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There were few things on his life that Gabriel regretted. Many of his behaviours proved that. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t exceptions.
When he was young and an aspiring designer (and as he recalls it, desperate times require desperate measures) he created this one collection that until today it still haunts his dreams.
The Retro collection, as it was called back then by a reckless Gabriel that thought it would be a great idea, was a mixture of every 80’s trend that has gone wrong. It was composed by 35 garments and 15 accessories that would be perfect as a circus wardrobe. (Would Cirque du solei accept that crap? Probably no.)
People must have loved it because he remembers of the roaring success it was in the Young Fashion Show (a fashion show where the tops students of every university participated mostly to know their future archenemies in the industry, although the real objective was to win internships). Today, when he looked back at it, he cringed. It was hideous! From the colour schemes to the fabrics used, the shape of the clothes, his personal signature, even his inspiration back then! What did he have in mind when doing that? He didn’t even win the show!
If Gabriel could go back and erase that collection, he would. (Maybe that was his deepest desire that required the miraculouses.) He even tried once or twice but the fashion industry works like the cloud. What gets in never gets out, even if what you did was a university student they’ll know you did it.
The Retro disaster is the only thing that ruins his perfect curriculum of collections, like that uncomfortable spot in a window that you can’t clean.
He didn’t regret the akuma designs (they were a great facade to hide his true identity), he didn’t regret becoming Hawk Moth, becoming a hero (in another lifetime), and forgetting that he was living to build his fashion dream. Nope! By the contrary, he was quite proud of those accomplishments because they had to be done. But not this collection, though. It deserved to be burned and buried in the confines of the earth where it should have stayed in the first place.
So while he can’t dissociate The Retro mess from his name or burn it to ashes, Gabriel lives each day fully in fear that someone finds his darkest (no, his second darkest) secret and recognizes him as the creator.