Looking to boost event proceeds, Miami Children's Hospital Foundation went beyond the basic silent auction by enlisting a group of hunky male volunteers to showcase auction items at its Wine, Women & Shoes event in February.
Photo: Yamila Lomba
Colorful nail polish bottles filled champagne glasses at L'Oréal’s brunch planned by Joe Moller at the Viceroy EOS Restaurant in Miami.
Photo: Joe Moller
In Los Angeles in the days before Coachella kicked off, jewelry brand Haute Betts hosted a party with a floral garland-making station, where guests could create their own festival-ready looks—and wear them to contribute an on-brand, boho-chic atmosphere in the party space.
Photo: Vivien Killilea
The recent Beverly Hills Hotel & Bungalows' 100th anniversary bash kicked off with a performance by the Aqualillies, a troupe of water ballerinas.
Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Essie
For a recent press event in Los Angeles, Paul Frank brought Starring Fragrances for a station that offered custom scents as takeaways for guests, based on their personal preferences.
Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision for Saban Brands/AP Images
While participants waited in line—as many as 250 attended on any given day—DJs kept them entertained.
Photo: Aydin Arjormand
Product launches and press previews for beauty products have historically been dominated by clean, all-white decor, allowing colorful product packaging to take center stage. At a February 21 brunch for L'Oréal, designer and producer Joe Moller added subtle branding to the setup on the Viceroy Miami's outdoor terrace, adding L'Oréal lettering to the backs of chairs and using shallow gold vases filled with products as tabletop centerpieces.
Photo: Joe Moller
As a twist on the white-on-white look, Calvin Klein launched Euphoria in 2005 with an artsy installation that put the fragrance's tropical derivatives in display cases atop pedestals and on the floor. Videos of tropical landscapes could be viewed through metal portholes in the walls of the TriBeCa venue.
Photo: Courtesy of Unilever Cosmetics International
Schwarzkopf Professional chose a different route for a January event in Los Angeles, bringing bright hues to Exchange LA with a color-blocked runway and fringe chandelier. To add branding into the decor, organizers surrounded the catwalk with Ghost chairs marked with the signature silhouette logo.
Photo: Brian Leahy Photography
Lacoste introduced its first men's scent collection in 2011 with an installation in New York's Grand Central Terminal. For the opening event, the sporty fashion brand used the colorful packaging of the Lacoste Eau de Lacoste L.12.12 fragrances to decorate the façade of the bar.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash
Avon wanted a sophisticated look for the 2007 launch of Rouge, a fragrance created in partnership with Christian Lacroix. Held in New York, the red-and-black event included a chandelier with vials of the fragrance instead of lightbulbs.
Photo: Andre Maier Photography
Red was also the dominant hue at the launch of Beyoncé Heat in 2010, noticeable from the lights that emanated from the New York venue. Coty's marketing team decided to create a public spectacle out of the intimate press conference and after-party—held at 15 Union Square—by making no secret about what was going on inside.
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com
To put editors in the right frame of mind, Avon introduced the 2005 fall collection of Mark—the brand's younger, hipper cosmetics line—by hosting an autumnal-themed event in the summer. Orange and red foliage littered the New York affair, where wrought-iron gates, warm yellow lighting, and a small faux maple tree hung with votive candles set a park-like scene for the hair, fragrance, skin, and makeup products.
Photo: Jamie Watts
For the 2008 launch of its revamped Tea Tree line of shampoos and conditioners, Paul Mitchell built cabanas on a rooftop garden in New York. Drinks and displays highlighted the ingredients of each product, with fresh sage lemonade served in the area for the Lemon Sage line.
Photo: Jessica Torossian/BizBash
Bulgari focused the visuals of a 2007 launch on natural ingredients by filling the New York event with fragrant greenery and pretty blossoms. The luncheon for the Omnia Amethyste fragrance saw garden roses in hanging birdcages, a Lucite tasting bar filled with wood chips and balsa wood, and a wall of pink damask roses that gave off a subtle aroma.
Photo: Francine Daveta
In 2010, Victoria's Secret turned one of its New York stores into a makeshift flower shop and put Alessandra Ambrosio, Candice Swanepoel, and Miranda Kerr in aprons to help promote the launch of the Heavenly Flowers perfume. Standing amidst buckets of artificial flowers, cases of new product, and watering cans, the models autographed glossy photos of themselves for customers who spent $35 or more.
Photo: Marion Curtis/StarTraks
Lacoste was ahead of the game when it chose to integrate digital art from social media fans into a sculptural installation for the launch of its Eau de Lacoste L.12.12 fragrance. The 2011 promotion at New York's Grand Central Terminal projected animated videos generated by fans online across the surface of the piece, which loosely resembled the brand's iconic crocodile logo.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash
Art installations were part of Diesel's launch for the Only the Brave fragrance in 2009. The event, held in Miami's Moore Building, displayed commissioned works from 30 artists who were told to explore the idea of bravery. Three oversize machine gun-shaped pieces by Canadian artist Bob Parrington, ranging in size from four to eight feet, hung from the ceiling in the atrium.
Photo: BizBash
To create a setting that would work for a breakfast presentation as well as a luncheon, Shiseido Cosmetics America mixed classic and modern furnishings for the launch of its spring 2007 collection in a turn-of-the-century townhouse in New York. A color palette of white kept the look clean, while lighting took on hues matched to the shades of Shiseido’s packaging and makeup.
Photo: Jeff Thomas/ImageCapture
As a way to integrate Rimmel London's identity and heritage into a 2007 product launch, Coty Canada dressed a Toronto event space with British decor. Tabletop decorations included custom acrylic purple, white, and gold Union Jack placemats and miniature gold-colored double-decker buses.
Photo: BizBash
A club-like vibe pervaded the launch of Salvatore Ferragamo's Attimo fragrance in 2010, the first official event at the Standard New York's bar, Le Bain. To avoid a branding-heavy look, Ferragamo put a neon sign and decor beneath a dance floor that was built over the drained pool; elsewhere the design was a subtle play on the perfume's packaging and ingredients.
Photo: Billy Farrell/PatrickMcMullan.com
To prevent a 2011 launch from looking too clinical, Canadian skin-care brand Dermaglow used a 10-foot-tall floral arrangement, bright uniforms for the waitstaff, and macarons to add color to the space. Each hue corresponded to a different product line.
Photo: Ryan Emberly
Joico opted to emphasize its scientific approach to hair-care products by styling a 2005 event as a laboratory. That included serving champagne cocktails in test tubes.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
In 2007, Bourjois Paris spread the word about its new Docteur Glamour line by creating a beauty ambulance of sorts. A vehicle with glass sides served as the setting for prearranged appointments with beauty editors outside the offices of several large magazine publishing companies.
Photo: Elizabeth Lippman
Betsey Johnson didn't look far for inspiration for her perfume's launch in 2006, bringing 55 beauty editors and fragrance execs to her Greenwich Village apartment for a party. Johnson's own family photos and bric-a-brac gave the affair a personal touch, while balloons, streamers, and rose petals played up the designer's fun-loving personality.
Photo: Daniel D’Errico/Courtesy of Alison Brod Public Relations
When Victoria's Secret launched the Pink fragrance collection in 2009, the brand relied on models, rather than brand representatives, to articulate and embody the concept behind the three scents. Thoroughly briefed and scripted on their distinct characters, the models became living, talking props and guided editors through the apartment-like vignettes that represented the lifestyle of their specific consumer profile.
Photo: Justin Jay/Courtesy of Victoria's Secret Beauty
Dove drove home the idea of the key consumer for its Men+Care line by hosting the 2010 launch event at Toronto's Hockey Hall of Fame. Inside the space, the logo for the new products decorated jerseys in the locker room, while displays were set against trophies and hockey pucks.
Photo: BizBash
For a 2005 cosmetics launch, Bourjois Paris invited beauty editors to a model apartment at an unfinished apartment building in New York. Part of the unusual setting included a Bourjois product developer preparing pink eye shadow in the kitchen with the aid of a pink KitchenAid blender.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
L.V.M.H.-owned beauty purveyor Fresh created a gifting bar at an event last year that allowed guests to pick the products they wanted to take home. Packages were sent via messenger to attendees the following day.
Photo: Jim Shi
For the launch of the Secret Obsession fragrance in Toronto, Calvin Klein sent private cars to chauffeur guests to an undisclosed location. The 2008 event blindfolded attendees and led them through a sensory experience set up inside a bank vault.
Photo: Courtesy of Overcat Communications
As a creative way to leave a lasting impression with busy editors and remind them of its key scent for the season, Victoria's Secret gave out individual cakes at an event in 2010. The edible souvenir was handed out as guests left, presented in a simple white box wrapped in pink ribbon.
Photo: Jessica Torossian/BizBash
Last summer, Svedka hosted a Rio carnival-inspired party in Beverly Hills to fete its new mango-pineapple and strawberry-lemonade flavors. The colorful event design included fruits arranged in a logo decor piece that floated in the pool.
Photo: Michael Simon/StarTraksPhoto.com
At the TEDActive conference in the Southern California desert in 2013, the La Quinta Resort & Club provided a sprawling venue where individual seating groups in intimate settings encouraged interaction. Oversize orange lettering spelled out words to inspire conversation and creative thinking.
Photo: Marla Aufmuth
Las Vegas's Long-Running Revue
Jubilee, the longest-running show on the Las Vegas Strip, closed at the end of January and reopened in March after undergoing a major transformation under the direction of creative director and choreographer Frank Gatson Jr. Group tickets for the show at Bally's Las Vegas are available for 10 or more—but keep in mind, the showgirl revue is not right for every audience, so know your crowd.
Photo: Denise Truscello
The reception-style event did not have sit-down tables, so Todd Events provided some casual low furniture for guests who wanted a seat. Oversize black heat lamps were both decorative and practical.
Photo: Roderick Peña
Guests had to win their dessert—a Sprinkles cupcake—by shooting a toy dart gun into the cupcake cutouts.
Photo: Roderick Peña
Several featured cocktails were served atop white glass columns that were lit underneath with LED lights. The ingredients were printed on the front of the columns, and the napkins had the exact recipe.
Photo: Roderick Peña
A fortune teller offered sartorial advice such as how guests could upgrade their outfits at sponsor Neiman Marcus.
Photo: Roderick Peña
Instead of typical carousel horses, the First Look Party had mannequins who wore several watches on their arms—as well as latex horse heads.
Photo: Roderick Peña
In a new take on the traditional photo backdrop, guests bounced on a trampoline before having their photo taken. Side rails around the custom station kept guests safe.
Photo: Roderick Peña
At this year's Dining by Design, the annual fund-raising event hosted by Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS, Smartwater's space aimed to reflect the brand's natural water purification process, which is mirrored after rain clouds. The fluffy fixtures lit up like a storm above the simple table setting. The event took place at New York's Pier 92 in March.
Photo: Cornelia Stiles/BizBash
At a Saucony-hosted event in Boston in 2011, an art exhibit around the perimeter of the space incorporated the brand's sneakers and minimalist art.
Photo: Phase One Photography
In 2012, Yahoo marked the relaunch of Genome, a brand previously known as Interclick, with a minimalist affair in New York. To create a modern aesthetic inside a SoHo townhouse, the producers employed a mix of clean lines and white furnishings. For entertainment, the organizers brought in synchronized swimmers dressed to look like aliens.
Photo: Sean T. Smith
At a product launch for watch brand Q&Q in New York, guests were encouraged to take photos against a modern backdrop. Guests who posed for snaps received a coin that would allow them to receive a free watch from a giant gumball machine.
Photo: Kent Miller Studios
At a dinner to mark new gallery openings at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011, Heffernan Morgan bathed webbed scrims in golden light to cast spiderweblike patterns throughout the modern dinner space.
Photo: Robert Carl
Original art was available in the silent auction, which benefited a fashion scholarship.
Photo: Tom Sandler
Last year, Mattel brand Barbie put models dressed as Ken dolls inside a glass-paneled truck and encouraged shoppers to track its movements via Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. This year the company will create a social scavenger hunt involving QR codes, a dress-up closet inside a double-decker bus, and Twitter.
Photo: Diane Bondareff/Barbie
A silks-creening station let guests customize versions of one of Stefani’s signature looks: a cutoff T-shift with Old English lettering. Guests could choose from two colors of T-shirts and four colors for the print, which featured the collection logo.
Photo: Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com
Tattly Parlor Station
Temporary tattoo brand Tattly offered six custom designs created for Art Basel at its “Parlor Station” in the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. The Brooklyn-based company is a partner of Art Basel’s crowdfunding initiative, which Art Basel and Kickstarter founded to promote select nonprofit visual arts organizations.
Photo: Michele Eve Photography for BizBash
'Vanity Fair' Social Club
The lounge offered bloggers and journalists space to work as well as treats from sponsor activations. Sisley-Paris offered beauty appointments in a lounge-within-a-lounge. Other sponsors with activations included Nespresso and Movado.
Photo: Michele Eve Photography for BizBash
