
The Friday portion of the summit started and ended at the TOMS headquarters in Los Angeles (pictured). In addition to a series of workplace immersions, the day included a celebration of Teen Vogue's 21 Under 21 list and live karaoke with castmembers from Pitch Perfect 3. TOMS was chosen because its spaces matched the day's creative, entrepreneurial vibe.
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories

During the Saturday event at 72andSunny's headquarters, guests were greeted by signage saying "Hello, are you ready to change the world?" that immediately set the tone for the day. At check-in was an inspiring quote from poet and artist Cleo Wade, who was also a speaker at the conference. All signage was designed by 23 Stories and produced by Premier Displays & Exhibits.
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories

The overall event, which was held mostly outdoors at the 72andSunny campus in Playa Vista, had a white, yellow, and orange color scheme, creating a clean, sunny vibe. In the main-stage seating area, fuzzy bean-bag chairs were scattered throughout, and a larger-than-life Teen Vogue sign provided a popular photo op. Most furniture rentals were provided by PBteen, and supplemental rentals were by AFR Event Furnishings and Town & Country Event Rentals.
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories

For the opening keynote session on Saturday, 17-year-old actress and activist Yara Shahidi interviewed Hillary Clinton. Clinton repeatedly emphasized the importance of getting young people to vote in the 2018 midterm elections. “We are facing a concerted effort to turn back progress. … This is not some abstract civic engagement. This is a burning house,” she said. “The fire’s not that big yet and there still is a lot of time to put it out. It will only be put out by people standing up, claiming their rights and their values again—and getting out to vote.”
Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Teen Vogue

Near the main stage, a step-and-repeat evoked buttons with phrases such as "Women's rights are human rights" and "Love wins."
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories

Erica Boeke, the vice president of experiences for 23 Stories, said it was important to Teen Vogue to find like-minded, socially conscious sponsors, and to integrate them in a way that felt natural. The result was various stations set up throughout the event’s main walkway, marked “Style,” “Create,” “Read Up,” “Play,” and more. Each area had activities and merchandise from sponsors including Facebook Messenger, LifeWtr, Juicy Couture, and more.
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories

PBteen created comfortable seating vignettes for themed conversations and mentoring sessions. Areas were dubbed "Innovator Lounge," "Activist Lounge," "Woke Lounge," and more.
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories

Sponsor Urban Outfitters teamed up with Teen Vogue editors to create a series of empowering tote bags, shirts, hoodies, and buttons. The products were adorned with phrases such as "Resist the Gaslight" and "This is what a Teen Vogue reader looks like."
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories

On-theme buttons were also available at several places throughout the event, providing a fun—and social-media-friendly—keepsake of the day.
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories

Attendees could add the buttons to their name tags, which were adorned with the hashtag #Goals.
Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Teen Vogue

Several photo ops throughout the summit reinforced the event's vibe of activism—and encouraged social-media sharing.
Photo: Claire Hoffman/BizBash

Playstation hosted a gaming lounge to promote the “Girls Make Games” initiative, a series of international summer camps and workshops designed to inspire the next generation of game designers and creators.
Photo: Andrew Noel for Teen Vogue/23 Stories

Sponsor Facebook Messenger created a wall where attendees could "send a message that matters" by leaving notes of encouragement and love.
Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Teen Vogue

The indoor space—dubbed the “Goddess Stage”—was designed to have a gothic, edgy vibe, with white columns, candelabras, and colorful lighting and signage.
Photo: Prince Chenoa & Jacob Dekat/Galore

Various step-and-repeats throughout the theater created girly photo ops for attendees such as Skai Jackson (pictured). Other backdrops included a pink fuzzy wall.
Photo: Prince Chenoa & Jacob Dekat/Galore

Another popular photo op aimed to make attendees (such as Justine Skye, pictured) feel like queens for the day. The area featured a throne and a tiger, with a colorful backdrop that listed sponsor names. In another section of the theater, artist Cloe Hakakian live-painted a mural of a unicorn with wings inspired by sponsor Lime Crime. Once she was finished, guests could pose in front of the mural.
Photo: Prince Chenoa & Jacob Dekat/Galore

In one of the day's most popular panels, fashion powerhouse Kimora Lee Simmons and her daughters, Ming and Aoki, discussed the importance of women supporting other women.
Photo: Prince Chenoa & Jacob Dekat/Galore

In the rooftop space—dubbed the “Queen Stage”—sponsor Nasty Gal surprised attendees with a massive pizza from Big Mama's & Papa's Pizza that spelled the words “Girl Cult” in pepperoni.
Photo: Prince Chenoa & Jacob Dekat/Galore

The rooftop space was designed to feel like a hip outdoor music festival, with green Astroturf, a pink backdrop, and gold mannequins.
Photo: Prince Chenoa & Jacob Dekat/Galore

At the end of the day, keynote speaker Tyra Banks shared how she has overcome adversity and built a successful business, and discussed ways to deal with the country’s racial tensions.
Photo: Prince Chenoa & Jacob Dekat/Galore

Merchandise sold at the event included colorful, on-trend sunglasses.
Photo: Prince Chenoa & Jacob Dekat/Galore

“These girls are all connected on their mobiles,” noted Dekat, explaining that events need to be designed with that in mind. The Girl Cult festival drew a diverse crowd of almost 1,500 people to the Fonda Theatre.
Photo: Prince Chenoa & Jacob Dekat/Galore

One of the most popular photo boxes was a three-sided floral wall.
Photo: Courtesy of AGENC