Urban Car Parks as Fashion Event Venue: A Reflection Study of London Fashion Week 2016 in London Brewer Car Park

Words: 6000
Urban Car Parks as Fashion Event Venue: A Reflection Study of London Fashion
Week 2016 in London Brewer Car Park
Event Management
Name
Date
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Table of Contents
1 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 4
1.1 Introduction 4
1.2 Area of Study 4
1.3 Research Philosophy 5
1.4 Research Design 7
1.5 Research Approach 8
1.6 Research Strategy 9
1.7 Methods of Data Collection 10
1.7.1 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria 11
1.7.2 Search Engines 13
1.8 Methods of Data Analysis 13
1.9 Ethical Concerns 14
1.10 Chapter Summary 14
2 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 16
2.1 Introduction 16
2.2 Empirical Findings 16
2.2.1 Performance of London Brewer Street Car Park on Fashion Event Management 18
2.2.2 Ways through Which, BFC Archive its Aims and Venue Influenced LFW 19
2.2.3 Essential Principles of Venue Selections for Fashion Events 20
2.3 Analysis and Discussion 21
2.3.1 Research Question 1: To evaluate the performance of London Brewer Street Car Park on its overall
fashion event management as a newfangled venue for LFW 2016 21
2.3.2 Research Question 2: How British Fashion Councils archive its aims by the choices of venues and how the
venues influence LFW 24
2.3.3 Research Question 3: To analysis the essential principles of venue selections for fashion events 26
2.4 Chapter Summary 29
3 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 31
3.1 Conclusion 31
3.2 Limitations and Recommendations 33
4 REFERENCES 34
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1 Chapter Three: Methodology
1.1 Introduction
The research methodology in a study majorly defines key methods to carry out an
investigation in the desired field (Pérez, 2009). In other words, it informs readers that
how the research is proceeded using the wealth of human knowledge (developed by
researchers critically) as well as different tools to look at life objectively). Commendably,
research methodology is considered a way to systematically resolve different research
problems with the help of logically adopted steps (Creswell, 2013). Thereof, this chapter
has been devised for the current study that relies on specific research problem regarding
the performance of different venues on fashion event management by analysing the case
of London Fashion Week 2016 in London Brewer Street Car Park. In this chapter, some
specific aspects have been discussed including the area of study, research design, research
philosophy, approach, methods or instrument for data collection and analysis, and ethical
concerns. To organise this chapter, Honeycomb Model (2012) and Onion Research
Model (2014) of methodology have been followed that help in providing a structure to
the methods along with various available options/alternatives and selection criteria
supported by justification.
1.2 Area of Study
In order to select the best possible methods or techniques and design an appropriate
research methodology, it is imperative to consider the nature of the research (Sekaran,
2006). It is only possible if the problem is defined; thus, in this context, the prime step
undertaken in the identified research is to select the topic “Urban Car Parks as Fashion
Event Venue: A Reflection Study of London Fashion Week 2016 in London Brewer Car
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Park”. After the defining topic and approval, the problem statement was defined that
eventually showed the nature of the topic and strategies to access the relevant
information.
1.3 Research Philosophy
In view of fewer researchers (Pather & Remenyi, 2005), research philosophy is one of the
most important steps of methodology that reflects the whole pattern of the discussion at
later stages. Therefore, researchers are concerned to select the most appropriate
philosophy. Academically, a research can be carried out using three different types of
philosophies, named as positivism, realism, and interpretivism (Marshall & Rossman,
2014). Positivism philosophy is mainly supported for the discussion of those studies that
are objective in nature, which is observed from the title. This is because, in this
philosophy, research hypotheses are verified (Pather & Remenyi, 2005). Therefore,
positivism philosophy is highly usable as well as applicable due to the inclusion of
common characteristics acquiring by objective data. On the other hand, subjective
nature-based studies with research questions cannot be accomplished successfully using
positivism because of the quantitative measures that reduce reliability (Saunders, 2011).
In this situation, realism philosophy is effectively employed to fulfil the requirement of a
qualitative investigation (Saunders, 2011). Some scholars (Dobson, 2001; McEvoy
&Richards, 2006) projected that realism philosophy can also be effective for objective
studies similar to subjective because it mainly focuses on the addition of realities that can
be used for any data. Thus, realism philosophy is relatively more applied to the
investigations in comparison of positivism. Despite these strengths, Smith (2006) argued
that realism is considered a weak philosophy in terms of time-consumption, while this is
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the main factor that often affects project completion process and becomes a limitation for
researchers.
In consequences, the studies required to be completed in a specific time favours the
interpretivism philosophy. Interpretivism philosophy is applicable for all types of
(subjective and objective) studies since it only allows researchers to interpret the existing
or new findings along with supporting evidence at the minimum time (Leitch et al.,
2010). The major reason behind time-effectiveness is that interpretivism philosophy relies
on the researchers’ personal experience and knowledge to analyse the data. Although it
may bring biased data issues but can be avoided by using references from other scholars
(Smith, 2006).
Since the current study is subjective in nature, which is found from the title that purely
follows a case of London Fashion Week 2016 in London Brewer Car Park; thereof, in
accordance with the above analysis, positivism philosophy could not be applied to this
research. By evaluating the strengths as well as weaknesses of remaining two
philosophies (realism and interpretivism), it was found that time remained the major
concern for completing the project; thus, interpretivism philosophy has been chosen. This
philosophy selection ensured the high reliability of the results for the topic in
consideration.
1.4 Research Design
According to the Honeycomb Model (2014), before conducting a study, all the
researchers are initially questioned to select the research design that provides a base to the
data. By following Honeycomb Model (2014) of methodology, is has been found that the
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most usable research designs are Action, Archival, Experimental and/or Survey design,
Longitudinal and Cross-sectional, and Case study. Action research design is applied when
there is a need of empirical inquiry, which is often required for contemporary issues of
the real world. Conversely, this design is not valid for the old phenomenon that needs
previous realities rather novel information.
Similar to this, archival research design relies on consists of the inclusion of primary
information that is held in documents, records, archives, manuscripts, and library. Despite
covering all kinds of issues, this is a weak design to bring biased data (Gilliland &
McKemmish, 2004). Therefore, most of the researchers often prefer experimental design
for objective studies that involve participants to collect first-hand data for unbiased
information (Fowler Jr, 2013) while it is a time-consuming process by virtue of using
primary tools like questionnaire or interviews.
Several studies require data for specific periods. In this case, longitudinal and
cross-sectional designs are embraced that either uses relevant data repeatedly over
different time zones or a point time, respectively (Creswell, 2013). Although these
designs fit to complete a project consists of desired data, the time management is
considered the major weaknesses of these designs (Gooney, 2014).
Another type of research design is a case study in which specific cases are integrated to
analyse the phenomenon (Runeson & Höst, 2009). However, its disadvantage is the
dependency of results on the analysed case while the situation can be indifferent to other
cases (Saunders & Tosey, 2012; Creswell, 2013). For the current research, a number of
designs could be expected as the best options, including longitudinal and cross-sectional
designs and case study. Conversely, depending on the advantages and disadvantages, the
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case study design was embraced as the best fit. In addition to this, it best served to answer
the research questions by reducing the limitation of reliable as well as a valid publication
to the productive outcomes.
1.5 Research Approach
A related publication on the research methodology subject (McEvoy & Richards, 2006)
revealed that the most important layer of the Onion Research Model is a selection of
approach, which develops advanced reasoning, which confirms the nature (empirical,
conceptual/theoretical) of the data and/or evidence. Judith (2012) projected that
quantitative (deductive), qualitative (inductive), and mixed methods are the three
common types of approaches that are used for different pieces of the investigation.
According to Blumberg et al. (2011), a quantitative approach is preferred by researchers
when the numeric and/or objective data is needed for the provision of empirical evidence
or verification of the hypothesis. Albeit, quantitative research increases authenticity;
contrarily, this is not a feasible approach for the studies need non-numeric data to answer
the research questions.
For subjective nature investigations, qualitative (inductive) approach is applied in which
past publications are used to integrates non-numeric data. The qualitative approach also
allows obtaining data from primary sources like focused group discussion and in-depth
interviews depending on the time and requirements (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009). With
the help of qualitative approach, researchers are enabled to increase the reliability of the
findings whilst its weakness of lack of accuracy can be inescapable while choosing it to
conduct a research (Dubois & Gadde, 2002).
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In many cases, a situation arises when researchers feel to develop a study, which
maintains authenticity and reliability simultaneously. For this purpose, a mixed method
approach is used that encompasses both numeric and non-numeric data for analysis.
However, this approach is only adopted when there is no time restriction because of
different types of data collection (Arora & Stoner, 2009). Focusing on the area of study,
the current study employs a qualitative research because there is a need of using
subjective data to answer the research question and render reliable outcomes, as it is
associated with the frameworks imposed by previous researchers.
1.6 Research Strategy
In accordance with Chava & Nachmias (2007), research strategy defines what patter is
used throughout the investigation to keep the nature of the study as it is. Some general
forms of strategies in a research are exploratory, explanatory and descriptive. Creswell
(2013) posited that exploratory strategy confirms the exploration of past publications to
meet the research aim. By adopting this strategy, it becomes easy to collect data from past
publications, save time and reduce cost, which is often seen in the case of primary data
collection. On the contrary, the exploratory strategy is not effective if the novel
information is required, which favours an explanatory strategy. This strategy helps in
dealing with contemporary issues in which no research is conducted by other researchers
(Creswell & Clark, 2007). Still, it is avoided for most of the studies due to the drawback
of lack of reliability (that often comes from the past literature) and avoidance of realities.
To maintain reliability, researchers also sometimes move towards descriptive strategy
(Lambert & Lambert, 2012), which is an approach towards comprehensively adding data
without allowing concern of objective or subjective nature throughout the research. On
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the other hand, the premises of the various studies sometimes do not support this strategy,
in which realities with description are not needed (Creswell, 2013). Since the current
research also follows a research aim “to evaluate the overall performance of London
Brewer Street Car Park on its overall fashion event management as a newfangled venue
for LFW 2016” in which literature is considered important with theoretical models as
supporting evidence rather unnecessary description; thus, it follows an exploratory
research strategy irrespective of different complexities (mentioned earlier).
1.7 Methods of Data Collection
A related work (Creswell, 2013) showed that data collection is the prime step to gather
relevant data and the entire results depend on it. Therefore, it is essential to choose the
most appropriate methods of data collection (Kumar & Phrommathed, 2005). In order to
collect data, two different sources can be used called primary and secondary sources.
Creswell (2013) stated that the primary form of data collection is the best method to
gather first-hand information with the help of participants (Wood et al., 2008). The
primary source consists of numerous tools to accumulate data including close-ended and
open-ended questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussion, observations and in-depth
interviews.
On the contrary, secondary sources assist in collecting pre-existing data through specific
tools like books or e-books, reports, articles, organisation annual reports, websites and
other publicity material published on the related field or topic (Matthews & Ross, 2014).
The secondary data maintains high quality compared to the primary that contains
differentiation of sample design, which offers a precise data. Depending on the nature of
the identified study and feasibility of researchers, secondary sources have been used as a
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primary tool to incorporate the findings (theories and concepts) of different scholars
because of offering the richest and detailed vein of data in the concerned area. The
decision to use secondary information was also made by researcher following preliminary
research focus on seeking sufficient data on the subject while it could be a complex task
to fully examine the hardware as well as equipment of London Brewer Street Car Park
through primary sources.
1.7.1 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
It was considered a difficult process for the researchers to select relevant publications on
the field, as certain difficulties (in terms of years, topics and languages) were experienced
while searching for the data. Consequently, the inclusion and exclusion criteria were set,
which helps in obtaining the most reliable information during a qualitative study (Maree,
2007).
Table 1: Inclusion Criteria for the Data Collection from Secondary Sources
S. No Inclusion Factors Rationale
Researches published within the past
decade (2007-2017) have been
selected
These studies would be beneficial to allow
use the most recent trends in the relevant
field and to make the study a sample for
future researchers to further investigate
Publications in the English
Language
This is necessary to save time to convert
the text from any other language to
English, which is an international
language and understand by most of the
people
Table 2: Exclusion Criteria for the Data Collection from Secondary Sources
S. No Exclusion Factors Rationale
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Non-published studies are not
selected
These publications may lessen the
reliability of the data
Researches published before 2007
are avoided
in the recent time huge advancement has
been seen in the fashion event
management sector, which is absent in the
old reports
1.7.2 Search Engines
Due to the use of secondary sources to gather information, it becomes important to select
the best search engines to obtain studies shortly (Kothari, 2004). Thereof, the present
research utilises both electronic and hand search engines to collect authentic information.
With this aim, some specific databases have been used such as Google Scholars and
Library. Due to the paucity of the previous investigation on the topic in the past few
years, 9 publications (online newspaper, websites and reports) are considered only. In
order to search the studies, different keywords or combinations of words were used such
as Urban Car Parks, Fashion Event Venue, the case of London Fashion Week 2016, and
London Brewer Car Park as event management.
1.8 Methods of Data Analysis
De Wever et al. (2006) ascertained data analysis enormously significant for a research by
virtue of revealing overall outcome using specific methods. The key methods used for
data analysis different for both qualitative and qualitative studies. For instance, a
quantitative study can be analysed through software-based tools such as SPSS, E-views,
Stata and Excel (Creswell, 2013; Vaismoradi et al., 2013). Contrarily, qualitative studies
are analysed through some other methods including content analysis, thematic analysis
and descriptive analysis (Guest et al., 2011). Although all the methods to analyse
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qualitative studies are reliable but the time consumption in thematic and descriptive
analyses are relatively more because of developing either theme or describing each and
every fact (Joffe, 2012). In a comparison of these, content analysis is relatively
time-effective because it directly discusses the major findings with supporting evidence
(presented in literature) (Tuckett, 2005; Vaismoradi et al., 2013). Considering this
advantage, the content analysis method has been chosen for the data assessment in the
current study.
1.9 Ethical Concerns
During a research project, several ethical issues are experienced that should be tackled
effectively (Bowen, 2005). Similarly, the current research also could be affected by such
concerns that were handled successfully on time. For instance, due to the use of
secondary sources, there was a prime concern of keeping objectivity and integrity for
results reporting by assuring that the outcomes are not manipulated. This surety is also
substantial for the qualitative research because of the lack of authenticity of results
(Ritchie et al., 2013). For this purpose, all kinds of data from the past publications were
analysed. Moreover, it was expected that the biased data issue would be raised in later
stages during the discussion. In order to avoid this issue, all the aspects of crediting the
authors (whose publications were used) were included such as reference cited where
necessary. This also proved an anti-plagiarism approach at the end of the project since all
the references were cited after completely paraphrasing the data obtained from others’
findings.
1.10 Chapter Summary
The methodology chapter highlights that the current study followed interpretivism
philosophy, case study design, qualitative approach, exploratory strategy, secondary
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sources as data collection methods and content analysis for analysis of the information.
The selection of these methods has been done on the basis of justifications or advantages
and disadvantages by following the Honeycomb Model and Onion Research Model of
methodology. The chapter further illustrates that due to the qualitative nature of the study,
different ethical concerns (regarding objectivity, biased and plagiarised data) could hinder
the investigation process; thus, certain actions were followed like extracting all kinds of
data from publications and cited references.
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2 Chapter Four: Findings and Discussion
2.1 Introduction
According to Merriam (2002), findings and discussion chapter in an investigative piece of
work is pivotal to not only for providing key results of the study but also to interpreting
as well as describing the importance of the generated outcomes in the light of past
literature (theories and concepts that are already known about the research problem). The
major purpose of devising this chapter is to develop new insights related to the problem
statement by considering findings of the research along with supporting evidence (Berg
et al., 2004). Thereof, this section has been designed, as the chapter (devised for the
current research) presents key findings based on the secondary data and qualitative
analysis. Equally, the chapter discusses the research questions posed in the theoretical
and/or conceptual framework (analysed in the literature review section).
2.2 Empirical Findings
In this section, the primary findings have been generated entirely in a subjective manner.
As discussed above that the secondary sources remained the prime factor of gathering
information; thus, certain sources have been focussed in the study. However, due to the
lack of research in the subject matter, only websites and reports have been selected as the
primary source of data collection. The selected websites as well as reports for primary
data are:
● A report published by British Fashion Council in 2016, “Innovation to Tender
London Fashion Week February 2016”
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● A report published by British Fashion Council in 2017, Organiser – British Fashion
Council-BFC”
● A publication of BT in 2016, “London Fashion Week’s Car Park Venue Raises Safety
Concerns As One Girl Is Almost Run Over By A truck”
● A publication of Hudson in 2015, London Fashion Week Moves to Car Park Event
Space
● A research of LFW in 2015, Designer Showrooms At LFW”
● A publication of LFW 2016, Designer Showrooms At London Fashion September
2016
● A research of Lishman in 2017, “Story”
● A report of Orr in 2015, “London Fashion Week is Packing its Trunks and Moving to
a Car Park of all Places, but Brewer Street NCP is an Ideal Place to Showcase Top
Gear
● A Telegraph newspaper 2015, “London Fashion Week Investigated b Council as Car
Park Opening Causes Mayhem
Although, the content of the publications (chosen for the research and presented earlier)
less expressed the concerns regarding deep understanding of the event management;
conversely, there was strong information in the context of reasons behind selecting
Brewer Street Car Park as a fashion week venue by the choice of British Fashion Council
(as presented below):
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2.2.1 Performance of London Brewer Street Car Park on Fashion Event
Management
Many primary findings of the current study (LFW, 2015; LFW, 2016; BFC, 2016)
mirrored the concept of Potter (2015) regarding the car parks as venues for different
social events and land space provide. Fundamentally, empirical findings of the selected
publications (LFW, 2015; LFW, 2016) depicted that new designers have been
increasingly satisfied after being a part of Long Fashion Week 2016 at the Brewer Street
Car Park due to the best features of the venue. The direction of using this car park
provided by David Collins Studio and confirmed by British Fashion Council provided a
biggest open space layout (around 1,600 square metres) to allow everyone a free place for
increasing awareness of fashion.
At the same time, the performance of this new angled venue on fashion event
management for LFW 2016 remained satisfactory due to the showcase of designers'
collection on the height (second-floor showroom), which contributed to attracting every
visitor towards the products. In accordance with the primary evidence(LFW, 2015; LFW,
2016) , London Brewer Street Car Park venue has been favoured by most of the people
by virtue of the presence of the pop up restaurant and Hix Café that were expected to
serve unique and fascinating menu (including deli classics, almond and coconut yogurts,
LAVAZZA coffee, and healthy salads) exclusively designed for the Fashion Week.
Empirical outcomes obtained from a secondary source (The Telegraph, 2015) depicted,
this venue is the centre of the region and at walking distance of many stores; thus,
everyone can access easily; thus, it offers freedom as well as flexibility both designers
and visitors for aesthetic fashion display. On the contrary, this urban nature of venue for
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the discussed event shows a side-by-side weak amalgam of the Studio and British fashion
council due to the safety concern. As the results (BT, 2016) revealed that this new home
for the London Fashion Week is an open place where there is a high traffic that is
dangerous for large crowds. This concern further rose as a serious issue when a girl fell
during the Fashion Week at the busy road nearby the traffic (truck).
2.2.2 Ways through Which, BFC Archive its Aims and Venue Influenced LFW
According to the primary findings (The Telegraph, 2015), British Fashion Council
selected the Brewer Street Car Park as the key venue for London Fashion Week 2016
after finding that it ticks to all boxes. For instance, it had big space to visitors, easy access
to the location via road walks, spaces for guest registration, buyers and sponsors
(separately), areas for photographers and press/media, double storey building for designer
showrooms or collection display and hosting to the world’s most exciting designer
catwalk shows, quality food and services, and cleanliness of the venue or runway (BFC,
2017).
In addition to this, research findings (Hudson, 2015) showed British Fashion Council
further involved in evaluating the transport availability and attractive trends of the venue
(like a stunning Art Deco infrastructural building in the heart of Soho) that favoured its
selection compared to other traditional Somerset House venue. The primary findings
further illustrated the presence of technological advancement like flexible and reliable
EAS's technology for online and offline services when needed to deliver a seamless
service during the event. By ensuring all the factors required for a successful event, BFC
archived its aim and the venue influenced the Fashion Week positively by attracting
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people. In consequence, thousands of visitors, fashion buyers, bloggers and journalists,
media and broadcast crew, and photographers visit each session of LFW (BFC, 2017).
2.2.3 Essential Principles of Venue Selections for Fashion Events
From the primary results of the study (BFC, 2016), it has been found that British Fashion
Council followed specific rules or principles to select the London Brewer Street Car Park
as the venue for the London Fashion Week 2016 rather the other traditional places. Most
of the findings (Orr, 2015; Hudson, 2015) explored, in these principles, the BFC
fundamentally focused on the venue management in terms of smoothly hosting a catwalk,
offering the best platform to designer exhibition, sponsor activations, crowd management,
lighting and technical support production throughout the event, traffic issues, budget
management, digitalisation, and hospitality services.
Another website’ content (Lishman, 2017) reflected that environmental sustainability has
also been a major concept during this event to make it one of the finest fashion event
location or venue in the UK. Indeed, certain principles were ignored by the organisers to
select the venue such as risk management rules and dissemination of important
information to volunteers. In accordance with the with the previously conducted primary
studies (Orr, 2015; BFC, 2017) these reasons causes several complaints (regarding wifi
connection issues, unmanaged traffic flow at night, long queues for authorised guests, and
lack of working on every entrance point) that were faced by responsible authorities or
organisers as biggest challenges for event management in future.
2.3 Analysis and Discussion
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2.3.1 Research Question 1: To evaluate the performance of London Brewer Street
Car Park on its overall fashion event management as a newfangled venue for
LFW 2016
From the empirical findings, it has been observed that most of the scholars and
professionals (LFW, 2015; LFW, 2016; BFC, 2016; BFC, 2017) believed that the London
Brewer Street Car Park performed well in the success of London Fashion Week 2016 and
influenced all the associated stakeholders (visitors, designers, and sponsors) positively.
This is because; successfully this car park place provided a social land to the people to be
aware of new fashion and designers to display their aesthetic art. In this way, the concept
of the social importance of the car park as a venue for different events presented by Potter
(2015) has been verified. At the same time, a great volume of literature (Jansson &
Power, 2010; Cham et al., 2018) supported this as the best fashion-marketing platform for
new designers, which allows them to display their arts in appealing ways. Similarly, this
venue followed a multifaceted approach, which is essential for successful marketing to
reach the customers through choosing the right target groups, competing with
competitors, focusing on a market mix analysis and implementing the relevant plan
(Dickson, 2017).
Primary findings (LFW, 2015; LFW, 2016) also reflected that the major features that
became the causes of venue’ importance (the idea of David Collins Studio and British
Fashion Council) are its open space layout for a large crowd, display of showrooms and
models at height for eye-catching purpose, and food services with innovative and quality
menu. Conceptual findings further illustrate that a successful fashion event encompasses
organised as well as maintained set up in which all the elements to make people feel
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happy and satisfactory are focused like illuminated runway(shown in Figure 1)(Weller,
2007; Entwistle & Rocamora, 2006; Jansson & Power, 2010). This eventually satisfied
the designers and other stakeholders not only after being a part of the Fashion Week but
also before the event held because of the excitement of such a big car park venue.
Figure 1: Illuminated Runway of Brewer Street Car Park for LFW 2016(Entwistle & Rocamora, 2006)
Unfortunately, empirical outcomes showed certain detrimental impacts of the selection of
this urban venue for such a big week, which is evident from the case of a girl fell down
on the wet road, which was cleaned for the event and that could be dangerous due to the
busy traffic way and heavy vehicles to this car park (The Telegraph, 2015). In addition to
this, secondary findings of the research to some extent also reflect the certain weak
performance of the venue for the discussed event. As Skov (2006) argued, for a
successful fashion show, it is important to select the events venues that offer several
opportunities like cultural intermediaries in terms of different activities and programs to
socially interact as well as exchange ideas rather interacting on dinners and runways.
Another argument was developed by Storper & Venables (2004) who stated that the
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successive event always brings creative situations and/or a local buzz through which the
regional developments as well as innovations are seen while in the case of such kinds of
changes are unseen. Thus, the identified fashion event in London only generated localised
knowledge amongst communities rather fostering the innovation culture.
Despite such arguments or contradictory statements, depending on the past literature
(Rinallo et al., 2010) the effective performance of the venue is proven. This is because it
helped in making the London Fashion Week 2016 as the significant nodal point in the
worldwide fashion industry to bring actors and people across the value chain together at
the by providing avenues for fashions and styles broadcasting and sales orders bookings.
This aspect is evidently proven by the theory of catwalk politics (2013), which ascertains
that the prime aim of such kinds of fashion and/or trade shows is to be noticed by the
general media and public. Moreover, the discussed theory favoured the mental presence
of people in an event rather only their physical attendance, where the other factors (props,
equipments and infrastructure) are just some parts of the fashion (Bruzzi & Gibson,
2013), which have been clearly and visibly observed in this London fashion Week 2016
held in Brewer Street Car Park venue. In brief, it implies that despite some uncertain and
unfortunate incidents, the results are more positive towards the satisfactory performance
of London Brewer Street Car Park on its overall fashion event management as a
newfangled venue for LFW 2016 since it has been a centre heart where everyone easily
reaches without any hurdle.
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2.3.2 Research Question 2: How British Fashion Councils archive its aims by the
choices of venues and how the venues influence LFW
As per (Chaturvedi, 2009) organising an event has always been observed to be a daunting
task that even for professionals becomes difficult. Event managers and brand owners are
guided for a different range of technical and creative responsibilities that depend on the
theme and venue of the event. These often assist managers in the development of the
venue management plans, as it is the first step in event management. It has been observed
from the results that the aims of the British Fashion Council (BFC) were achieved when
they selected London Street Car Park as a venue for London Fashion Week (LFW) 2016.
The location of a fashion event as per Mahoney, Esckilsen, Jeralds, & Camp (2015),
many variables are considered such as the availability of a facility to accommodate the
event, transportation to the desired venue, and accommodation is available for all. In
addition, venue planning and management also demand the organisers to have
accommodation within the area in order to have no issues.
Besides this, other auxiliary services like parking should also be availed and secured such
as lighting, surveillance, drug use policies, noise pollution control, first aid, and sanitation
are also crucial to watch during management of a venue (Damster &Tassiopoulos, 2005).
This is because few of the fashion events attract audiences from around the world based
on the magnitude and the variety of services being offered. This was evident in the case
of the British Fashion Council (BFC) event in which the venue along with the facilities of
transport availability, attractive infrastructure (stunning Art Deco building in the heart of
Soho), and technological advancement (online and offline EAS’s technology) delivered a
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unified service to the event in contrast to the traditional Somerset House venues. This
resulted in the ultimate impact of the overall event and importance of the venue.
It has been observed from the literature of the handbook on events management as well
that event management is mainly the classification of the event into leisure, personal,
organizational or cultural aspects include the comprehension of the nature of the event
(Bowdin et al., 2012). As per (Bowdin et al., 2012) the guiding principles of the event
management also focus on the importance of the venue, given its benefits. It was
observed that the LFW has a great influence on the venue as it helped in the obtaining
sponsors, buyers attracted visitors, and designers. With the provision of big space to
visitors, easy access to the location, and spaces for guest registration, areas for
photographers and press and media, double storey building for designer
showrooms/collection display, quality food and services, and cleanliness of the venue or
runway, the event was a big hit (BFC, 2017).
Besides this, certain arguments and contradictions were also observed in the case of
Brewer Street Car Park as prime venue for the fashion week in London. For instance, a
great volume of literature (Laing et al., 2014) showed that runway management is the
major responsible of event management team to lessen the chances of incidences as well
as representing their humble efforts towards activities. Although it is a challenging
situation while arranging an event to a large audience but it is possible with some
effective actions to bring people closer to the fashion and culture. For instance, the
large-scale spaces are needed to be changed into the exceptionally clean and long
catwalks and/or into the additional front rows to give space to the audience to make it an
international calibre show (Laing et al., 2014). Outrageously, this kind of runway
23

management is not heard and even seen during the London Fashion week 2016 at Brewer
Street Car Park despite its original second floor that was used as a key runway to the
models rather big changes.
2.3.3 Research Question 3: To analysis the essential principles of venue selections
for fashion events
From the results, it was evident that British Fashion Council (BFC) followed different
essential principles of venue (London Brewer Street Car Park) selections in order to have
its fashion event. These essential principles ranged from the venue management to the
provision of smooth hosted catwalk, with best platform to designer exhibition, crowd
management, sponsor activations, lighting and technical support production, traffic issues
management, budget management, digitalisation, and hospitality services. This is evident
from the literature as well, which indicates that a successful event is attributed by the
event venue (Rogers & Davidson, 2015).
The process of selection in the venue setting is imperative and is featured always as the
key criteria. It is imperative that the venue is being set based on the location hierarchy
(Rogers & Davidson, 2015) that includes different aspects focused by the British Fashion
Council (BFC). In addition, it is evident from the results as well as from the literature that
events and venues attain hallmark linkages. This increases the element of the specialists
venue that are idea for the issue of period of time the venue is identified with the event
such as in the case of British Fashion Council (BFC). Furthermore, it was also observed
that another element focused by the British Fashion Council (BFC) is the Environmental
sustainability. Although the brand extension seemed less in this Brewer Street Car Park in
London that could affect the fashion week but, it provided a new direction to the audience
24

to enjoy on such places. As festivals and fashion and other events staged in streets are
often considered as the best examples of urban public spaces to enable people to interact
more socially and culturally (Goldstein et al., 2012).
In contrast, a number of professionals and scholars debated on the rules ignored by the
event organiser and management teams while arranging the London Fashion Week 2016
in the Brewer Street Car Park. For instance, the primary as well as secondary findings
reflected several elements such as the risk management rules and dissemination of
important information to volunteers were overlooked. The organizer did not focus on the
key aspect of safety and risk management that often increases people’s complaints for the
fashion week. In addition, issues such as Wi-Fi connection issues, unmanaged traffic flow
at night, long queues for authorised guests, and lack of working on every entrance point
were also observed. According to the literature, (Abbott & Geddie, 2000) organiser have
the job of demonstrating a comprehension of keeping the safety and wellbeing of its
participants and audience in mind.
Abbott and Geddie, (2000) explored the events and venue management through a
research, that indicated that managing the crowd effectively greatly minimises a firm’s
liability. The researchers suggest that the plan of a venue management should be focused
on for a stand-alone document. Besides this, germane event planning documentations
should be included for augmenting it. These entail Risk Assessment documents,
Contractor information documents, and Event Health & Safety documentation.
Furthermore, according to the Moreland City Council, (2015), it is imperative that the
risk management is incorporated in the event planning. Organisers are abiding by the law
to ensure the safety of those involved in the event. With this respect, an inspection by the
25

competent risk assessment manager is expected to observe the venue in order to identify
any potential hazards. Thus, responsible bodies ignored some of the rules while selecting
the venue for the London Fashion week 2016 that were essential but most of the
principles were completely followed that hosted influential outcomes.
2.4 Chapter Summary
Depending on the research aim, only those publications were selected that primarily dealt
with the case study of Brewer Street Car Park in London Fashion Week 2016. The
chapter concludes that despite some incidences and management issues, London Brewer
Street Car Park proved the best venue for the London Fashion week 2016, which not only
motivated visitors and/or audience towards other fashion events but also the new
designers and sponsors to being a part of this event but also satisfied them. The
discussion chapter further enabled readers to understand the importance of venue
selection and management process that was to a greater extent seen in the case of London
Fashion Week 2016 due to its venue.
The chapter highlights different aspects of the events conducted by the British Fashion
Council (BFC) that became the key reasons of its archiving the council aim including its
iconic building. At the same time, the LFW influenced audience and associated people
(stakeholders) positively by virtue of various other factors including food quality,
clearing, and central-based location in the city. Albeit, runway management remained a
major aspect of consideration for professionals and event organisers that was seen with
minor changes in its original boundaries but its other elements (as mentioned above)
became the success factor to influence audience, designers and media.
26

The chapter shows that both the positive and negative points of the events were identified
in which the key factors included ranged from the venue management to the provision of
smooth hosted catwalk, with best platform to designer exhibition, crowd management,
sponsor activations, lighting and technical support production, traffic issues management,
budget management, digitalisation, and hospitality services however, the lack of the risk
management aspect. Overall, the findings and discussion chapter (followed by
methodology) revealed that importance of a venue for an event is relatively high to make
it successful, which is evident from the case of Urban Brewer Car Park as Fashion Event
Venue for the London Fashion Week 2016, specifically if certain principles are followed
by the organiser teams. In other words, the Urban Car Parks are always good venues for
fashion trade shows in London.
27

3 Chapter Five: Conclusion and Recommendations
3.1 Conclusion
In the recent time, London Fashion Week 2016 was decided to be organised at a new
venue “Brewer Street Car Park in London” due to its big open space and two-storey
building. Conversely, after the LFW held, many people raised a question regarding its
failure to provide the best services as a solid venue due to the ignorance of British
Fashion Council principles that are followed for this event. Due to the lack of
investigation, this issue has not been cleared yet that whether the event management
failed or satisfied people. Thus, this research has been carried out with the aim of
evaluating the role of events management organisers in the context of London Fashion
Week 2016 in selecting and managing the venue of London Brewer Street Car Park.
To carry out the research, a qualitative method has been embraced to make the research
more reliable. At the same time, secondary sources (websites, reports and newspapers)
have used as a tool for primary data collection, which is further supported by the
literature consists of theoretical and/or conceptual frameworks. The major reason behind
selecting websites, reports and newspaper is the paucity of articles and other publications
in the relevant area of concern. In order to analyse the subjective nature-based data,
content analysis method has been chosen that helps in using prior literature as evidence.
From the findings (both primary as well as secondary), it has been found that the
performance of London Brewer Street Car Park on its overall fashion event management
as a newfangled venue for LFW 2016 has been tremendous that satisfied new designers
to display their arts and visitors to easily reach the venue and enjoy the event. The major
28

factors contributed to this satisfactory result were the easy access to the location,
existence of second floor of the building for the catwalk and showcase the designs, clean
environment, provision of quality food, and best lighting system. Although some
uncertain incidents occur at the road that somehow affected the venue selection closed to
the busy road but all the other elements showed the organizers’ efforts.
From the finding, it is also known that British Fashion Councils archived its aims by
selecting the Brewer Street Car Park as venue to the LFW and it positively influenced the
LFW 2016 due to the presence of technological advancement, spaces for guest
registration, buyers and sponsors, double storey building for designers collection, areas
for photographers and press/media, quality food, transport availability and its iconic
building with stunning Art Deco in the heart of Soho. The results conclude that several
essential principles have been followed to select this venue for the LFW such as the
principle of venue management, crowd management, sponsor activations, lighting and
technical support throughout the event, traffic management, digitalisation, budget
management, hospitality services, and environmental sustainability. However, ignorance
of risk management principles and dissemination of important information to the
volunteers remained key issues that became the cause of complaints. Despite that, the
venue proved the rational decisions of BFC to arrange LFW 2016 event at London
Brewer Street Car Park venue.
3.2 Limitations and Recommendations
29

Despite gathering imperative information regarding the venue and event, the study has
limitations of the published peer-reviewed articles and books or e-books that lessened its
reliability. At the same time, the authenticity of the research lacks due to the use of
secondary data. Although the use of peer-reviewed articles or published books is difficult
because of less investigation but the authentic study can be conducted in future. For this
purpose, researchers are advised to use primary tools of data collection like interviews
and surveys to collect firsthand information and strengthened the empirical evidence.
Equally, the study suggests future researchers to employ a mixed method for such kinds
less investigative topics, as it assists in dealing with biased information and increases the
reliability as well as authenticity simultaneously.
30

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