EAST LONDON will be become a who’s who of beautiful people tonight as former Miss SA Claudia Henkel, top models Tracy McGregor and Lee-Ann Liebenberg, television hotties Shashi Naidoo and Lyndall Jarvis and hunky swimming sensation Ryk Neethling roll in for the lavish opening of the R10-million Fashion TV venue.

The multi-level playground for the elite consists of three bars and a gourmet restaurant complete with a celebrity chef and a throbbing dance floor. Fashion TV is a franchised spin-off of the DSTV channel devoted to international catwalk shows.

While the clubs already exist in Gauteng and the Western Cape, East London self-made multi-millionaire Earl Phillip, 32, has made it his business to secure the Eastern Cape rights and has spared no expense to create a venue of no-holds barred glamour.

“There are other Fashion TV venues in SA, but this one will be on a different scale,” said Phillip. “I have brought in technology and materials never used before in the country.”

Seventeen imported Italian crystal chandeliers, metallic wallpapers, state-of-the art sound and hi-tech laser and LED lighting will form the backdrop for big spenders to party their nights away. VIPs, who will pay an annual membership fee of R12000, will have their own entrance and security, Hollywood-style.

“The Eastern Cape needs a venue where people can have a good time in a classy, high-end place. It’s going to be all glitz and glamour,” said Phillip.

Philip, who matriculated at Selborne College before opening a car sound business and later joining his father in a shopping mall venture in Matatiele, got into property development eight years ago, building up his fortune along the way.

Surviving on five hours sleep a night in advance of the Fashion TV launch tonight, has been no sacrifice for the trendsetter.

“My wife Sharmilla and I have been sweethearts since we were 12 years old and she has helped me immensely. We sit and choose the models together and we both love shopping for the best. Sharmilla and I love all the top brands.”

It is his fashion fixation and hours spent watching Fashion TV that attracted him to the venue franchise associated with the France-based channel.

“Tonight’s launch party will even be broadcast on the channel at some point,” he said.

“I am so excited – it’s taken months and months of planning to get it all together, but then I have been working with the best in the industry. I have sourced the best celebs for the party, despite the cost. They are the cream of the crop. It cost me R30000 to get Lyndall Jarvis, who is the new Top Billing presenter and FHM sexiest woman of the year, to do a photo-shoot wearing the East London Fashion TV T-shirt.”

And, while he expects guest from all over the province to party at his opulent nightspot which is situated at the new Hemingways Mall, Phillip will also be opening a Fashion TV in Port Elizabeth next year.