
For H&M's first Paris Fashion Week runway show, which was broadcast live on the brand's Web site, event producer Bureak Betak designed and erected a specially built 20,000-square-foot "house" on the grounds of the Musée Rodin with an additional 5,000-square-foot structure to house the backstage area.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

H&M invited 650 guests to its fashion show, seating V.I.P. press and celebrity guests inside fully furnished vignettes. Other guests sat in traditional fashion show bench seating directly behind.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

Guests were seated throughout the venue, which was elaborately decorated to resemble a posh apartment. While some sat adjacent to a bathtub in a marble-looking bathroom (pictured), others lounged in the master bedroom.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

Bureau Betak and H&M dutifully constructed rooms that looked straight out of an upscale residence, down to the plumbing and lighting fixtures in a replica of a bathroom.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

As models entered each home setting, they traipsed about in a relaxed manner to engage the audience and further emphasize H&M's approachable appeal.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

As part of the elaborate fashion show, Bureau Betak constructed a total of 18 separate rooms, including a TV room, winter garden, office, music room, and even guest bedrooms.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

Beyond the typical bedroom/bathroom/living room/dining room setup, the well-planned site also featured a conservatory.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

Bureak Betak designed and furnished the entire venue, decorating it like a dream apartment full of the party elegance of 1970s Paris. That included a dining room, which boasted everything from real china to fresh flower centerpieces.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

Perhaps in a nod to H&M's complete lifestyle offerings, one bedroom was furnished to resemble a child's bedroom.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

Models clad in French maid uniforms occupied a library/parlor room, where light furnishings and period books were used as props to recreate a posh environment.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

A total of 30 female and five male models walked in the H&M fashion show, which led them through nearly every vignettes within the space. Creating individual rooms allowed the large audience to view the clothes in intimate settings for a more personal feel.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

The show's after-party for 1,000 guests, also held on the grounds of the Musée Rodin, featured the runway show models gathered together on one stage flanked by other models dressed in French maid uniforms.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

Following the runway show, H&M celebrated with performances by the French artist Owlle, as well music from 2 Many DJ's.
Photo: Stéphane Fugier

The 2011 premiere party for WE TV's Braxton Family Values—a show about singer Toni Braxton—took place atop the London West Hollywood and featured a decidedly feminine look. To gussy up the central pool, florist C.J. Matsumoto covered foam spheres in bright pink flowers, then attached the arrangements to weights anchored to the bottom of the pool.
Photo: Dale Wilcox Photography/DWP

To kick off its summer-long partnership, eyewear brand Warby Parker hosted a summer pool party in June 2012 at the Standard in downtown Los Angeles. In addition to staffers pushing library-style book carts around the space as a way to get guests to try on the limited-edition shades, poolside tables also displayed the glasses alongside buckets of branded towels.
Photo: Lauren Farmer

In March, Vogue Eyewear hosted an al fresco party at a private mansion in Los Angeles. In the backyard, beach balls and a gobo of the brand's logo decorated the pool, around which furniture groupings and lanterns hanging from trees created a summery feel.
Photo: Courtesy of Vogue Eyewear

To launch its latest special edition art series label—and raise funds for Haiti—Ferllen Winery teamed up with the Amigos Near Foundation for an arty event in Miami in February. On the deck upstairs, mounted pieces from photographer Tomas Loewy floated on the turquoise water, giving the appearance of unusually decorative rafts.
Photo: Tomas Loewy

Ideal for poolside events where you want to send a message, Melbourne, Florida-based Aqua Art Enterprises makes custom mats in the shape of corporate logos (or other images) that sink to the bottom of a swimming pool for a painted-on look.
Photo: Courtesy of Aqua Art Enterprises

To mark the 25th anniversary of Shark Week, Discovery hosted an event in August 2012 that put sharks in the pool of the Beverly Hilton. The scary fish weren't real, of course, but rather slowly moving projections devised by the planning and production team from Event Eleven.
Photo: Courtesy of Discovery Communications

In addition to the roaming Playboy bunnies, playmates, and scantily clad dancers at Playboy's 2010 Super Bowl party in Miami, performers dressed as mermaids from Zhantra Entertainment swam in the pool and posed for pictures.
Photo: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com for BizBash

Internet Week title sponsor Yahoo gathered some 100 business executives for a private event at a five-story loft townhouse in New York in May of 2012 to mark the relaunch of advertising tool Genome. The Internet company partnered with Swank Productions to give the space a more modern aesthetic, which included decorating the indoor pool area with large clear and silver balloons, and hiring a trio of synchronized swimmers from Gotham Synchro dressed in head-to-toe body suits.
Photo: Sean T. Smith

To build buzz around its summer tour series, Sunglass Hut hosted a block party in June 2012. Produced by Relevent's Tony Berger, the early evening shindig spanned an entire West Village block in New York and included a pool built on the sidewalk. As a way to spark interaction, guests received permanent markers to sign the wooden deck surrounding the pool.
Photo: Sara Jaye Weiss

During the first weekend of Coachella in 2012, Lacoste threw a pool party presented by HTC at a private estate in nearby Thermal, California. Surrounded by branded cabanas, the pool was filled with inflatable versions of the clothing company's signature green crocodile.
Photo: John Sciulli/WireImage

Guests at the Lacoste Live pool party during Coachella in 2012 could cool off with snow cones at a station provided by sponsor Fiji Water.
Photo: Joe Scarnici/Getty Images

During Simon G. Jewelry's launch of its eco-friendly line in 2010, held at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, pool performances by women dressed in white costumes doing ballet moves inside huge plastic bubbles floating on the water added drama to the evening. The performers were booked through Best Agency.
Photo: IS Photography/ImagesofVegas.com

In 2010, email newsletter Thrillist brought Hotel Thrillist, a party-packed traveling promotion, to Los Angeles. The weekend-long programming included a pool party at a private mansion on Saturday afternoon, where the Aqualillies performed a synchronized swim routine.
Photo: Colin Young-Wolff

One of the biggest annual events on the South Beach spring-break circuit, the Victoria’s Secret Pink pool party took place at the Shelborne Beach Resort in Miami in March 2012. The upscale poolside lounge was turned into a Victoria's Secret Pink haven, decked out in branded furniture, pool toys, balloons, and beach gear.
Photo: Courtesy of Victoria's Secret

Absolut Vodka launched its latest vodka in November 2012 at an ExtraExtra-produced event at the Standard Miami Beach. Self-sealing mylar balloons spelling out the brand name were clustered as a backdrop for a synchronized swimming performance by the Dolphinettes to music by DJ Mia Moretti.
Photo: Seth Browarnik/WorldRedEye.com

Making the most of the rooftop pool at the Empire Hotel in New York, La Perla floated its name in the water for a poolside swimwear presentation during Fashion Week in 2008.
Photo: Jennifer Graylock

To launch its "It's So Miami" campaign in 2012, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitor's Bureau erected a pop-up pool party in New York's Union Square. The setup included a plunge pool and a wading pool, as well as 17-foot-tall palm trees, a cabana for the media, lounge chairs, and a DJ area. The pools looked out of place in the gritty big-city locale—which was exactly the point of the promotion.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

Goldenvoice's Coachella festival in Indio sold out in a record six days.
Photo: BizBash

A redesigned layout made the festival grounds feel less congested.
Photo: BizBash

For Arcade Fire's set, the Creators Project released 1,250 high-tech beach balls, which came cascading down on the audience.
Photo: Peter Sutherland

The balls were outfitted with LED light units and radio transmitters, and lit up as they bounced among the crowd.
Photo: Peter Sutherland

The main stage came alive, thanks to programming help from the Creators Project.
Photo: Peter Sutherland

Erykah Badu was among the main-stage performers late afternoon Saturday.
Photo: BizBash

The National took to the outdoor stage on Sunday.
Photo: BizBash

Fans packed into the festival grounds during a colorful Sunday sunset.
Photo: BizBash

An art installation meant to be a physical manifestation of Spiritualized's album Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space, by Jonathan Glazer and J. Spaceman, welcomed guests into a custom structure flooded with light.
Photo: BizBash

Art dotted the field and glowed at night, creating a dramatic festival landscape.
Photo: BizBash

Illuminated art came from artists from all over California and beyond.
Photo: BizBash

The "ReelMobile" had the look of a giant reel-to-reel player on wheels, from San Francisco-based artists.
Photo: BizBash

The art installation known as "Wish" was a 50-foot-tall mixed-media sculpture from San Francisco artists.
Photo: BizBash

Global Inheritance showed off its lineup of innovative eco-friendly programming, including a new "energy swing," which implored fans and festivalgoers to generate power.
Photo: Courtesy of Global Inheritance

Global Inheritance brought back its Trashed program, in which 50 artists redesigned recycling bins for the chance to win V.I.P. Coachella tickets.
Photo: Courtesy of Global Inheritance

Global Inheritance's programming required guests to use their bodies on human-size hamster-type wheels to power musical sets.
Photo: Courtesy of Global Inheritance

A pack of stationary bikes generating energy was among Global Inheritance's offerings.
Photo: Courtesy of Global Inheritance

In the 10-for-1 bottle exchange program, guests could collect 10 empty water bottles to redeem for one full one.
Photo: Courtesy of Global Inheritance

The Do Lab's central stage hosted music, art, live paintings, and performances.
Photo: BizBash

Guests gathered around the Do Lab's stage when night fell.
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Lucent Dossier performed on the Do Lab's stage.
Photo: BizBash

Fans endured the daytime heat, which hovered around 100 degrees in the desert.
Photo: BizBash

A new security push kept non-wristband-holders well off premise; vehicle checkpoints enforced the rule.
Photo: BizBash