POPE-U-LAR FASHION

INT. fashion design studio/meeting room -- night

We are inside a typical fashion design sort of room, mannequins are set up here and there, and fashion magazine cuttings are pinned up all over the walls. The lights are down, aside from one light filtering through the blinds, casting long, straight shadows reminiscent of a 1940s murder-mystery film. The scene should look like a cross between 'Project Runway' and film noir detective dramas like "Out of the Past". CHIEF enters dramatically, smoking a cigar, dressed in fashionable alterations of a smart dress-suit, with SHERMAN in tow. They both have a strong New York, 1940s crime-thriller way of talking.

CHIEF
I mean, for God's sake, all we ever hear from our clients is wine, wine, wine. Jesus Christ, of course red wine will stain a white shirt, are these people idiots, Sherman?

SHERMAN
Uhm...
(checking a chart or spreadsheet)
Yes, Chief. According to last year's poll.

CHIEF
Well, that's not good enough. I didn't get into the fashion business to market to brain-dead, single-cell organisms.

SHERMAN
(confused)
...you didn't?

CHIEF
You're damn right, I didn't. I'm tired of all this constant moaning. "This waist is too small, these shoulders are too wide, this belt is too in, these heels are too high, this bracelet isn't sparkly enough, these socks make me look fat, these gloves have too many fingers, this choker is cutting off my air supply, you're under arrest for attempted murder", I'm tired of it all, Sherman!

SHERMAN
(sucking up)
I don't blame you, sir.

CHIEF
What we need, is an idea...

Sherman listens like an obedient little lap-dog.

An idea... that isn't going to kill people. A real revolution!

SHERMAN
I think that's a wonderful idea, Chief!

CHIEF
Hold on, Sherman, I haven't had it yet. We need an idea that's... wholesome. But still edgy.

SHERMAN
Something similar to that erotic pin-up calendar of local housewives that was released last year, then?

CHIEF
No, Sherman, you know as well as I do that that idea was beaten, whipped and folded neatly in a drawer the first day it was released.
(gets off edge of desk and begins to pace)
No... we need a real kicker. We need something that will put us back on top of the fashion world. For God's sake, Sherman, what's this company been doing? Where are the ideas? I've been looking for months... and there's not a single month in sight. Let's get that creativity flowing. Go! What's in fashion at the moment? What's hot?