THINK BIG, THEN THINK BIGGER

WORDS and PHOTO Joshua Brosnahan

The passions of business women Kelly Morison and Suzanne Carson have come together to form a fresh new event for Canterbury: Imagine Fashion.

The inaugural fashion event is a full-scale immersive experience with food, music, fashion and a chance to support charity.

Kelly and Suzanne met through their respective businesses – NZ Models and Talent, and Event Professionals.

The event concept came to Kelly while she was working on national events, such as New Zealand Fashion Week and I.D in Dunedin.

“I just thought, ‘we need something big like this in Christchurch’. I’m one of those people that say if you can think big, then think bigger. I guess it was a pretty stratospheric idea.”

Suzanne says she immediately clicked with what Kelly was trying to do.

“This event shows us what Kiwis are doing at a world-class level.”

The two are obviously a great team, laughing, sharing excited smiles and finishing each other’s sentences.

“Between us, we reach this happy medium,” says Suzanne.

Kelly adds, “We balance each other out. I go as big as possible, and Suzanne pulls me back down to earth.”

The event starts with an emerging designer showcase, followed by a black tie gala with a unique layout where everyone will enjoy a view of multiple runways. There’s a push for ambience and sophistication that will be a taste of future events.

A charity auction for Christchurch City Mission reveals a philanthropic side to the duo. City Mission has an “enormous need for support,” says Kelly.

Suzanne describes the event as “trying to turn the light on for Christchurch fashion”.

“We’re excited about the feedback from the industry and we hope that people will want to come along. We’ve put our heart and soul into this,” she says.

“You’re not attending a fashion show where you’ll just sit and watch pretty people walk past you. We want people to come away from this thinking, ‘well, I can’t wait to see what they come up with next year’”.