Chapter 174

• The invitation had been sitting on my desk for weeks before I gave them a final answer. It was for a design conference in the capital, the kind that drew both established names and rising ones. They wanted me on a panel about the future of fashion alongside three other designers whose brands filled glossy magazines and ran massive campaigns.
• I said yes, but not because I wanted to be part of the noise. I wanted to be very clear about what it costs to do the work in a way that leaves no part of it hidden.
• The morning of the panel, Julian came with me. The conference was being held in a renovated theater, its high ceilings still holding the echoes of another time. The lobby smelled faintly of polished wood and coffee from a small table near the entrance. People moved in clusters, greeting each other, adjusting name badges, scanning the schedule in their programs.