#ThrowbackThursday: 10 Steal-Worthy Brand Activation and Set Design Ideas from NYFW

The cast of E!'s NYFW docuseries, The Front Five, chatted about entrepreneurship, body positivity, and social media. The panel—moderator Erin Lim with Halima Aden, Lily Aldridge, Luna Blaise, Kim Shui, and Jason Wu—was presented by Visa and took place at Spring Studios.

Last year, guests recharged from New York Fashion Week at the Nespresso Café inside Spring Studios. Nespresso partnered with Swedish bicycle manufacturer Velosophy to build a bike made from 300 recycled coffee pods. The bike was painted in the same bright purple as Nespresso's "Arpeggio" coffee pod and featured a pod-shaped bell and a cup holder basket. The bike was propped up in front of a moss-covered floral installation and served as a photo op for guests. See more: 19 Sponsor Highlights from New York Fashion Week

In 2015, Givenchy celebrated its first-ever Manhattan flagship with a multisensory experience, orchestrated by artist Marina Abramovic, that was a powerful tribute to New York City on Sept. 11. The riverside setting, on Pier 26 in TriBeCa, allowed for an unobstructed view of the Freedom Tower from every seat. The wooden and scrap metal set was constructed solely of recycled materials with performance artists suspended on platforms against the skyline, as was a monk, whose live chanting set the preshow mood. Produced by Laprod, the event took more than six months to produce and the guest list numbered around 4,000.

Outside the venue of Coach's runway show (a custom-built two-story greenhouse-like space that straddled the park and took two months to build), the brand wrapped a bevy of taxis in its signature prints as both a marketing gimmick and an instant social media photo op. See more: Fashion Week Recap: The Most Inspiring Ideas from the Shows and Events

Clearly still on a high from the New England Patriots' Super Bowl win, Tommy Hilfiger threw the be-all and end-all of fashion-meets-football shows with his Feb. 16 extravaganza at the Park Avenue Armory. Designed by Randall Peacock, the KCD-produced event included a 13,000-square-foot heritage football field boasting two authentic goalposts, turf painting, a scoreboard, and a back wall covered in custom-made crush mats that housed 900 fans (er, editors) seated on steep elevated bleacher-style benches. It took two 12-hour overnight shifts of 14 scenic painters to create the hand-painted graphics on the turf. JKLD Lighting Design provided the Friday Night Lights feel inside the space, and a Jumbotron was installed to build pregame excitement as it was livestreamed worldwide. The entire show was built in four days and removed within seven hours in time for the Marc Jacobs team to load in.

Given that Moncler Grenoble’s fall/winter 2015-2016 show fell on Valentine's Day, the designer fittingly deemed the spectacle a "Love Factory." Moving the show out of Manhattan to the Duggal Greenhouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Villa Eugenie created a macroscopic tongue-in-cheek chocolate box from which models emerged in pairs as couples, kissing during the presentation—much to the audience's delight. Centering the show was a young bride and groom dressed in Moncler-meets-matrimony ensembles. See more: 12 Highlights from New York Fashion Week

To achieve Carolina Herrera’s vision of a futuristic, sculptural forest for her 2014 show, AO Production manipulated the existing confines of the Lincoln Center tent venue in an abstract manner—raising the theater’s floor and extending it over the first two rows of seats. The existing 15-foot-wide runway was widened to 28 feet to achieve a sense of openness. The loss of 200 seats aside, the forest centerpiece, complete with 20 MDF trees painted dark green, were sized eight, 12, and 16 feet tall. Ninety seats sat in the middle of the runway, with the models crisscrossing throughout. The show marked the first time an all-white set, including a white proscenium and all the risers, was incorporated into Herrera’s show.

In 2014, Refinery29 hosted the opening of a three-day pop-up miniature nine-hole golf course—its first wholly owned Fashion Week event—inspired by nine New York designers like Diane von Furstenberg, Alexander Wang, Marc Jacobs, and Proenza Schouler. Produced by BMF Media with an intimate acoustic set by Banks, the interactive event at 82 Mercer in SoHo challenged guests to channel their inner Rory McIlroy—only with each hole sporting a fashionable twist. What You Missed at Fashion Week

Marc Jacobs capped off a snow- and ice-filled 2014 Fashion Week schedule with a palate cleanser of a show evident immediately from the 500 individually hung soft sculpture clouds—hung at two different points and slightly altering heights—encased in stretch-jersey-covered foam. “We played with the idea of having a ceiling or things hanging overhead to give the room a more intimate feeling,” said set designer Stefan Beckman (KCD produced the show). A “spoken soundtrack” featuring Jessica Lange reciting “Happy Days Are Here Again” evoked a mood, “giving it a strangeness under the ominous clouds,” Beckman added. Complementing the clouds at the 69th Regiment Armory were 630 individual circular seats made of cut upholstery foam laid out in a grid over 16 rows across 20,000 square feet. Flooring was felt pad with a carpet underlay. All materials were recycled following the show. Naturally, with overhead obstructions, Beckman noted that lighting was challenging and crucial especially given the overhead cover. “Lighting designer Joe Saint did an amazing job of maintaining the mood we needed but also ensuring the girls looked great and not too dark." 11 Inspiring Set Designs From New York Fashion Week

To introduce her 2013 activewear collection, Betsey Johnson enlisted a troop of models to join her on her fall runway at Lincoln Center for an engaging workout. The show, a precursor to Johnson's workout video that premiered on her reality series, featured models chatting on cell phones strutting down the runway as they lined up on pink yoga mats emblazoned with the show's theme, "BJ Kicks A." Once in place, each model performed an exercise routine using leopard-print tights as stretch bands and champagne bottles as dumbbells. The event was produced by the brand's in-house team alongside LDJ Productions. See more: Fashion Week: 10 Inventive Set Designs From Marc Jacobs, Lacoste, Thom Browne, and More