Shutting Down a Street for a Runway with Aimon Ali

We sat down with Aimon Ali, a fashion entrepreneur and founder of Fashion Talks, to talk about what it actually looks like to build a fashion scene in Cleveland.She went from producing shows in Toronto to moving to Cleveland with no network—and starting Fashion Talks to create the kind of creative community she felt was missing. Now, she’s preparing to shut down a city street for her biggest runway yet this summer.We get into her first show, the chaos behind the scenes, the moments she almost broke, and how she turned an idea into a full creative ecosystem. We also talk about staying vs leaving, identity, and what it takes to build something when no one really understands it yet.If you’re building something and figuring it out as you go—this one’s for you.