Chapter 12

On our way home, we spoke about setting down roots of our own and talked about places where we would like to live. When our contract expired, we would lose the use of the apartment unless we re-signed, so would need to get a place of our own. Of course, by then we would have over four million in our banks. We had only splashed out on the car and a few trinkets, and our expenses were all paid for by the employers when we travelled.

We already knew what we were expected to do during the year. When we returned to work, we would be in Paris for the first Haute Couture for the year. Then Sally would be in New York for the first two weeks of February, while I helped set up our London Week after that. We would go directly from London to Milan and then back to Paris in early March.

It all played out as expected, with the odd day off between shows, and a whole new range of looks to promote. We had a week in the store between Milan and Paris. After Paris, we were into another shoot for the summer collections, over the end of March and into April. This time, there were another two teams and an extra three female models joining the group that had worked together last year. The three were all new to the business and I could tell that they wouldn’t take long to be taking centre stage.

The shoot was a lot of outfits for younger girls, and Sally and I tended to be given the more mature clothing. We didn’t mind, we were getting paid whatever they wanted to show us in. We were based in Seville, in southern Spain and travelled to other places to get the pictures. Marbella, Malaga, Calahonda, Grenada, the scenery was wonderful and the buildings perfect for the aims of the shoot. We had a great four weeks and were then back in London.

As we moved through the middle of the year, the new models went to the lesser shows, while we did more modelling in-house. In the beginning of July, we were back in France for the second Haute Couture show of the year. In August, we were asked to attend a special event at the Bicester Village. They picked us up at the apartment and took us to the Premier Inn at Bicester, near Oxford. I was wondering if we had really hit rock bottom by doing a show in a shopping village. When we were taken across the road, we discovered that it wasn’t like any other village we’d ever seen.

It was an up-market discount outlet. Not only was there the biggest Prada shop in the country, but there were outlets that rivalled the list in the store, from Gucci and Vivienne Westwood to Louboutin and Gina. It was a lot to take in as we did our walk-through. I almost had a giggle as I walked by Dior and Versace, Lacoste and Valentino.

Over a full month, we did fashion presentations in Prada, Dior, Gucci, as well as those in the same family as Gucci; Vivienne Westwood, Saint Laurant, Bottega Veneta, McQueen and Brioni. We were well accepted, we had fun, we helped sell a lot of products and we met a lot of nice people from more ordinary backgrounds than those in the main stores. It made me think that my shoe idea would gain traction here. I ended up with a lot more business cards for my collection.

We spent a lot of time with the manager of the Prada store, looking at the displays and discussing fashion trends and the worries about world trade. He told us that he had been in charge of the store for last fifteen years of the thirty years since the first part of the village opened. I took a special note of the layout towards the back, with the storerooms and the delivery area. I kept my thoughts to myself. If this was typical of the layout, usual with an international company, there would be room for a small repair area.

In September, we were back into the Fashion Week cycle. Sally was off to New York again, while I spent time in the store and helping out with our London Week organisation. After London, we were in Milan, followed by Paris once more, into early October.

After Paris, we were asked back to Italy to see what was happening with the shoe idea. They had made a large batch of shoes which they had been showing to focus groups to get the idea of what would work. They had also worked on the best glues and solvents to make repair easy. For what they had learned, they hadn’t spent a lot. That would come when they put out tenders for the appropriate machinery. So far, we were told, it all looked as if it was likely to be an interesting addition to the product line. We were given a couple of pairs of the trial product to take home and use, with a questionnaire to fill in every week.

The rest of the year was almost identical to the previous one. We did a photo shoot for next seasons’ lines, once again holding back on the extravagance. This time, we were in Oxford, and were given access to some of the university buildings. That took up three weeks, with the new girls carrying more load. Mavis told Sally and I to mentor them, with an aim of grooming them to be as capable and amenable as we are. The store was hedging their bets in case we didn’t re-sign.

The end of the year saw the new girls take the place of the other three in the carol singing. They complained a lot about this not being what they signed on for. We had to tell them that the store was their employer, and if it wants them to sing, then they ask, ‘what tune?’ There would be plenty of time for them on the runways around the world next year. After the first week, they settled down and did what was required of them. Their time was just around the corner, and the next round of Fashion Weeks will see them hoping for a day off.

We all had Christmas lunch together, with Sally and I knowing that it would be our last one here. Mavis announced that she was going to retire at the end of the financial year, with Carol taking her place. After the meal, we were having a drink and Carol came over to us.

“In all my years of working with models, I can tell that you’re thinking that this is the end of the line for you. Are you going to re-sign?”

“I doubt it, Carol. We’re becoming yesterdays’ news very quickly. These new girls reflect the sign of the times. We’ve had a good run, but Theone is old hat, and there may be another out there waiting to be front page.”

“What are you going to do?”

“We want to start a family.”

“Right! I keep forgetting that you’re still all boy underneath. You’ll have the money, granted, but you’ll need something to keep you interested, after the last couple of years.”

“Something will come up, I’m sure. Maybe in the next three weeks while we’re on holiday we’ll have a brilliant idea.”

After Christmas day, we got the car out and went down to Cornwall, to visit Mum and Stepdad. When we came back, we brought a couple of their paintings back with us, purchased from one of the local galleries. After that, we had an Uber take us to Heathrow, and we were off, in first class to Milan, where we were picked up by a driver and taken to Sonder Manzoni Apartments, were we were taken to our room for the stay that we had been invited to.

We left our bags in the apartment and the driver then took us the rest of the way to the headquarters of the Prada Group. The first room we walked into was the executive dining room, where we were wined and dined in a group of senior managers, who all spoke English and asked us about our career and our hopes and dreams. I felt as if we were in a job interview, which was made clear that afternoon. We were ushered into an office of the Managing Director, who sat us at seats overlooking the Via Antonio Fogazzaro. We were given a glass of wine, Italian, of course, and he sat beside us and smiled.

“Harriette and Sally. I have been following your career with interest. You leapt into the limelight with your wonderful ability to be any model we ask for, within reason and within your physical dimensions. You have never been directly employed by the Group, but you have both been friends of Prada, with your appearances and, so I’m told, your input with our shoe division.”

He took a sip of his drink.

“What I want to talk to you about is your plans for when your current contract ends, at the end of May. Can I ask what you intend to do?”

“We don’t know, sir. We’re slowly becoming last year’s news, and there are some new girls who will take our place in the store by that time. We want to start a family and settle down. I can’t see us doing the rounds of the fashion weeks for years to come. We fell into this life almost by accident, but it was never part of my childhood dreams. I suppose that Sally would have thought about it, as any girl would.”

“Would you consider working for us?”

I looked at Sally, who smiled and nodded, so I looked back at him.

“We would certainly consider it, sir. It depends on what you have in mind.”

“You both spent some time at Bicester, last year. The manager of our store there was very impressed with both of you and your calm attitude and attention to detail. He told you, I expect, that he was approaching retirement. If he retires at the end of the financial year, would you, Harriette, shadow him from May to the end of June, and then promote one of the staff to manage the store while you remain as the overseer. You would be a member of our management group and well paid.”

“That would certainly be something that I’ll think very seriously about, sir.”

“That’s good. Now, Sally. Last year, we bought Versace, and there is a store in that village as well. The staff there will be expecting some changes. We’re thinking of keeping them all on, including the current manager, but we’re toying with the idea of having an upper manager to help them integrate with our group. Say, someone with a strong fashion background, such as a famous model who has done the hard yards but is still young enough to adapt to changing times. Will you consider that?”

Sally was flustered and looked at me with eyes wide. I smiled and nodded.

“That’s a surprise, sir. That would give me time to start a family, wouldn’t it?”

“Of course. You won’t have to be in the store all day and every day, just to be on hand to hold hands and give guidance. There will be changes to the range, and you’ll be expected to come to Milan on a regular basis to see what’s coming up. You’ll both be expected to sit with our team at several of the big shows. If you agree, with your background, you’ll also act as the overseer of the L’Oreal store in the village. Now, if you want, I’ll be here to talk to all week. Take your time, talk to our marketing guys, talk to our designers, talk it over and come back to me with your decision before you leave. If you say yes, we’ll supply background information for you to read up on the history and aims of the Group. Thank you for coming to see us and I look forward to speaking with you again. Let my secretary know when you’re ready.”

We left his office, and his secretary asked us if we wanted the driver or would we rather walk back. Seeing that it was only a few hundred yards, we opted to walk, so we could talk on the way.

“Tomorrow, there will be a couple of the managers from Florence. They asked me to ask if you brought your questionnaires.”

“We did, and will wear the samples when we come in. They have been very comfortable.”

“Can you come back around ten? The receptionist will call the managers that you’re here to take you to the meeting room.”

“All right, we’ll be here.”

We went down to the ground floor and the receptionist gave us a wave as we walked into the open air. To hell with appearances, I hooked my arm with Sallys, and we strolled, quietly, in the afternoon sunshine.

“What did you think of that, love?”

“It was certainly a lot to take in. You the overseer of the Prada store and me overseeing the Versace and the L’Oreal stores. You do realise that we would be more than just managers; we would be the eyes and ears of the Group in the Village, as the managers with direct access and frequent visits here.”

“That’s how I read it as well. You don’t get one of the top executives to do interviews with store staff, although he did sound like he has a good grasp on what is happening.”

“If we do take it on, we’ll be able to buy a place nearby. We’ll need to check the area out for good schools and see about doctors for when we have a baby.”

“You sound as if you’re ready to say yes.”

“Don’t tell me that you’re not. If I was a betting girl, I’d give you odds that the guys from Florence will tell us that the shoe experiment is a going concern, and that Bicester will be the first outlet in the UK to have a workroom installed. I saw you checking out the back area.”

“It would be a good career move, to get us away from the modelling and the inevitable fact that others are coming along to take our place. For what they’re asking of us, I can’t see the salaries being under a hundred thousand a year, plus expenses paid.”

“Once upon a time, that would have been so far in the sky, I would never have thought that I would earn that much in five years. On top of what we’ll have by the time the contract finishes, we’ll be set for life.”

We got back to the apartments and went up to ours. On the way, we asked the concierge about meals, and he gave us a folder with places that delivered. We stripped off, made love and then showered, with the air conditioner keeping the temperature at a level where we could remain naked.

We did, however, put the towelling robes on that we found in the bathroom, and sat with a glass of wine to discuss what had been said. I led off.

“I expect that we’ll have to learn more Italian if we take it on, so that we can talk the talk to the factories and managers.”

“We’ve been lucky that most of the head office have English. It is, after all, the language that most of their customers understand.”

“When we were talking to the shoe production guys in Florence, I could understand the Italian they used for some of the tools and methods because I was able to follow what they wanted to say. It would have been gobbledegook for you, I expect.”

“And there I was, marvelling at your mastery of the language! We’ve been in enough Italian restaurants to order from this menu.”

We chose what we wanted, and she rang the restaurant and ordered. When she was asked for the delivery address, she was told that the meal was being charged to the Prada account. When she put the phone down, I grinned.

“Now, which one of us has a mastery of the language? It’s just that we don’t have qualifications. I doubt that it would take six months for us to be able to converse normally.”

“All right, that could be the case. There’s one other elephant in the room about this move, and that’s the obvious one that they want Harriette, or better still, The One to be in charge. That will mean that you’ll be working as a woman for the rest of your life.”

“I’ve been dressed as a woman for more than ninety percent of the time since we arrived in London that first day. It was an odd feeling at first, but I’ve grown to be comfortable in the clothes, and comfortable being accepted as a woman. Even to the point that I need a cami on under the male clothing as I find it scratchy. The only worry that I have is what our child will make of having a daddy in a dress.”

“By the time she is old enough to ask that question, she would have grown up in a world of dresses and cosmetics. She would think that her parents are normal. If you’re back to Harry at home, that may be the thing that makes her wonder.”

“You talk about her as if you’re sure we’d have a girl.”

“Hey, look at us, both top models, having a boy would be sacrilege!”

“It would be a lot easier if I stayed in character and she grew up with two mummies.”

“That would be the easiest way. We could glue the red hair and make Theone a permanent person. That would stop any accidental exposure of you as Harry in normal business. There’ll be places to go, and people to see, and you, as Theone, will have more authority than Harry Sharpe.”

“I guess you’re right. It would fit the additional picture in my passport. It’s not as if we’d have to go trawling in op-shops to find clothes for me. If I stay the same size, I’ve already got enough to last me years. It will take a big van to move out of the apartment. I guess that days like today will be a thing of the past. How will that affect us?”

“Have you ever heard me complain when your long hair covers my head when we’ve made love with you in Theone mode?”

There was a knock on the door, and I went to the bedroom while Sally picked her bag up and went to answer it. I heard her thank the delivery person and then she called me to come out to eat. The meal was delicious and a couple of glasses of wine later, we were in the big bed and talked about the offer until we drifted off to sleep.

Next morning, we again dressed like top models, wore our test shoes and made sure that we had the questionnaires in our bags. There was enough in the kitchen for a ‘continental breakfast’ and we strolled back to the office to be there at ten. By that time, we were almost committed to agreeing to work with the Group, but not until the other factors had been discussed.

The guys from Florence took us to a meeting room, where there were a few others, including a couple of women who looked like they may be part of the sales force, by the papers and flyers that were on the table in front of them. The main man that had spoken to us before opened the conversation.

“Thank you for being here. Did you bring your homework?”

We handed him our filled in papers. He looked at them and smiled.

“This is almost exactly what others have reported. How often have you worn the shoes?”

“As much as we could. We have them on today and have worn them as our everyday wear when we travelled. The slightly thicker sole makes them easier to wear over a long day.”

“Excellent! I can tell you that it has been agreed that we will move into production of a limited range, aimed at the clients that may not have the resources that our richer ones have. In deference to you, Harriette, it will be known as the ‘Theone Range’ and advertising will be along the line of ‘The One Shoe to last you a Lifetime.’ If sales take off, we may use ‘The One Shoe to Rule Them All’. We will only add them to stores where we have the biggest sales through the internet at first. That will mean that Bicester will be the only store in England to carry them.”

“We thought that it would be likely. I did have a look at the back area there, are other stores built to the same floor plan?”

“Mostly, when we’ve built new ones. The concessions, of course, are limited by the store that they’re in. We’re in the process of adding to our production line in Florence, as well as building a new manufacturing facility in America to avoid the tariffs. That one would be useful, even if the tariffs are lifted, as it would avoid supply chain problems. Connie has some advertising material that we’ve put together to show you.”

One of the women handed us a stack of flyers to advertise the shoes. Theone, and The One, were heavily promoted. I looked at him.

“If I’m not mistaken, sir, all this looks as if it won’t work unless we’re working under the Prada Group banner. We were asked to think about working for you in Bicester, yesterday, but this would be a whole new level, with it needing me to be the face, and foot, of the shoe.”

“Absolutely correct, Harriette. I have been authorised to instruct you that you would be paid the same as your current contract if you agree to join us. Sally would be on her current salary with her new role, adding her support of you as you both travel the world to promote the line, as well as the rest of our shoe and bag range. We think that it’s very likely that the two of you will be integral to our new promotions, especially the Versace and L’Oreal lines. You have the brains, experience, and the star quality to make good ambassadors of the Group. I hope that it helps you when you next see our Managing Director.”

“It certainly will. Now, are you going to tell us about the new production processes and the likely layout of the work room in the stores?”

We were with them for more than an hour after that. With the discussion being a mixture of English for the normal conversation and Italian with the specialised engineering and procedures, which I had already been able to pick up from previous talks in Florence. After that, we moved to the executive dining room for lunch. We sat with the two sales ladies, who were very excited about putting together a world-wide promotion of a completely new range, something that doesn’t come up every day. They had good English, and we were able to understand each other. I did realise that these two would be integral in the promotion and we needed to be on the same page as them if we were to make it work. They were thinking that the initial push would be over two or more years to make the Theone brand a household name around the world.

When we had finished eating and talking, Connie and her friend, Isabella, offered to show us some of the sights of Milan that we wouldn’t have seen when we’d been here for shows. While we waited for her to bring her car to the doors, Sally and I had a very short conversation, and I asked the receptionist if she could talk to the Managing Directors’ secretary to organise another meeting with him. She said that there would be a note delivered to the apartment with a time.

Connie and Isabella took us to the big cathedral, and then to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, where we wandered familiar shops and caused a stir. I may have thought that my star was fading, but the two of us out among normal Milanese shoppers, showed us that we were still high in their regard.

Marianne Gregory © 2026