Chapter 8 — The Collection That Stops
By the time Kit returned from the Holland Park house, the collection existed in three places only: sealed rails, hidden web pages and invoices no one intended to pay.
Harcourt Ottilie required attribution and a licence. The difference could be bridged with price, governance and a public correction once the transaction survived.
The sealed rails made the assumption harder to maintain.
Night Iris stood in a locked room two floors below them. Nobody could photograph it, deliver it or remove Saskia’s label without agreement between lawyers. The work had become more powerful by refusing to move.
“What can still sell?” Kit asked.
Tom changed the screen to an unflagged list. Tailoring in solid cloth. Two evening looks developed wholly by the in-house team. Accessories from the prior season. Fragrance and leather goods.
“Thirty-eight per cent of the projected collection revenue,” he said. “Less if retailers treat the entire launch as contaminated.”
“Replace the digital campaign. Use unflagged pieces only.”
The communications director said, “Saskia is the credited creative director across both groups.”
“Remove individual campaign credit until the independent review reports.”
“That looks like a retreat.”
“It is a retreat.”
The room went quiet for half a beat. Kit saw how quickly his staff looked for the hidden instruction beneath a plain one.
“What about the statement on Ottilie?” she asked.
“It remains pending review.”
The quiet disappeared. Work resumed.
The first retailer call came from Tokyo.
Its buyer had already installed a window around Night Iris imagery and wanted Harcourt the buyer’s warranty would be replaced by a closing condition.
The committee chair listened without interrupting.
“Has Mrs Harcourt agreed?” he asked.
“Negotiations have not begun.”
“Her solicitor filed an injunction rather than negotiate.”
“After our public statement.”
“Which remains online.”
The communications director started to answer. Kit stopped her.
“I approved it,” he said.
The chair removed his glasses. “Did you know, at the time, that the source scans predated Ms Reed’s registration?”
Kit could feel Tom’s attention beside him.
“Yes.”
Several faces on the screen became still.
“Then this is not merely a curable title defect,” the chair said. “It is a disclosure failure by the chief executive who signed the warranty.”
Kit presented the liquidity plan. It bought no movement. Marwick Cale’s lenders had already frozen approval. The committee would not carry a public injunction, a disputed warranty and a creator who could stop the collection at will.
“What would permit diligence to resume?” Kit asked.
The answer arrived after the committee muted itself for four minutes.
The chair returned alone.
“Mrs Harcourt must withdraw the injunction and execute a licence acceptable to us. Without both, the transaction terminates.”
Kit asked whether a licence negotiated through her solicitor would suffice.
“Only if she confirms there was no knowing disclosure failure,” the chair said. “We are not purchasing litigation with the founder’s wife.”
The condition required Ottilie to supply both property and credibility. Kit wrote it down without pretending the buyer had asked for less.