Rewind With A Superstar System

Chapter 226: HQ Tour

Von stood near the reception desk, taking in the digital billboards that played looping clips of Vanguard’s latest campaigns.

The soft chime of the private elevator pulled his attention.

Arthur Pendelton, the CEO of Vanguard, stepped out into the lobby.

He was a sharp-looking man in his late fifties, wearing a brown suit. He was currently checking his gold watch, looking slightly stressed, but the moment he spotted Von, a welcoming smile stretched across his face.

"Von! My boy!" Arthur called out, striding over and extending both hands. "What an absolute pleasure to have you in the building."

Von easily recognized the CEO of the very first brand that had backed him. Emily had briefed him about the man, and Von could still remember her words clearly.

"He might be a proxy, but he’s really capable. Even though he isn’t doing the brand’s legacy justice, Arthur has done an excellent job maintaining the cash flow. Until recently, at least. Just return whatever politeness he shows you, and you’ll be fine."

Von was already aware of the game Arthur was playing, so he played right along, offering an even more polite smile than the CEO.

"Good to see you, man. I figured I’d finally drop by to see the headquarters."

"We are always thrilled to host our top ambassador," Arthur said, shaking Von’s hand vigorously.

Inside his head, the CEO was doing calculations. The entire board of directors was currently upstairs waiting for the anonymous investor to arrive for an emergency meeting.

But Von was the face of their brand. Keeping the superstar happy was a top priority. He never had much confidence in the mystery investor showing up on time anyway.

"The staff mentioned you were about to get a tour?" Arthur asked.

"Just waiting on a guide," Von nodded.

"Nonsense. I will personally give you the tour," Arthur insisted, gesturing proudly toward the elevator. "Only the best for the face of Vanguard. Come with me."

They went upstairs and walked through the primary production design floors. .

"When I took over, my main goal was optimization," Arthur explained. "Before, the design pipeline took months. Now, we can identify a micro-trend on social media, design a graphic, and have the factory in Asia printing it within seventy-two hours. We completely revolutionized the cash flow."

"Fast and efficient," Von noted.

"Exactly," Arthur beamed, completely missing the underlying critique. "We incorporated modern logistics without tarnishing the original brand."

They moved through several other departments. Arthur blabbed the entire time, throwing out impressive-sounding corporate buzzwords that Von didn’t

Eventually, Arthur led him away from the busy, brightly lit modern floors and down a quiet, dimly lit hallway. They stopped in front of a pair of doors.

"This is our last stop," Arthur said, his tone shifting to something slightly more reverent. He swiped his keycard against the security pad. "This is the Vanguard Heritage Vault."

The heavy doors opened up, and Von stepped inside.

Unlike the sterile production sites, this room felt like a private museum. The lighting was moody and warm, highlighting the massive glass display cases that lined the walls.

On the left wall, suspended in glowing cases, were dozens of heavily scuffed, original skateboards.

They were the actual boards ridden by legendary, world-famous skaters who had put Vanguard on the map twenty years ago.

"The foundation," Arthur gestured.

Von walked further into the room, his eyes scanning the vintage clothing displays.

Mannequins were dressed in Vanguard’s earliest collections from the late nineties and early two-thousands.

Von instantly noticed the difference in quality. It was night and day.

It was undeniably superior to the Vanguard clothes Von currently had in his own closet.

But that didn’t mean he loved the design of all of them. Some of the cuts were incredibly dated, but the passion woven into the design was undeniable.

Von was impressed. All of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks, approaching one specific glass case that held a truly spectacular piece.

It was a heavy bomber jacket. The exterior was made of worn-in, distressed leather, entirely covered in aggressive, hand-painted colorful graffiti that gave it a wild, chaotic look.

The collar was lined with fur. A small metal plaque at the base of the case read: The Concrete Riot.

"Wow, this is crazy," Von called Arthur’s attention to the jacket.

Arthur walked closer, hesitating for a fraction of a second before giving its history.

"That’s one of our former flagship works. The Concrete Riot. All those vibrant designs you see there were hand-drawn directly onto the leather by local street artists. The collar is genuine imported shearling."

"Looks like a massive amount of effort to me. Do you guys still make these?"

Arthur let out a laugh. "Of course not. You can manufacture fifty of our regular, modern jackets with the amount of money, time, and effort this single one takes to produce. And it’s crazy, but the retail prices were about the same back then. Terrible margins."

Von turned to Arthur, his eyes widening slightly. "Crazy indeed..."

He was about to step over and check out another one of the old jackets when Arthur called him forward, eager to move past the topic of manufacturing quality.

"Over here is the best part of the room," Arthur said, leading him toward the far wall. "Our milestones."

The wall was glittering with prestige. Underneath the soft spotlights were rows of industry trophies.

There were multiple CFDA Fashion Awards and framed magazine covers featuring celebrities all over the world wearing Vanguard.

"This might seem untrue to you, Von," Arthur said, puffing his chest out proudly, "but twenty percent of the awards you see here were achieved within the last four years. Under my tenure."

"Wow," Von said genuinely.

It was a wild statistic, and it proved exactly what Emily had told him. Arthur might have compromised the soul of the clothes, but he was incredibly involved with the culture. He knew how to win.

As Von scanned the wall, his eyes locked onto one of the framed platinum plaques hanging prominently in the center. He walked closer, a smile tugging at his lips, just to confirm he was seeing it right.

Von read the engraved silver text out loud.

"Presented to Vanguard Apparel To Commemorate The RIAA Platinum Certification Of More Than 1,000,000 Copies Of The Single ’MASQUERADE’ By Von Varley."

It was really his plaque. He remembered sending one to the Vanguard offices as a gesture of honor for providing the wardrobe and funding for the Masquerade music video, but this placement was unprecedented.

Von turned to the CEO. "Wow, I never thought you’d actually frame it in your official museum. That’s really kind of you."

"Nonsense," Arthur laughed heartily, adjusting his suit jacket.

"Your metrics over the last few months have been fantastic. The engagement on those social media posts during the lockdown? Incredible. And because of you, you’ve proven to me that my entire strategy is right. That is exactly what we are focusing on capturing going forward. The algorithm."

Von raised an eyebrow, absorbing the new information. "I thought Vanguard was focusing on reclaiming the street culture? Taking the brand back to its roots."

Arthur let out a dismissive chuckle.

"We are focusing on the aesthetic of street culture, Von. It’s all about the marketing. If we package the idea of rebellion correctly, we can sell it to the masses. I tell my board of directors all the time: I don’t care if a t-shirt is made of premium heavyweight cotton or a standard poly-blend. If you invest the money into the right billboard and put it on the right pop star, it sells exactly the same. Perception is reality."

"Hmm, I see," Von replied with a level voice.

He was a bit surprised to hear Arthur state his view so bluntly, but it was clearly obvious just based on the short interaction they had throughout the tour.

That was simply who Arthur was. Von couldn’t even say he was entirely against him.

After all, Arthur’s ruthless optimization was working out very well for the company’s bank accounts in the past.

But compromising the physical quality of the product just to manipulate perception? It wasn’t smart in the long run.

The lockdown had proven that. Once people stopped caring about the billboards, they realized the clothes were cheap.

Arthur clapped his hands together, signaling the end of the tour. "Well, my boy, as much as I love discussing strategy, we should wrap this up."

They exited the Heritage Vault. As they stepped back into the brightly lit hallway, Arthur turned to face Von with his practiced smile.

"It was really wonderful having you here today, Von. Just keep being you. Keep posting, keep wearing the gear, and I will handle all the rest to bring Vanguard right back to the top of the market."

"I plan to," Von said, offering a calm nod. "I’ve got a lot of ideas for where we can take things."

"Excellent to hear," Arthur said, checking his gold watch once again.

"Now, please feel free to explore the lobby by yourself and make yourself comfortable. I have to attend a really important board meeting upstairs. I’ve delayed it for entirely too long as it is, and the executives are likely tearing their hair out."

Arthur shook hands with Von firmly, turned on his heel, and was about to walk toward the private elevator when Von stepped forward.

"Yes, let’s get going," Von said casually, walking right alongside the CEO. "I almost forgot about that."

Arthur stopped in his tracks, blinking. He looked at Von with confusion and annoyance appeared in his eyes as if the teenager was playing a bad joke on him.

"Excuse me? What do you mean?" Arthur asked, his polite facade cracking slightly.

Von stopped walking and looked the CEO dead in the eyes, all traces of the polite, obedient brand ambassador completely vanishing from his face.

"Oh, I didn’t tell you?" Von asked softly with a smile. "I’m the new investor. It will be a pleasure working with you, Arthur."

Arthur’s face instantly twisted into pure horror.