Rewind With A Superstar System-Chapter 83: Vanguard Apparel

<🎧 Song Recommendation: I Ain’t Worried by One Republic>

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Vanguard Apparel was not just a clothing company; it was a carefully curated lifestyle. Founded in the late 1990s as a gritty, underground skate brand in Los Angeles, it had spent the last two decades evolving into a global streetwear powerhouse. However, recently, Vanguard had experienced a slight identity crisis.

After a corporate buyout by a massive conglomerate two years prior, the brand had slowly started to lose its edge. They had sponsored too many safe, manufactured pop stars and generic internet influencers.

The original, rebellious spirit that made Vanguard so coveted had been diluted. Realizing this fatal error, the new CEO had completely cleaned house, bringing in a fresh, aggressive marketing team with one strict mandate: Find the true counter-culture and reclaim the streets.

The Vanguard marketing team had been exhaustively observing the social landscape for a while, desperately searching for the most promising, authentic talent to carry the weight of their upcoming Fall/Winter collection.

They needed someone who embodied raw ambition, someone who wasn’t polished by a corporate machine.

That was when the #GiveVonABudget movement exploded across their social listening dashboards.

The sheer ferocity of the V-Stans caught their attention, but it was Von Varley himself who kept it. They dug into his history, the rigged reality TV show, the independent release from Queens, the organic TickTock explosion, and finally, Julian West’s condescending late-night interview.

It was a marketer’s absolute dream. Julian West represented the manufactured corporate machine Vanguard was trying to distance itself from. Von Varley represented the exact insurgent, underdog demographic they needed to capture.

The marketing director had compiled a dossier on Von, listing him as a priority candidate, and slammed it down on the CEO’s desk on a Friday afternoon.

By Monday morning, the decision was unanimous. Vanguard wasn’t just going to sponsor Von; they were going to fund his entire war effort.

***

"This is Emily Brooklyn, managing Von Varley," Emily answered, her tone instantly shifting into a cool, impenetrable wall of professionalism as she picked up the unknown Los Angeles number.

"Emily, good morning. My name is Marcus. I’m the Chief Marketing Officer at Vanguard Apparel," a deep voice echoed through the speaker.

Von, sitting on the edge of his mattress, felt his breath hitch hearing the call. Vanguard was iconic. They were the exact opposite of Julian West’s polished, country-club aesthetic.

"Good morning, Marcus," Emily said smoothly, not betraying an ounce of surprise. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I’ll cut right to the chase, Emily. We’ve been watching the charts, and more importantly, we’re watching the social media metrics this morning," Marcus said.

"Julian West’s PR team just handed you the greatest marketing alley-oop of the decade, and Vanguard wants to be the ones to help you dunk it. We want to fund the Masquerade music video."

Emily smirked at Von. "We are certainly exploring our options regarding visuals. The fan demand is... unprecedented."

"We are prepared to wire a production budget of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to your designated production company by the end of the business day," Marcus stated matter-of-factly.

"Von retains 100% creative control. Our only stipulations are a Presented by Vanguard title card, and Von wears pieces from our unreleased Fall/Winter Nightshade collection in the primary shots. That’s it."

Emily looked at Von, raising an eyebrow in a silent question. Von didn’t hesitate. He nodded his head quickly like a kid.

"Send over the paperwork, Marcus," Emily said, a triumphant edge finally bleeding into her professional tone. "We have a deal."

The next forty-eight hours were a whirlwind of legal documents, non-disclosure agreements, and rapid-fire logistics.

Once the contracts were officially signed and the massive quarter-million-dollar wire transfer cleared into their newly established LLC account, Vanguard didn’t waste any time.

Before they even locked in a music video director, Vanguard demanded a preliminary promotional photoshoot to officially announce the partnership.

Von was flown out to a massive, industrial warehouse studio in Brooklyn the very next morning. The space was filled with blinding strobe lights, massive canvas backdrops, and a crew of twenty frantic stylists, makeup artists, and photographers.

For six hours, Von was dressed, undressed, and pinned into various pieces of the highly classified Nightshade collection. He modeled heavy, distressed denim jackets covered in dark, metallic hardware.

He wore oversized, vintage-washed graphic tees, thick combat boots, and layered silver chains that rattled when he moved. The stylists continually sprayed his hair to give it a messy, effortlessly gritty texture, instructing him to look aggressively into the camera lens.

During a brief ten-minute water break, Von slumped into a canvas director’s chair, exhausted.

Emily, who had been observing the shoot from behind the glass, walked over and handed him a bottle of water. She tilted her head, studying his face intently under the harsh studio lighting.

"Is it just me, or do you look... better than usual?" Emily asked, her brow furrowing slightly.

Von took a long drink of water, offering a casual shrug and a sharp wink. "I guess the clothes just really look good on me, Em."

"No..." Emily muttered, squinting at his jawline. "Even before we got here. Your skin is clearer. Your jawline looks sharper. I don’t know, whatever. Just keep doing what you’re doing."

Von smiled to himself, looking down at the heavy silver rings on his fingers. He knew Emily wasn’t wrong. He did look better, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the expensive streetwear or the professional makeup.

He had finally spent a fraction of his accumulated EXP.

Knowing he was about to step in front of high-definition cameras for a massive corporate photoshoot and a $250k music video, Von couldn’t resist taking the step.

Right now, his [Charm] stat currently sat at a solid B- and it was clearly noticeable.

Once the photoshoot finally wrapped, the Vanguard PR team selected the strongest image. It was a stark, high-contrast shot of Von staring dead into the lens, wearing a heavy, studded leather jacket, his expression a mix of dark arrogance and undeniable star power.

They sent it directly to Emily’s phone, giving them the green light to break the internet.

Sitting in the back of the black van on the ride back to Queens, Von opened his Photogram and X apps. He uploaded the photo, taking a moment to draft the caption. He couldn’t hide the genuine gratitude he felt toward the people who had literally fought a war for him.

So he wrote:

"Ngl, I usually let the music do the talking, but I gotta break character for a sec. Y’all are actually insane for what you did this week. The internet was talking a lot of nonsense, but my day ones really went to war and literally bullied a whole corporation into giving us the bag 😭🔥. I’m beyond grateful fr, y’all really changed my life. Massive shoutout to @VanguardApparel for hearing the streets and tapping in. You wanted visuals? We’re shooting a whole one! Masquerade Official Music Video drops June 18th. The masks are finally coming off. We up! 🎭👑"

Within five minutes of hitting post, the internet flooded immediately.

The V-Stans, who had thought their week-long crusade had failed, erupted in sheer, unadulterated triumph.

[THE PRESIDENT 😏: WE DID IT!!! I AM LITERALLY SCREAMING AND CRYING IN MY BEDROOM RIGHT NOW!! VANGUARD CAME THROUGH!!!]

[Slow and Curious: LOOK AT HIM!! He looks so incredibly good in that jacket! Julian is currently punching the air in his daddy’s mansion!]

[SizzlingBacon99: Oh my Vanguard is the one backing?! Oh my god, the visuals are going to be insane. This is the biggest underdog victory in music history.]

[LOWERCASE GUY: JULIAN WEST, COUNT YOUR DAYS!! THE KING HAS A CAMERA CREW NOW!!]

The comments flooded in thousands. The sheer vindication was evident. They hadn’t just gotten a music video; they had secured a partnership with one of the coolest brands in America.

As the timeline celebrated, one comment near the top, with over ten thousand likes, caught Von’s eye:

[Pop Culture Junkie: Okay, the hype is real, but I genuinely wonder what the video will actually be about? What’s the budget, what is the concept?]

***

It was the exact question Von and Emily had to answer the very next morning. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Vanguard had connected them with a highly sought-after, visionary music video director named Arthur Lincoln. Arthur was known in the industry for shooting dark, atmospheric, and highly stylized videos for massive hip-hop and alternative rock artists.

They met Arthur in a trendy, glass-walled conference room in Vanguard’s Manhattan offices. The director was a tall, lanky man wearing a beanie and thick-rimmed glasses.

"Alright, Von, Emily. It’s a pleasure," Arthur said, pacing around the long wooden table.

"We have a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar budget. That is serious firepower. I’ve listened to Masquerade a hundred times this weekend. And I must say, it’s quite my vibe."

Arthur began drawing on the whiteboard. "So, here is my vision. We rent out a massive mansion in Upstate New York. We fill it with high-end luxury cars, Ferraris, Lamborghinis. We hire fifty models wearing designer gowns and masquerade masks. You’re walking through the party, surrounded by all this fake, plastic wealth, representing the toxic industry. Then, when the beat drops, you start smashing everything. You take a baseball bat to the sports cars. You shatter the crystal chandeliers. It’s high-budget destruction. It screams money, and it directly challenges Julian’s clean castle anesthetic. People would eat it!"

Emily nodded slowly, considering the pitch. It was definitely cinematic, and it certainly utilized the budget. Smashing a rented Ferrari on camera would definitely go viral, even if it wasn’t much real damage.

But Von sat quietly in his chair, staring at the whiteboard.

He didn’t want to just copy Julian’s mansion aesthetic and destroy it. That felt too reactionary. He didn’t want the video to be about wealth at all.

Von had another idea. Before he went back in time, there was a specific, legendary music video that had perfectly captured the feeling he had now. He could adapt that exact concept like he’s been doing with songs, and this was a proven solution!

"Can I say something, Mr. Lincoln?" Von finally spoke up.