HELEN CODY, FASHION DESIGNER

When Helen Cody was diagnosed with breast cancer over a year ago, her whole world felt like it was falling apart. Aside from the physical side of things, which took a considerable toll, her creativity took a nosedive and she considered giving up fashion for good.” I was completely blank, and thought I’d never have another idea again. My focus and energy was all on keeping well. I thought maybe I should just give it all up and go get a job somewhere.” Added pressure came too from others who suggested she might not be emotionally ready to go back to work for quite a while. “But my husband, Rory, urged me very quietly to hold on to my studio.” His insight and a well-timed trip to Paris – her “spiritual home” – last November helped reignite her creativity. “We walked the streets and went to galleries, and it was wonderful.

The joy of waking up and feeling well, being over the radiation. Being in Paris was like absorbing visual vitamins.” Upon returning, Cody had a fractured thread of an idea – the fragility of human nature. “How could I say that with clothes? That’s where it started. I had a huge sale, got rid of all of my old stock, shed the layers, and I thought, if I were an artist, I would start with a blank canvas. So I got a lot of white fabrics and started working into them. I was articulating how fragile I felt, and this was a new beginning. I have loads of ideas coming up for autumn/ winter, and I’m going to have fun with that. Just like a painter, you start with the blank canvas and then you start colouring it in. I don’t think I’ve ever been more creatively fulfilled, bizarrely. I’m so happy. I’m doing things my way. I’m doing what I want to do, and I’m not compromising.”