JO HAYWOOD talks to two women trying to raise thousands of pounds for charity with the help of Bollywood starlets, Radio 1 DJs and a host of fashionable high street brands

IT WAS supposed to be a small fashion show to get their fledgling business off the ground, but it has evolved into something much, much bigger. Cousins Kohinoor Miah and Shahida Fakir are now expecting 3,000 people at two catwalk shows, plus a further 2,500 at the after-show party, and are hoping to round the evening off nicely by raising up to £25,000 for Cancer Research.

Not bad for one day's work. If only.

"We started talking about this event in 1999," said Kohinoor, 24, of York. "I suppose the work really began in 2000, so October 29 will the culmination of two years work."

Tuesday, October 29 looks set to be a busy day. From 2-4.30pm there will be a fashion show aimed at seven to 17 year olds; from 7-9pm there will be a raunchier catwalk display for adults; and from 10pm until 4am, partygoers will be dancing the night away to top tunes courtesy of Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood.

And he will not be the only big name there: dance kings Rhythm Dhol Bass and Taz, and Bollywood star Shilipa Shetty have also agreed to be part of the show.

"We originally wanted to keep things quite small," said Kohinoor, whose sister owns the fashion shop Muskan in Walmgate, York. "We sent out seven or eight proposals to big names hoping one would come on board. They all said yes, so a small event was suddenly out of the window."

This is the first event the cousins, whose business name is The Elements, have worked on together. But they are not completely inexperienced. Shahida, 22, of Blackpool, organised a charity fashion show when she was at university in Leicester (she is now doing a part-time post-grad in law in Manchester), and Kohinoor studied international marketing at university in Greenwich and spent a year at an events management firm in New York.

She was in her apartment in Brooklyn on September 11 when the terrorists hit the Twin Towers.

"I had some friends staying so I had decided to take the morning off work," she explained. "Another friend phoned and told me a plane had hit the first tower. To be honest I thought it was an unfunny prank.

"When the second plane hit and we could see smoke rising over the city from my balcony, I knew it was true. My friends were in tears, but I couldn't cry. I was too numb; I didn't feel anything. It wasn't really until the first anniversary that it really hit me. It had happened and I was there."

After her year in New York, Kohinoor had planned on travelling round America and Canada. The terrorist atrocity changed her plans and she returned home as soon as she could.

Shahida had been working hard on the fashion show while she was away, but there was still work to be done. Especially when their first choice of venue fell through at the last minute.

"The event was supposed to take place in Blackpool in August," said Shahida. "Three days before, the local authority pulled the plug. They said it was something to do with capacity and numbers, but it was actually because we had So Solid Crew lined up and they just didn't want them in their town. It was ridiculous."

"It was also pretty heartbreaking," said Kohinoor. "People turned up for the dress rehearsal and we had to tell them it wasn't happening. This time we have got everything in writing - in triplicate."

The Blackpool setback could have proved damaging to The Elements professional reputation, but they have managed to rise above it and are now looking forward to their new and improved Bradford show.

High street brands such as House of Fraser and Top Shop are on board; friends, family and complete strangers spotted while out shopping have been brought in to compere and model; the top name acts are in place and the music is set to raise the roof.

"We have called the fashion show Fusion because we believe it brings together the best of both our cultures," said Kohinoor. "East and west music and fashion are different, but they have a heavy influence on each other. We want to highlight those links and make it into a real party."

Organising a party on such a large scale puts pressure on even the closest relationships, but the cousins are confident that their business partnership is rock solid and can survive anything.

"We complement each other," said Shahida. "We work together well because we have different skills and different personalities."

"We clash sometimes, of course," said Kohinoor, "but it is never anything major. We are cousins and we grew up together. It doesn't matter if we argue. We are family and nothing will ever change that."

Fusion Fashion Show in aid of Cancer Research takes place at Pennington's in Manningham Lane, Bradford, on Tuesday October 29. Tickets are available from Muskan in Walmgate, York, or by phoning 01274 224488.

Updated: 08:28 Tuesday, October 22, 2002