The Versatile Master Artist

Koizumi Katsuko sat cross-legged on a sun lounger made of golden teak wood, with an easel in front of her, using watercolors to replicate the scene of the sunset sinking from above the antique hotel building into the bottom of the Yangon River.

Mrs. Sakai, on the other hand, was wearing a bathrobe, holding an iPad, lazily browsing fashion news on a nearby lounge chair.

”This month is International Fashion Week, hmm, the brand’s new product launches are quite intensive...”

Every year, she spends an amount on luxury clothing from brands like Prada, Gucci, Hermes... that equals several times the annual income of an average Japanese middle-class family.

Whenever these luxury brands released new products, VIP client managers would fawningly call her, asking if she was interested in pre-ordering.

Professor Yajima is a major artist recognized throughout East Asia.

Being a major artist carries even more prestige than being a big celebrity.

Luxury brands are very keen on providing services to Mrs. Sakai and her family, offering substantial discounts.

Often, many sought-after limited edition clothes that others can’t buy even with money are delivered to her doorstep by luxury brand specialists with just a call.

”Van Doorn? Uh, this time he really embarrasses himself, I feel embarrassed for him.”

Mrs. Sakai cast her eyes over a piece of news.

[Dwarf Challenges Giant? Curator Tangkis Doesn’t Think So] – ”Fashion Melange”

...Previously, in a video shot by the once sensational world’s top internet influencer, Derong Fan Doorn, the chief art officer of the fashion luxury brand Amida, was humiliatingly defeated by an unknown online illustrator Detective Cat. Mr. Fandorn seemed unsatisfied...

This entertainment tabloid called ”Fashion Melange” detailed the feud between Van Doorn and Detective Cat, including an earlier airport interview their reporter had with Van Doorn, where he repeatedly used derogatory terms to evaluate Detective Cat’s aesthetic ability for serious art.

...However, Lady Detective Cat has now received the recognition and respect of Mr. Tonks, the curator of the Taylor National Art Gallery. Her profound summary of Impressionist techniques has even become the inscription on the sign at the world’s largest private art gallery’s Impressionism Exhibition Hall...

The competition among European fashion and entertainment magazines is very intense.

To seize immediacy, many publications, especially the digital versions that don’t need to wait for printing, are published daily.

They can even manage to issue one in the morning and another in the evening during international fashion weeks.

The interview Van Doorn just gave after landing was compiled into a report by ”Fashion Melange” within a few hours and published as news.

Then, it quickly sparked a lot of reprints and responses from similar fashion weeklies.

”Who’s the master? Who’s the joker...”

”Does Artist Van Doorn really understand art? Let’s review the feud between Van Doorn and Detective Cat...”

”Don’t let avant-gardism become a hollow excuse, does Amida’s ready-to-wear truly show sincerity?”

”For the first time in five years, Van Doorn will miss the Paris Fashion Week. France’s Amida Group has abandoned its chief artist...”

”Old rogue, get out of the art circle...”

The reason it could attract so much media attention in a short time isn’t because these fashion weeklies care about Detective Cat.

They’re purely enthusiastic about gossiping.

With the Milan Fashion Week yet to officially start, everyone is bored while waiting for the news.

The chief art officer of the top luxury brand Amida Group made a huge spectacle, making for an ideal report while they’re idle.

Moreover,

the pie of the luxury market is only so large, and the competition is fierce.

Amida’s competitors won’t let go of the opportunity to attack its chief art officer and their art design and aesthetic concepts.

Mrs. Sakai watched the news reports with interest.

”Should I say Van Doorn is unlucky, or is this female painter named Detective Cat lucky? If it were a different time, it wouldn’t have caught such huge attention.”

”I saw that the Scholastic Group’s official account interacted with Detective Cat today.”

Koizumi Katsuko replied to her mother while adjusting her watercolor paints.

”Scholastic Group? That’s quite the stepping stone for illustrators. I remember several top illustrators coming from Scholastic Group. However, collaborating with Detective Cat at this time is a direct slap to Van Doorn’s face. To get such an opportunity, has this online illustrator gained a great benefactor?”

”Perhaps soon, the illustrator community will gain a new star,” Mrs. Sakai shook her head.

The art circle is like this: becoming famous can be both difficult and easy.

With skill, benefactors, and opportunities, an artist could suddenly gain market popularity, with their value multiplying tenfold in just a few months being quite usual.

This Detective Cat seems likely to become the next lucky one.

”Oh, by the way, Shengzi, speaking of which.”

Seeing the fashion news, an idea seemed to come to her mind, and she pulled up a picture of a dress in striking black and red, lazily asking.

”The VIP senior customer manager from Prada’s Nagoya District called me earlier. At the just concluded New York Fashion Week last week, they launched a new Spring/Summer A-line skirt at the show, which I think looks too youthful and not suitable for my age, are you interested?”

She asked casually.

Although Mrs. Sakai spends a lot on luxury fashion and such, she knows her daughter hasn’t shown much interest in clothing attire in the past.