap, and flicked the gold-stamped "Riri Signature" sticker on the bottle body with her fingernail.

"FENTY brand purified water. Give the bottle back when you're done. I filled it myself just now. From now on, the copyright fee will be paid with this."

Chen Mo unscrewed the cap and took a sip. It was room temperature, with the taste of New York tap water.

"It's okay. Remember to make it sparkling next time. Also, you have to treat me to that Barbadian bistro you mentioned. I checked the map, it's a ten-minute walk from here."

Rihanna laughed out loud, snatched the water bottle back from his hand, took a gulp, and said that the place is called "Pearl." The owner is her distant cousin, and they only do dinner service. Every time she comes to New York, she goes there to eat flying fish.

She stood up, took the men's jacket embroidered with "Dream" out of a FENTY paper bag on the messy work table, and stuffed it into his arms.

"This version is a sample; the stitch length for the mass production still needs adjustment. You wear it for now. Next week the show director is going to Japan to set the loom time. Expressing that 'not there yet but already on the way' feeling from the music, stitch by stitch in indigo dye, is more lasting than any lyrics."

Chen Mo turned the jacket over to look at the armhole seam. The stitch length was a fraction of a millimeter denser than the version he had seen just now.

He tidied up the embroidered patch and put it into the paper bag, asking: "This isn't the same stitch length."

"You felt it," she said, then held up her phone and made a peace sign at the camera, "Specially adjusted for you."