'Designing clothes for cancer patients is my daughter's legacy'

When Emily Rhodes was diagnosed with a brain tumour, she struggled to find clothes that were comfortable and easy to wear during treatment.

The 24-year-old model, from York, was buying new outfits every other week as her illness meant she was gaining a lot of weight quickly and her body was very sore.

"We were going to Primark and getting oversized leggings but there was nothing out there that she felt comfortable in," her mum Joanne Nicholson explains.

"When I worked in the NHS, I wore scrubs and thought, why isn't there anything out there for patients that they can put on and then hang up until the next week?"

Emily, who "lit up every room she entered" according to her family, died from cancer in April 2019.

"After she passed, I was not well for about a year," Joanne admits.

"I was really, really struggling with grief and I thought I really need to help other people."

Along with Emily's brother, Matthew Rhodes, Joanne set up EmAble, which is an intelligent fashion brand specialising in accessible clothing.

"When you're going through treatment, you're losing your identity and you're not in control of your life or your body any more," Joanne says.

"Taking a bit of control back is a massive thing especially when you're young and developing as a person.

"Obviously I couldn't help Emily but I wanted to make a clothing line that would assist people going through treatments that you could just throw on, feel really comfortable, go and have your treatments done and then just hang it up for the next time you go."

With this purpose in mind, Joanne wanted to challenge fashion students at York College to do the same.

The brief involved designing a shirt dress with hidden zips, while also making sure the outfits were vibrant and fun.

For fashion student Jenny Ackroyd, the brief was particularly poignant as she had been diagnosed with kidney cancer herself.

Displaying a black and white striped shirt dress with a whimsical red bow, Jenny says the assignment had been "really hard".

"I was actually having treatment while I was making it and what I struggled with was weight loss," the designer adds.

"When you take the belt off, it's quite a relaxed look but the belt was there to help with that."

Her design was the first garment Jenny had ever made, which she never thought she would achieve due to the time she had off.

"In my dress, there's four hidden zips and I used poppers as well for easiness," she explains.

The designer says it has been an honour to work with Joanne and Matthew.

"From the minute I met them I've been like this," she says with tears in her eyes.

"I'm really inspired and it helped me through as well."

Sarah Summers stitched a brightly coloured shirt dress with swirling patterns and included seven invisible zips around the waist, sleeves and chest.

"I was really excited to have such a practical brief and something that was so useful to everyday people," she says.

"One of the things I really took from Joanne and Matthew was that they wanted it to be fun.

"There's adaptive clothing on the market, but things that are fun and people want to wear lift you up on those days that may be a little bit harder."

Sarah's design will work for people having minor operations and those with colostomy bags.

In a room full of designers, no two dresses were the same and students used embroidery, stripes and a giant 3D printed button to create unique outfits.

"I'm out of a job, that's it, I'm gone," Joanne laughs.

"They're all probably going to carry on and take over EmAble by the looks of these.

"Some of the stuff that they've done is unreal, I'm gobsmacked, let's put it that way."

The firm hopes to set up a catwalk to showcase the designs and provide the students with internship opportunities.

"I think this has now given us a purpose to not only give Emily a lasting name but also help other people in similar circumstances, allow them to retain their dignity and control when they've lost everything else," Matthew adds.

"It's been seven years since she passed and there's a point where we didn't know what to do next in life, we couldn't really recover.

"It's given me purpose again after her death."

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