A new clothing line designed by Iowa State University fashion students is helping children with cancer feel special.Amy and Nick Nesbitt’s 4-year-old daughter Aila received her cancer diagnosis in 2018. “It just makes you sick watching (chemotherapy) going into their body, but at the same time you're knowing that that's also killing the cancer cells,” Amy Nesbitt said.The family said Aila’s long hospital stays and constant treatments often left her hooked up to wires for hours. “She had the cord coming out of the top of the shirt and would roll over, and it would get tagged, and she would pull on her port and feel that and it would cause some pain and get stuck on things,” Nick Nesbitt said.Amy Nesbitt, a graduate of ISU’s fashion program, recruited the students to design dresses that accommodate for the ports and wires commonly used during cancer treatments.Aila visited the class to share her story and help pick out fabrics. ISU fashion professor Dr. Ellen McKinney called the project a true labor of love.“To be comfortable, to be wearing something that she feels happy wearing, I think is much more meaningful than just a normal class project,” McKinney said. “All the students know, ‘I am doing something to help this little girl.’”Aila is proud to wear the new designs. Her family said they hope to help other children tackle cancer treatments with confidence.“This was a good way to make them feel inclusive in a good way,” Nick Nesbitt said. “This was something special created just for them.”The Nesbitt family said they hope to expand the clothing line and make the products available for children and adults diagnosed with cancer.

A new clothing line designed by Iowa State University fashion students is helping children with cancer feel special.

Amy and Nick Nesbitt’s 4-year-old daughter Aila received her cancer diagnosis in 2018.


“It just makes you sick watching (chemotherapy) going into their body, but at the same time you're knowing that that's also killing the cancer cells,” Amy Nesbitt said.

The family said Aila’s long hospital stays and constant treatments often left her hooked up to wires for hours.

“She had the cord coming out of the top of the shirt and would roll over, and it would get tagged, and she would pull on her port and feel that and it would cause some pain and get stuck on things,” Nick Nesbitt said.

Amy Nesbitt, a graduate of ISU’s fashion program, recruited the students to design dresses that accommodate for the ports and wires commonly used during cancer treatments.

Aila visited the class to share her story and help pick out fabrics.

ISU fashion professor Dr. Ellen McKinney called the project a true labor of love.

“To be comfortable, to be wearing something that she feels happy wearing, I think is much more meaningful than just a normal class project,” McKinney said. “All the students know, ‘I am doing something to help this little girl.’”

Aila is proud to wear the new designs. Her family said they hope to help other children tackle cancer treatments with confidence.

“This was a good way to make them feel inclusive in a good way,” Nick Nesbitt said. “This was something special created just for them.”

The Nesbitt family said they hope to expand the clothing line and make the products available for children and adults diagnosed with cancer.