230: Chapter 230 Zhao Xiaoran's Surprise

One was Sun Qing, the HR person, a woman under thirty with short hair and round-framed glasses, looking sharp and capable.

She was hired by Chen Fan specifically to handle HR for the clothing company. She had five years of recruitment experience at a local trading company in Chang'an and was very experienced.

Then there were two operations staff, two graphic designers, and one administrator.

Li Nan would arrange the work for operations and graphic design later. The administrator didn't need any arrangement.

Therefore, only Sun Qing needed instructions from Chen Fan personally.

He looked at Sun Qing: "Sun Qing, your task is to continue recruiting. We need to hire people for finance, customer service, and the supply chain."

Sun Qing nodded, "Understood, Mr. Chen."

Hearing this, Li Nan frowned slightly. She hesitated for a moment before speaking up: "Mr. Chen, we don't have any actual business yet, and even the products are still in the design phase. Isn't it too early to hire for customer service and supply chain? These people might not have anything to do in the beginning."

Chen Fan glanced at her, his tone unhurried: "It's better to hire early if we can. The company has sufficient funds now and can fully afford to support these people. If we wait until the products are ready to hire, it will take at least a month from posting the job ad to interviewing, onboarding, and getting them up to speed. By then, time will be tight."

He paused and continued: "Customer service can be trained first to get familiar with the products, processes, and scripts so they can start working as soon as the products launch. The same goes for warehousing. Get the staff hired and the warehouse processes sorted out so that as soon as the goods arrive, they can be stocked and listed without delaying sales."

"Understood." Li Nan nodded and said nothing more.

Sun Qing also spoke up: "Alright, Mr. Chen. I will post the job advertisements immediately after the meeting ends. I will prioritize the finance, customer service, and warehouse supervisor positions."

Chen Fan nodded, his gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally landing on Li Nan.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now." After finishing, Chen Fan shifted his tone from assigning tasks to wrapping up. "Li Nan, besides your own tasks, you are also responsible for following up on everyone else's. Keep a close eye on the timelines and give me a progress summary every Friday."

"Understood, Mr. Chen." Li Nan nodded.

"Meeting adjourned."

Everyone stood up one after another, packed their things, and walked out. Soon, only Chen Fan was left in the meeting room.

He stood up, took two USB drives out of his pocket, held them in his palm, pushed open the meeting room door, and walked toward the office area.

Zhao Xiaoran and Qian Fei's workstations were next to each other, on the window side of the office area.

The two girls had returned to their desks and were huddled together, whispering about something.

Chen Fan walked over and stood beside Zhao Xiaoran's workstation.

"Mr. Chen." Zhao Xiaoran looked up and quickly stood up from her chair. Qian Fei also turned her head, looking at him somewhat reservedly.

Chen Fan didn't say much and handed the two USB drives to them respectively.

"There are three design drafts in each of these," Chen Fan said. "Take a look and use them as a reference."

Zhao Xiaoran took the USB drive, nodded, and quickly plugged it into the computer. Qian Fei also crowded over, and the two of them squeezed in front of one computer, waiting for the folder to open.

There were three subfolders in the folder, each named with a number, looking like they had been organized by Chen Fan beforehand.

Zhao Xiaoran clicked open the first folder, which contained two pictures.

The first was a rendering, and the second was a flat sketch with black lines on a white background.

Upon seeing the rendering, a flash of surprise crossed their eyes.

The picture showed a white camisole short dress. The dress had a slightly cinched waist, a naturally flared hem, and the length was about mid-thigh.

The overall design gave one the feeling of—innocence, but with a hint of unintentional sexiness.

Twenty years later, this kind of dress would be a dime a dozen.

But in 2011, this style of "innocent yet sexy" was almost non-existent.

The current women's clothing market was either Korean-style sweet and cute, or European-American style that was grand and simple, with rigid lines and dull colors;

Otherwise, it was those cheap, sexy dresses on Taobao—direct, explicit, and lacking a bit of subtlety.

There were almost no dresses like this "pure desire" style.

Even as designers, Zhao Xiaoran and Qian Fei felt their eyes light up upon seeing this piece of clothing.

They even felt a sense of excitement, thinking, "If this dress were hanging in a store, I would definitely buy it."

Zhao Xiaoran took a deep breath and clicked open the second folder.

Inside, there was also a rendering and a flat sketch.

The rendering showed a milky white knitted cardigan, very thin and sheer, with fabric that looked soft and lightweight, falling just below the waistline.

The neckline was relatively wide and draped naturally, revealing a bit of the collarbone, paired with a matching camisole underneath. It was subtle, not revealing, but left a lot to the imagination.

She clicked open the third folder.

The third one was a high-waisted pleated short skirt, paired with a short puff-sleeve shirt.

The shirt had a small bow tie at the neckline, and the cuffs were designed to be narrow, making the whole look seem obedient and sweet.

However, the skirt was very short, and the layering of the pleats made the leg lines appear and disappear. When walking, the hem would sway gently, adding a touch of playful sexiness to the sweetness.

The puff-sleeve design added a girlish feel, while the combination of the cropped top and pleated skirt added a bit of liveliness to the sweetness.

After looking at the three pictures, Zhao Xiaoran and Qian Fei looked at each other and saw the same expression in each other's eyes—surprise.

These designs were absolutely ahead of their time in the current market.

It wasn't the kind of exaggerated advancement, but the kind of advancement where "you know it will be a hit at first glance, but no one is doing it yet."

Although the three garments were different styles—camisole dress, knitted cardigan, pleated skirt set—there was a natural similarity in their style.

And in the current market, this style did not exist.

Zhao Xiaoran took a deep breath, looked up at Chen Fan, and her tone was much more serious than before: "Mr. Chen, where did you find these designs?"

Chen Fan smiled without answering directly: "Where I found them isn't important. What matters is whether you can make them."

Zhao Xiaoran bit her lip and nodded heavily: "We can."

Qian Fei also nodded along, her voice not loud, but very firm: "I can too."

Chen Fan looked at them, his tone flat but carrying an unquestionable certainty: "For now, I call this style 'Pure Desire Style'."

"Pure Desire Style?" Zhao Xiaoran and Qian Fei both flashed a look of confusion, silently repeating the three words.

"Yes, it means pure and clean, but with a hint of sexiness. Not a direct, deliberate kind of sexiness." Chen Fan said, "Remember this feeling when you are doing the designs."