Partygoers push limits of outrageous fashion

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Partygoers push limits of outrageous fashion

Park Ji-won, a designer who owns Park Lounge in Cheongdam-dong, wanted to combine all things she loved most, ―fashion, fine dining and trendy people ―for her party last week. But they seemed to be divided into two separate communities, the local and foreign.
By collaborating with Liza Lebeda, an American expatriate, Ms. Park said, “I could embrace Korea’s foreign community, who usually hang out in Itaewon, embassies or hotel banquets, into the Korean party scene.”
The “Dare-to-Wear” party on Friday at Ms. Park’s Thai restaurant drew about 150 Korean trendsetters and expatriates of various occupations ― from artist to business consultant to pilot ― and nationalities who mixed and mingled over a seemingly unlimited supply of mint juleps, cosmopolitans and tequila shots into the wee hours.
It was obvious that the women adhered to the party’s challenging dress code, “Dare-to-Wear.” One could spot a bird’s nest, white disco boots and a lot of see-through tops and dresses.
Robert Cullins, managing director of spirits distributor Maxxium Korea, didn’t have an avant-garde ensemble, but he declared, “Look, pairing my plaid shirt with these black leather pants is daring enough for me.”
To some, these kind of parties are an important chance to network and test marketing strategies, and no matter what they were doing at the time, revelers never forgot to exchange their business cards.
Since his arrival in Korea a year ago to head Nissan Korea, Kenneth Engberg, a native of Arizona, had been in search of opinion leaders in town, and at the Park Lounge party, he said he found the right crowd to work on Nissan’s new car. He also got a tip on when and where the crowd is having its next cool soiree.


by Ines Cho
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