The collaborative efforts of Francois Baptiste, Alvin LaCabe and Kevin Kane will mark nine years of dressing the masses in white in celebration of the first long weekend in September. The crew is taking painstaking efforts to ensure the dress code is followed, even filming an "instructional video" for viewers to answer the frequently asked questions.
"White Parties" were initially made famous when Puff Daddy (maybe we were calling him Diddy then?) would throw elaborate parties in the Hamptons and famously turn guests away for not having the specific attire. It's all fun and games, until you're walking back to your car with a black belt in your hand because you misjudged the premise of wearing all white. Francois gives us the breakdown on the best method to "survive" The White Party in style and substance.
Westword: What makes the 'White party' different from any other club night, except for the attire caveat?
Francoise Baptiste: The White Party is based on the theory of Labor Day, that once the weekend passes you're not supposed to wear white again til next summer. So everyone dress in all white attire from head to toe and attends this upscale event. It's like a mini NYE party in the summer. Seeing everyone in all white is a pretty cool concept. Plus, having it at Beta Nightclub makes the event even better.
Give me a little background history on the white party, and why your team decided to hold them annually.We started nine years go as a birthday party for one of the Broncos (Clinton Portis). He wanted to do something big and different, and so did the 3Deep Productions crew. So we came up with this White party idea and tried it out at the Rise Nightclub , what is now Club Beta. The party has moved to different locations over the years -- Club Vinyl, The Gothic Theater and now Beta Nightclub -- It's been the premiere summer event ever since.
It seems like all you need to do is wear white, but people kind of have ridiculous questions and stories, right?
I think everyone that goes to the white party has their own funny stories. The all-white outfits can sometimes be pretty amazing, a train wreck or scantily clad. The premise is it's an all-white attire party, so when we have to turn people away to wearing a color other than white, the excuses are hilarious: "See, what happened was..." Nope, go take off that black belt and come back. It's all in fun and keeping the dress code consistent.
This year's party starts Sunday at 4 p.m. at Beta Nightclub, featuring four DJs (DJ Ktone, DJ Big Spade, KDJ Above, and DJ Sabotage). The dress code is, obviously, strict.
