---
title: "From Fashion Student to Founder: Meet Emilie Delaye"
description: Emilie Delaye transforms personal health challenges into NOVA Medical Wearables, creating stylish accessories that empower those with chronic illnesses.
image: https://horn.udel.edu/hubfs/Canva%20images/Emilie%20Delaye%20Official%20Cover%20Photo.png
---

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#### Horn Entrepreneurship

# [Stories & Updates](https://horn.udel.edu)

## From Fashion Student to Founder: Meet Emilie Delaye

by [Ryan Shore](https://horn.udel.edu/author/ryan-shore) • October 01, 2026

![Emilie Delaye Official Cover Photo](https://horn.udel.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/Canva%20images/Emilie%20Delaye%20Official%20Cover%20Photo.png?width=1200&height=628&name=Emilie%20Delaye%20Official%20Cover%20Photo.png)

Emilie Delaye's path as a founder began with a deeply personal mission: making medical wear feel less clinical and more like her. A master's student in Fashion and Apparel Studies at the University of Delaware and a Horn Entrepreneurship alumna, Emilie has spent the past several  
years turning personal chronic illness experience into the foundation for NOVA Medical Wearables, a venture reimagining medical accessories as fashion.

Delaye built NOVA from lessons learned the hardest way: living with a port and a PICC line, and refusing to accept that confidence and comfort had to be sacrificed for survival. With community-centered design and a growing product line, NOVA equips people living with medical devices with accessories that let them feel like themselves again.

What inspired NOVA Medical Wearables?

It inspired everything. Honestly, everything I do in my life is inspired by the events that have happened to me. I got sick, and I've been dealing with this for ten years, and the past two were really difficult. I had to live with a port and a PICC line in order to survive.

The look of the line left me frustrated and feeling dehumanized by ugly medical covers that ruined my outfits and confidence. I grew angry and tired of feeling like a patient rather than a person. So, I pulled out a sewing machine, made my own covers, and shared them online. I slowly but surely built a supportive community and gathered feedback from peers navigating similar struggles. That’s when I realized I found my true calling.

How has customer discovery shaped your approach to creating medical wear that feels empowering rather than clinical?

It's been quite a journey, and the biggest thing that's helped us is community-focused design, building quite literally side-by-side with our customers. Every change we make comes straight from what they're telling us, making it easy to prioritize products they truly love. Balancing that with sustainability, we currently use eco nylon and recycled spandex, manufacturing in the U.S. for better labor standards and reduced transportation impact.

The major obstacle we’ve faced is that our products are not a one-size-fits-all product, we're constantly refining based on feedback. For instance, customers told us our first rectangular PICC line cover wasn't fitting quite right, so we're tapering the ends. We kept what's on our website intentionally simple to nail a solid standard cover first, which will serve as the foundation for all the flounces, patterns, and personality NOVA is known for, while we also look ahead to talking with people who use ostomy bags, Foley bags, G-tubes, and tubing tape.

**What is your ultimate goal for how mainstream fashion and wellness brands view and design for chronic illness?**

That's exactly what we're trying to change. I always say NOVA isn't a company, it's a movement. The ultimate goal is to make chronically ill and disabled individuals feel seen, heard, and listened to. My hope is for NOVA to become the leading lifestyle brand for people with medical devices, where care, comfort, personality, and style are thought of first. I want a world where people living with medical devices genuinely love what they put on their body. I can't change their medical circumstances, I can't give them a diagnosis, I'm not a doctor. But I can provide products that make their lives a little better and help them feel more like themselves. That's huge. 

**What has been the most valuable lesson you’ve learned as a student founderWhat is your ultimate vision for how NOVA will shift the cultural conversation around visibility, empathy, and fashion?**

The most crucial lesson I’ve learned is that things take time. Time is our friend and our enemy, but whatever you're trying to build, whatever impact you're trying to have, it's going to take time, so don’t give up after the first attempt.

I learned that through manufacturing. We had to push back our production timeline because the product wasn't perfect. We're not aiming for perfection, because we know we'll keep iterating, but it was still far from where it needed to be. I didn't want to release something I wasn't proud of, but I also didn't want to delay. In the end, delaying was the right call. I had to accept that making the right product means being patient enough to get it right.

**How has Horn Entrepreneurship helped you refine NOVA's business model and brand identity?**

I'm a diehard Horn ambassador and always will be. The mentors, investors, advisors, and funding have all been essential. Horn's strategic guidance has mattered just as much as any funding we could receive. One of the biggest things the program does is want you to fail inside the building, not outside it. They want to protect you and create a cushion for you. As an entrepreneur, you don't have much else to lean on besides yourself and your venture, so having that community, those resources, those mentors on hard days is completely invaluable. You can't put a price on it.

**What is your ultimate vision for how NOVA will shift the cultural conversation around visibility, empathy, and fashion?**

I hope NOVA brings up the conversation around disability, invisible disabilities, and how we as a society engage with chronic illness. There's still a lot of judgment and a lot of lack of understanding. We're going to keep using our platform to advocate for these individuals and give them a space to share their own stories, because I think that's how people develop real compassion and empathy. The reality is, we're all just people trying to get through life a little easier. There's not much that actually separates us.

I want disability and chronic illness to become a normal part of the conversation, and I want mainstream fashion brands to stop designing only for one customer archetype: the young, healthy, beachhead persona. Companies should be asking who else exists in this world, and what they can do to help them too. A new standard that deserves to be in the industry.

**How did your time at UD support your growth as a founder?**

It's been incredible, and I still have one more year. I've learned so much, not just through the Horn program but through the fashion department as well. The faculty and my advisors, specifically Dr. Sheng Lu, have supported me in ways I don't know I'll ever be able to repay. Whether they supported me through securing interviews, getting me featured on Morning Brew, and getting me to places I never thought I'd go, I never thought I would be where I am today.

UD has given me friendships, partnerships, and family I'll never lose. I've completely changed as a person since I first stepped foot on campus, and I'm happy about that. I'm more confident, more alive, more inspired. That's what UD does for you.

To anyone who hasn’t started building their venture yet, know that there is magic in this world. Believe that there's magic, because there is. We see it every day, whether it's a new baby's laugh, a friend helping a friend, people falling in love, or a doctor curing a patient. There's magic all around us, and you have magic inside of you too. Believe in that, and know that you can change the world. If you hold onto that mindset, there's nothing you can't do. Truly nothing.

 

---

For Emilie, entrepreneurship has become a way to turn a deeply personal struggle into a platform for dignity, visibility, and change. What began with a sewing machine and a community of strangers online has grown into NOVA Medical Wearables, a brand working to make medical  
devices feel less like a diagnosis and more like a form of self-expression. Her story is a reminder that some of the most powerful ventures begin with lived experience — and grow through community, patience, and belief in a little bit of magic.

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