To be seen or not to be seen, that’s the question

It’s a horse race, but horses aren’t really the most important creatures in this event. It’s more about creations, fashion wise. It’s the J&B Met, something special, and the mayor social event of Cape Town. Sure you can come to the Kenilworth Race Course in your jeans, with your little notebook in your back pocket, out there for the perfect bet, but really: that’s not the point. To be seen or not to bee seen, that’s the question at the Met.

By Gert-Jaap Hoekman

The actual J&B Met just started. The Grad 1 race some people are waiting for; the race this whole event is built around. A lot of money is at stake. But what are all these people doing on the other side of the track? At the place where all the parties are going on... Drinking rum/cokes, looking pretty, eating finger food, looking beautiful, chatting and networking, looking gorgeous. No one is really concerned about who’s winning what and who’s losing money. This is the Met. It’s not all about famous horses or their even better jockeys. It’s a social event; it’s about networking and, more importantly, about looking at your absolute best.

Fashion designers open their studios early in the year to make outfits for the Met. Some even launch specific J&B Met ranges. According to a survey, commissioned by the Cape Town City Council, over R14 million was spend on fashion especially for Met Day. In total there’s R52 million spend on Cape Town’s main event.

Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Hugo Boss; they were all present at the event. But you know it’s still South Africa when you see the boerewors stand and the drunken students waggling around.

Although the real partying is going on around the track, real business is getting down in the Hospitality Village. J&B Met is the right spot for networking and building with your relationships. Holiday Inn, Standard Bank, Nashua, UUNET, American Express, SABC and Hewlett Packard all know that, and they are present with a marquee.

The 2004 Met was postponed for a couple of months because of the outbreak of the equine flue (postponing this event only happened once before: in 1986), but could finally go through in the first weekend of April. And the whole other virus was spread on Met Day. And about fifty thousand people seriously got infected with glamour, alcohol and just simple relaxation.