Hazel Nguyen

Hazel Nguyen, a character in the Hot Couture series, is your boss and the founder of the company where you work. She is also one of your love interests. She is first seen in Chapter 1.

Appearance
Hazel has brown eyes, shoulder-length brown hair, and fair skin. She wears a pink ruffled blouse, black herringbone patterned skirt, and dangling earrings.

Personality
Hazel carries herself as calm and collected, pragmatic and methodic. Her quietness and her straight-to-the-point blunt manner can appear intimidating to others. She does not dwell on past actions and instead prefers to focus on the present and future.

Background
Hazel's parents were Vietnamese immigrants. It is unknown what happened to her father, but when she was a child, she lived in a two-room apartment with her single mother and all her brothers. She had to lie about her age for her first jobs, and even though she made good money as a model, it was a career that her mother wouldn't have wanted for her had she be given the choice. Hazel's first apartment was one she shared with three other models, and because of its limited space, they had to endure bunk beds.

As a designer, she used a lot of Vietnamese influences in her first collection which set her apart from other designers of the time. Her first big hit was based on the ao dai, a traditional Vietnamese dress typically worn over trousers.

Hazel Boutique focused more on womenswear than menswear.

Series/Book: Platinum

 * Chapter 7: Can't Stop (Mentioned)

The Elementalists: Winters Past

 * Chapter 3: Silent Night (Mentioned; Determinant)

Hot Couture

 * Chapter 1: Model Behavior
 * Chapter 2: Life of the Party
 * Chapter 3: Making a Splash (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 4: In Hot Water
 * Chapter 5: Flashing Lights (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 6: It Girl (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 7: Ramping Up
 * Chapter 8: Benvenuto a Milano
 * Chapter 9: Sabotage
 * Chapter 10: The Devil Wears HB (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 11: Crossroads
 * Chapter 12: All Sewn Up (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 13: Bring Down the House
 * Chapter 14: Allure (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 15: City of Lights
 * Chapter 16: A Star Is Born

Bridgette Gardner
Bridgette is Hazel's right hand, the Chief Creative Officer of Hazel Boutique. All job applicants have to go through Bridgette to get to Hazel. Bridgette is shown to admire Hazel deeply, even to the point where she may like Hazel romantically. In Chapter 13, Hazel fires Bridgette, as she is tired of putting up with her and the way she treats Hazel Boutiques' employees. After this, they retain a negative relationship.

Your Character
Hazel Nguyen has been your fashion designer idol for a long time. In Chapter 1, you arrive at Hazel Boutique to interview for an internship as a fashion designer. However, Bridgette does not believe you are qualified and before she kicks you out, Marco gets you a job as a model for his photoshoot. At his fairytale photoshoot, Hazel makes an impromptu visit and assesses you. She asks Marco to get you a ticket to the Tatin party.

In Chapter 4, if you decide to stay to talk to Hazel at her beach house, she talks to you about her past with Otto and you help her clear out her home of mementos of their relationship. She gives you her earrings because they inspired her to set her own path and not let anyone control her.

In Chapter 15, you have the opportunity to romance Hazel and kiss her. If you do, she tells you that she is not interested in a serious or committed relationship. Either way, she decides to join your "team" to help bring your fashion to life in Paris Week. Due to the series of events - from Otto stealing her Milan designs to her firing Bridgette for insubordination and assault - Hazel Boutique's Board of Directors fired her. They did not want her to help you financially even with her own money; they did not want her to uplift competitors in the market. If you decided to quit in Chapter 11, she tells you that was what she wanted you to do and that she was relieved when you did it. If you didn't quit and she fired you in Chapter 11, she will explain that she wanted you to have the freedom to design. She respects you and your work, and you have a fire in you that she admires.

Otto Thorndyke
Years ago when Hazel was a model, she met Otto Thorndyke on a photoshoot. He was a designer, and he introduced her to many things and opened many doors for her. She got caught in his whirlwind and fell in love with him. She loved his charisma; he had a way of making her feel like the most special person in the world and they could conquer the world together. They had their honeymoon in Scotland, where they golfed and she beat him by ten strokes; he spent the whole night fuming over that.

Because both she and Otto are in the public spotlight, their divorce became a free-for-all where many people picked through it like vultures. She experienced her fair share of humiliation and exposure.

Trivia

 * She shares the same forename as Hazel from Hero, and the same surname as Michelle Nguyen from Endless Summer.
 * She is first mentioned in Chapter 7 of Platinum, foreshadowing Hot Couture's existence.
 * She also has been mentioned in a premium scene of Chapter 3 from The Elementalists: Winters Past.
 * It is mentioned in Chapter 1 that she is nearly 40 years old. Your character thinks she looks younger.
 * She attended her first World Economic Forum in Davos when she was twenty years old.
 * She studied at Central Saint Martins.