Heart disease kills one woman every hour, so a group of Canberra women are teaming up to raise funds and spread awareness about the highly preventable disease.

While it's an issue that can affect everyone, the Heart Foundation ACT's Ann Ronning said women are less likely to be diagnosed.

"You talk to any woman who has heart disease or has had a heart event – it's almost the last thing that is checked," she said.

"So they go to their GP or to a wellness centre and something's not right. They're not having the classic chest pains and so they get diagnosed with anxiety or indigestion but then they keep going back and finally they go, 'oh, it's your heart'."

The Heart Foundation ACT has teamed up with local fashion group CARDIF Collective to host a high tea and fashion parade on June 17 at the National Gallery of Australia.

Chris Lloyd and her husband David Traylen started CARDIF Collective in December 2015 at the Cusack Centre in Kingston, and the not-for-profit provided space and support to local fashion designers, including studios, equipment and a retail store.

Lloyd said getting involved in the event was a no-brainer, with her nephew and both parents living with heart conditions.

"With my mum most particularly – [she was in a] minor car accident and she thought that the pains in her chest were from the seatbelt. And typical women, you just get too busy to really investigate what the problem is, she thought it was just ribs or something like that," she said.

"But it turned out she had a long term arrhythmia in her heart and she had a pacemaker put in. And [she has a] new lease on life. But it could be something more serious."

The event will include talks by Ronning and director of HAUS Models, Andrea Hutchinson, and fashion from local designers including the launch of Lloyd's new collection, Minimum. Canberra designer Yumi Morrissey of Zilpah Tart is also designing a one-off gown featuring imagery of autumn Canberra leaves, which will be modelled by Kristen Henry from Mix106.3.

The fashion high tea is on Friday, June 17 at 1.30pm at the National Gallery of Australia. Tickets available at heartfoundation.org.au/hightea.