New kind of man comes out to party

Just starting to feel comfortable with the idea of metrosexual men? Don’t get used to it for too long ― metrosexual men are last year’s fad. The new masculine idea for 2006 is “ubersexual.”
At least, that’s the new look pushed by the monthly magazine Esquire Korea, which targets trendy and style-conscious Korean men in their 20s and 30s. The magazine is throwing a party tonight with some of the city’s “top ubersexuals” ― as rated by the party planners ― at the swank Woo Bar, located inside the W Seoul Hotel in eastern Seoul.
The party planners boast that the event will be chock full of celebrities, but would name only one: Daniel Henney, one of Korea’s biggest heart-throbs and the current ubersexual poster-boy for Biotherm, a cosmetics company and event sponsor. Mr. Henney is generally regarded as the Korean equivalent to members of “America’s Top 10 Ubersexuals” as listed by the ad agency that coined the term (one of the 10 is George Clooney).
If a glimpse of Daniel Henney or other Korean celebrities isn’t enough, the “ubersexual” party is the ideal place for ladies out there looking to catch one of these sexy new slices of manhood. Although many of the magazine’s events this year are geared towards men, Esquire says their parties draw some of Seoul’s most attractive and eligible bachelors and bachelorettes.
The term “ubersexual” is attributed to Marian Salzman, Ira Matathia and Ann O’Reilly, who worked for the United States’s largest advertising agency, JWT, and coined the term for their book “The Future of Men.” The authors, who also claim to have up with the term “metrosexual” (a British writer for the Independent also claims ownership of the term) said the time of the metrosexual was fading because most men needed an image that allowed them to be sexy but still masculine. For these men, being masculine means being well-read, enjoying sports and spending time out with the boys, rather than shopping for beauty products and chatting with female friends. The new image is manly, but gentle and sensitive, able to communicate and interested in righteous causes.
Esquire Korea has put together a diverse line up of local and internationally renowned DJs from Canada, Britain and Australia, including DJ Astro Bits, Ditto, Eugene Blake and BeeJay. There will also be a special VJ set by DJ Frankie Shin from Australia as well as a number of “ubersexual performances” including the “Esquire Man” competition and a “Mask Dance,” which appears to be some kind of Asian-style dance performance. Whichever guest wins the competition will be featured in an upcoming issue of Esquire Korea.

by Brett Stewart

The party is from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m tonight. The dress code is sophisticated and chic, and the theme color is green. Tickets cost 30,000 won ($30) and include one drink. For more information, call 010-7655-0624 for Korean or 017-347-6553 for English, or visit the Web site at www.ikissyou.com.