Seven Years Later
Afternoon light flooded my art studio as I traipsed up the stairs into the airy space. Maisy, my assistant designer, trailed behind me, slower as she gingerly ascended with a gown draped across her arms as though it were made of glass.
“Put it on the mannequin, and you can get on with the alterations this afternoon,” I said.
“Sure thing,” Maisy chirped.
My heels clicked over the hardwood floors, and I folded myself gratefully into my desk chair. I didn’t think I’d sat down all day.
My gaze tracked to the dress Maisy was draping over the mannequin. The striking burgundy gown was a bespoke number made for the actress AJ West. She’d requested me to make something for the BAFTA award ceremony she was attending as a nominee. It wasn’t for another month, and I was pleased with the fitting we’d just had with AJ and that the final alterations had been agreed on.
I slipped one foot out of my heels, massaging its arch with my other foot. The downside to designing and making clothes for celebrities was that they tended to be high maintenance. Where most people would have one or two fittings, A-listers often demanded three or four before they were satisfied. But, as I looked at AJ’s burgundy gown awash in the bright sunshine, I felt the usual excitement trill through me. The celeb would be wearing my design on the red carpet, which I knew would bring a deluge of referrals to my door.
It was a mark of how far I’d come that I was working with so many of the rich and famous. I’d been lucky enough in my fourth and final year of studying at Berlin’s Akademie Mode and Design to be awarded the Black Dress Award for the most-talented designer. Then, a year after graduating, some of my designs had received the MUSE Award for most innovative design. Now, two years after graduating, my reputation was established and I’d been able to rent a storefront here in central Berlin to sell my clothing range. As well as have this studio, where I designed and created. I employed a couple of sales assistants who managed the store, as well as Maisy, to help me here in the studio.