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A ‘networking’ night for the rich and beautiful is bringing a successful New York formula to town, writes Tina Lee

It’s a singles night that dares not reveal itself as a singles night – at least, not yet. ‘Beauty and the Bankers’ is a ‘networking’ party for people in the banking and fashion industries, with the possibility of hooking up after a few vodkas. While the name doesn’t promise a night of sophistication, those behind the event are quick to defend it.

“It might seem a bit shallow, but it’s just an opportunity to meet different people, and hopefully they don’t see it as pretentious,” says Laura Derry, one of the creators of the party. Before bringing the concept to the owners of Solas Bar and Lounge, Derry spoke to a few banker friends, male and female, who were excited by the idea. After all, who among the single bankers in this town has time to actually go out and find their own partners?

“It’s one of those things where you know what you’re getting,” says Derry of the niche pick-up night. You could say the idea behind the event was something of a no-brainer (no offence intended to the party’s intended clientele): for a start, it’s modelled after New York’s successful social-single soiree ‘Fashion Meets Finance’; but it should also benefit from the fact that on any given evening, half of Wyndham Street is infested with bankers and models.

Andrew Douglas, a single, 26-year-old RBS banker, has heard of the New York event and says he wouldn’t mind scoping out something similar in Hong Kong. “What it’s creating is already there anyway,” he reckons. “They’re just putting a label on it.” He says it’ll probably dig up the dorkier end of the banking and fashion industries. “Nobody wants to play the stereotype. It kind of makes bankers sound a bit desperate, which I don’t think is true, but it depends who you are.” By the same token, he confesses that, professions aside, few guys would turn down a chance to get involved with hot chicks and free booze.

Over in the Big Apple, Beth Newill, the 26-year-old creator of the original Fashion Meets Finance, says her city is dominated by people who work in the two industries. Her motivation for the meet-up was personal. “I started working in the fashion industry five to six years ago as an intern, and I realised I was never going to meet a man in the office, because in the fashion industry it’s all women and a few gay men.” Controversially, at her last event people were encouraged to fill out applications with their salaries and pictures. But she doesn’t mind the heat she gets from critics.

“If you are outside of the industry you are immediately going to think, ‘Oh, some girl is organising a room full of hot girls and rich men – who would’ve thought of it?”. But she says the reality isn’t as superficial as it might seem. “Deep down it’s not a shady event. On the inside, guys in finance and girls in fashion have an understanding. On the woman’s side there is a pretty strong work ethic – to be in the industry you have to be willing to work hard in order to make it, and it’s the same driving force behind the guys.” Newill should know – she found her boyfriend (yes, he works in finance) swimming among the sea of men at the very first event she organised. The good news for our lonely bankers and models is that she’s confident the formula will work here, too.

Beauty and the Bankers takes place at Solas Bar and Lounge on Thursday 21, 7.30pm-9pm.