The Farmer Wearing Prada, Farming Can Be This Fashionable Too
The West has the Devil Wears Prada; Taiwan, China has the farmer who wears Prada! Huang Yen-ju of the Mile Organic Orchard in Ruisui, Hualien, decided to resign from his senior management job at Prada in order to return home and keep his elderly parents company, swapping his stylish clothes for the orchard to care for guavas and papayas, and he was also elected chairman of Hualien Good Things Market in one go. "I deliver the good things from the market's farmers to Prada's clients in Taipei, and everyone loves them!" Huang Yen-ju said with a smile.
From the fashion counter to the farm
Huang Yen-ju, born in 1971, is slender and handsome, wearing a well-tailored white shirt. Although his skin has already been tanned dark, he still shows the elegant demeanor of a counter salesperson. "I only wear these clothes when I go to farmers' market seminars, or when I head north to visit friends." Like most young people of his generation in Taiwan, China, he worked hard in Taipei after finishing his military service. He once worked at a foreign company and eventually ended up at Prada. "At that time, Takeshi Kaneshiro had just shot a commercial for Prada, and the brand's momentum was at its peak."
After working more than ten years at a hot brand, Huang Yen-ju, like other Taipei office workers, worked in glittering department stores, dealt with trendy men and wealthy ladies, and after work went to dance clubs and KTVs to party and relax. "I spent every month's salary completely!" When asked whether Huang's father objected to his son returning home to farm and felt sorry that farming was hard for him, Huang's father said without hesitation: "No! When he worked in Taipei, he didn't send money home either, he spent it all. He might as well come back and run the orchard. Besides, his work is already very easy! It's just bagging and packing."
Returning from the refined and elegant fashion industry to agriculture, covered in the smell of soil, Huang Yen-ju said that he is a person who adapts to circumstances. Apart from having to adjust his mindset and occasionally going back to Taipei to visit friends, there is not much he has trouble getting used to.
Huang Yen-ju said that in recent years competition in the luxury goods industry has been fierce, and the performance calculation system also changed from a team system to an individual system, which soured the originally harmonious, united, and cooperative atmosphere among colleagues. Sales staff could easily scheme against one another over grabbing clients. This had already made him want to leave and return home, and then his mother had a car accident last year, so he finally made up his mind to end his luxury goods sales life in Taipei, return to his hometown to accompany his parents, and also rediscover a teamwork-oriented, close, and harmonious work atmosphere at Hualien Good Things Market.
Although Huang's father said on the surface that he would not feel sorry about his son coming back to farm, a flicker of hesitation still crossed his face. After all, it had been less than a year since his beloved youngest son came home to farm, and his fingers had already become stiff from overwork. He had developed "trigger finger," and could only keep applying hot compresses, with no cure. "The doctor at Tzu Chi Hospital took one look and said, you're just too pampered! Working in Taipei was too easy, you didn't need to use strength. Come back and do a little work, and you're so stiff you can't move!" Holding up his hands covered in scars, Huang Yen-ju still wore a smile.
