The chair of the Fashion Design department received a major order.
She immediately summoned a few winners from the campus fashion design competition and asked them to work overnight to create haute couture garments.
Upon hearing those words, several female students in the Fashion Design department jumped with excitement.
In the domestic fashion industry, reputation and seniority matter greatly.
Newcomers usually need to apprentice under a designer for at least 10 years before having a chance to make a name for themselves.
Moreover, many aspire to study under international designers.
Many plan to study abroad, but the tuition fees for studying overseas are extremely high.
Tasks like pattern-making and material-sourcing require considerable personal expenditure, making it unaffordable for most students to study abroad.
Most who come to study fashion design are chasing dreams.
The four years of university can easily dampen those dreams.
The fastest way to get recognized is by having a celebrity wear one's designs on the red carpet at an award show.
However, the fashion world is filled with skilled veterans.
Even prominent brands may not gain favor from celebrities, let alone students who haven't even entered the workforce.
When notified by the department chair this time, each student was filled with great ambition, feeling that their opportunity had finally arrived.
But the chair said that this haute couture commission was for an unusual client - a kindergarten.
"Ah!" someone exclaimed in disappointment.
The chair continued, "But they are paying well."
One of the more composed female students asked the chair to clarify the situation.
The chair explained, "The kindergarten is hosting a baby dance party. They hope we can create haute couture outfits for each child, preferably with original designs from you students."
"The fabric requirements specify materials that children can safely interact with. Reducing rhinestones, sequins, and the like to prevent children from picking them off and ingesting them. So you need to showcase your skills while minimizing unnecessary embellishments. This is the biggest order we've received this year!"
"How much is the investment?"
"200,000 yuan."
"How many outfits?"
"122 sets. The client has already provided the heights and weights of the children."
Some quick-witted students had already started calculating - each outfit would cost around 1,600 yuan.
This was definitely not a low price.
The Fashion Design department chair must have some connections.
They had previously received orders for customized Han Chinese clothing, square dance outfits, and most often, performance costumes.
This time, with a generous budget and good pay, it's no wonder the chair was giving it such emphasis.
Children don't require much fabric, so this was a decent commission.
"What's the timeframe?" the composed student asked again.
The others also paid close attention, as this was indeed a critical question.
The chair said, "One week. You must work to the highest standards for this commission, and absolutely do not cut corners."
One week was an extremely tight deadline.
The chair continued, "Each of you will be responsible for 20 outfits. Start designing now, and submit your design drafts tomorrow. I'll review them immediately, and once approved, I'll show them to the client's parents. As for production, you'll need to form your own teams. Excellence is a must. If any team underperforms, you won't be invited again next time."
Everyone voiced their agreement.
They then hurried back to the dorms and began designing on their computers.
Twenty distinct dance party outfits - this was something they had never encountered before.
With such a tight schedule, they barely moved from their spots except for lunch breaks.
By the time they submitted their drafts in the afternoon, they were feeling lightheaded from sitting for so long.
There was no choice - they had been glued to their seats until their legs went numb.
However, when the chair reviewed the submissions, half of them were rejected.
The other students were apprehensive, not expecting such a demanding task and strict standards from the chair under this time crunch.
One of the students whose work was rejected protested, "What's wrong with these? Aren't they attractive?" as she picked up her design drafts.
The chair said, "These designs are simply rehashes of what you've submitted for previous competitions, just old products passed off as new! Some are even plagiarized from foreign brands. You might be able to fool me, but can you fool the client?"
The chair sounded somewhat exasperated, "You're not cheating anyone but yourselves."
She paused and scanned the room, "Do you know what kind of institution can afford to spend 200,000 yuan on a children's dance party? What kind of parents would that be?"
Everyone was taken aback.
The chair continued, "You're always complaining about lack of opportunities. But when an opportunity arises, you make excuses! If none of you take this seriously, then I'll go to the third-year students instead. They need this opportunity more. I only thought of you since you're about to graduate and could use the practical experience. But now I see my efforts were wasted - you have even pettier ulterior motives than I imagined!"
The chair sounded angry. After saying this, the other female students felt ashamed and apologized, "We made a mistake, please don't be angry!"
"We're truly grateful for this opportunity."
"We'll definitely work harder on this."
The students made their commitments, and only then did the chair reluctantly agree to give them another chance.
From that point on, they truly burned the midnight oil.
The dorms had an 11 PM curfew, so they specifically requested access to a large classroom that was open 24 hours.
Many students started drafting patterns and even beginning the production work in this large classroom.
As students of the Fashion Design department, they had access to various premium fabrics without needing to order materials online.
The next day, many had panda-like dark circles under their eyes from lack of sleep.
But when the chair saw their designs, she was satisfied.
The students she had carefully selected clearly had their own perspectives on fashion design.
Her previous words seemed to have taken effect.
This time, the students showed no lethargy whatsoever.
They approached the haute couture designs with the same dedication as creating gowns for the red carpet, then scaled the designs down proportionately.
Shen Wei reviewed the design drafts and found them satisfactory.
The production funds had also been remitted.
From then on, they worked around the clock in a frenzied pace.
Third-year juniors came to help, envious of the opportunity their busy seniors had received.
With the underclassmen's assistance, progress accelerated significantly.
The third-year students soon realized that their seniors were working to extraordinarily high standards.
Several seniors had even spent their own money to achieve the desired ethereal, multi-layered effect on the fabrics - a quality clearly exceeding the 1,000 yuan price point.
The graduating fourth-year students recalled the department chair's instructions and treated this as an opportunity for real-world training experience.
They approached the task with the same level of commitment as preparing for Paris Fashion Week.
They were truly putting their heart into it.
The head instructor also took notice of this and came over several times.
They truly recruited many students from the freshman, sophomore, and junior years to help them, all serving without pay.
When it was time to turn in the work on this side,
Starry Sky Kindergarten sent people to collect it.
Each car could only transport a few outfits.
It took an entire day of back-and-forth trips to transport over 120 costumes back.
Every single outfit had a child model.
These child models were sponsored by the department.
Such wonderful designs, it would be a pity to crush them.
When they were brought to Starry Sky Kindergarten, the kindergarten teachers loved them as soon as they saw them.
Previously, the children's dance gala had also been organized at other kindergartens.
But they had never seen such grand and gorgeous costumes.
Even the adults felt that these outfits looked so beautiful.
They imagined how delighted the children would be when they saw them.
