‘The Fabulous’ follows the lives of four friends trying to make a name for themselves in the fashion industry. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Ji-eun works at AUDREY, a luxury-brand PR agency. She has always loved pretty things, and she wishes to be surrounded by them through her job.
Joseph, Ji-eun’s best friend, is a designer who is very particular about his work, taking care of every single detail. He wishes to take his brand to new heights.
Their friend, Seon-ho, is one of the top supermodels. However, she is not respected by new talent in the industry.
Lastly, Woo-min is a photographer. He dated Ji-eun three years ago, but he left for Hawaii after their breakup. The two are just good friends now.
At Joseph’s fashion show, Ji-eun introduces her boyfriend, Nam-jin, to Woo-min. The fashion show does not go smoothly, as a young model, who had been slighted by Joseph, cuts off the power just when Joseph has to walk.
The four friends get drunk that night at a club, and Ji-eun sleeps with Woo-min. An angry Ji-eun leaves his apartment the next morning.
When she meets Nam-jin, he breaks up with her, stating that he wants to date a woman who could talk to him about matters other than fashion.
Ms. Hong, JD’s manager and stylist, visits Ji-eun’s boss, Ms. Oh. Ji-eun is asked to meet Ms. Ahn Nam-hee, the editor-in-chief of an influential fashion magazine. Ms. Ahn is responsible for handling JD’s pictorial outfits.
If JD’s pictorial does not include AUDREY’s outfits, then their contract will not be renewed. Ji-eun goes out of her way to buy Ms. Ahn’s favorite bread to convince her to choose their outfits.
She impresses Ms. Ahn to the extent that she not only chooses their outfits but also mentions that she owes Ji-eun to Ms. Oh.
Seon-ho’s boyfriend, a designer, is inattentive towards her, making her the butt of a joke among other models. When he ridicules her in front of them, Hye-na, another model, implies that Seon-ho slept her way to the top.
Seon-ho gets into a fight with Hye-na, and her boyfriend, instead of taking her side, fires her because she is covered in bruises. Later that night, her friends convince her to apologize to her boyfriend, but when they reach his house, she finds him with another woman.
This causes Ji-eun to break Seon-ho’s boyfriend’s window. She swears at him and the other woman, who turns out to be Ms. Hong.
Ms. Hong makes things difficult for Ji-eun at work. She is even forced to drive her and her boss to Cheongdam Fashion Circle, where she runs into Nam-jin.
Ji-eun was supposed to take her grandmother to the doctor, but since she has to drive Ms. Hong around, she asks Woo-min to take care of her.
That night, Ji-eun gets into an argument with JD, who wants to choose her own outfits, causing JD to cancel the shoot altogether. Furthermore, her grandmother never reaches home.
Woo-min asks her to take care of her work problems, while he finds her grandmother. Trying to drink her problems away, Ji-eun falls asleep at a bar, where Nam-jin finds her.
Woo-min is offered a full-time job at the place where he was a freelance photographer, while AUDREY loses a VIP client because of Ji-eun, who promises Ms. Oh to find another client.
Hye-na gets bullied at work by a powerful woman, and Seon-ho comes to her defense despite what happened between them a few days ago. Seon-ho angers the woman, who promises retribution.
Joseph’s business is not doing so well after the fashion show. He gets hopeful when Ms. Hong purchases almost all of his designs, but she returns all but one the next day.
Woo-min meets an aspiring model, Do-young. Unbeknownst to him, Do-young knows Ji-eun and has been asking her out all this time.
AUDREY gets an offer to present a pitch to RUBLIANT, a VIP brand. Ms. Oh thinks it is Ji-eun’s doing, as Nam-jin is the CEO of RUBLIANT. The pitch is supposed to be an open vote by VIPs.
AUDREY’s pitch is the best out of all, despite the fact that their initial plan fails when it rains. Ji-eun calls her friends to save the day with an exciting party that gets the most attention on social media.
Woo-min runs into Nam-jin, who is planning to get back with Ji-eun. At the same time, Ji-eun is asked to escort a world-famous personality, Thierry Henry, who is coming to Korea. Thierry is the chief designer of a brand called EARLAINE.
Ji-eun takes Woo-min’s help to escort an eccentric Thierry. Ji-eun even convinces him to meet his estranged lover and mend his relationship with him.
Seon-ho finds it hard to get work because she has been blacklisted now; the powerful woman she fought for Hye-na’s sake gets her blacklisted.
Joseph designs a beautiful bag that he knows his customers would not be able to afford. He plans to showcase the bag at a pop-up store, which becomes a huge success.
Thierry shows up at the store and walks with the bag because he falls in love with it, making it an overnight sensation.
Woo-min is asked by Ms. Ahn to send his street photographs to get published in the magazine.
He also realizes he still has feelings for Ji-eun. He asks her to be his girlfriend again, but she gets angry because she has just accepted Nam-jin’s offer to give their relationship a second chance.
Do-young convinces Woo-min to let him live with him. Do-young meets an intelligent girl, Chase-young, and asks her out.
When Ji-eun receives an expensive gift from Nam-jin and meets his friends, she realizes that she does not fit into his world. He even takes her on dinner with Ms. Ahn, who is Ji-eun’s idol.
Do-young finds an album full of Ji-eun’s pictures at Woo-min’s house. He takes the album and shows it to her, promising to be their cupid from now on.
Ji-eun urgently calls Woo-min because she has to deliver a bag that she accidentally left in his car to JD. She fails to deliver the bag, but she is not reprimanded by her boss because Ms. Ahn, impressed by Ji-eun, promotes their product.
However, Ji-eun tells Woo-min that his timing is bad, as he is always a little too late. She realizes that he is always there to support her whenever she needs him, and he promises her that he will keep trying to get her to go out with him again.
AUDREY grows as a company, and they are given the project of handling the DIANA exhibition, which aims at celebrating the brand’s history.
Since Seon-ho is no longer getting any work, she is not invited to the event, even though she has been a part of some of their best campaigns. She decides to retire and terminates her contract with her agency.
However, Cezanne was a designer who admired Seon-ho as a model. Cezanne’s people demand Seon-ho’s presence at the exhibition an hour before the event; they are furious to know that she was not invited.
Seon-ho shows up wearing an outfit that was gifted to her by Cezanne once and steals the show.
That night, Ji-eun breaks up with Nam-jin as the two are very different from each other.
She is then taken to a place where the four friends used to hang out years ago. Woo-min has prepared an exhibition for her; all the photographs that he has taken of her over the years are displayed there.
She runs to meet Woo-min, who is waiting for her outside her house. She confesses her love for him after discovering, through the pictures, what he truly feels about her.
The Fabulous ending explained in detail:
Does Joseph gain recognition as a designer?
Joseph is offered a position by Thierry to work as a creative director at EARLAINE. Although it is a great opportunity, Joseph declines the offer because he does not want to move to Paris and he wants to establish his own unique identity as a designer.
However, Joseph’s mother speaks with Thierry on the phone, which makes him offer Joseph the same position in Korea. He also accepts that Joseph’s identity can remain separate from EARLAINE’s.
At EARLAINE J’s launch in Seoul, Joseph’s designs are displayed. The show is a success, and he manages to establish his identity as a significant designer.
Does Seon-ho reach the top again?
Seon-ho is offered a project by Ms. Ahn. The project suits her the best, but she will have to work with her ex-boyfriend. Initially, she refuses, but then she agrees to do it.
She tells her boyfriend that she is moving to New York as there is not enough work for her in Korea. He is ready to move with her; he even offers to be her manager.
At a photo shoot, she defends two young models when the photographer insults them, and her boyfriend, unlike her ex, is there to support her. The word spreads, and this gains her the respect of her juniors in the industry.
She closes Joseph’s show and dazzles everyone. She regains her position in the industry and is ready to reach the top in other countries as well.
What happens to Woo-min and Ji-eun?
Woo-min quits his job and decides to become a street photographer. He reveals at the end that his schedule will be busy now because he has received a call from Vogue.
Ji-eun thrives at her job. She is made in charge of EARLAINE J’s launch. As the event is a huge success, she is offered a position at INFASHION, an agency that is at the top of the industry.
The offer makes her happy because her work is being noticed and liked by people, but she decides to continue working at AUDREY.
Additionally, Ji-eun and Woo-min’s relationship is stronger than ever. They have grown as individuals and are trying not to make the same mistakes that they made in the past.
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