Gripping yarn: Shine winner’s passion project

After overcoming childhood cancer and personal tragedy, Emily Riggs has found solace and success on a sheep farm in rural South Australia and working in the field of fashion.

Emily Riggs, cancer survivor and founder of charity fashion brand Iris & Wool, at her sheep-farming home in rural South Australia. Picture: Matt Turner

After overcoming childhood cancer and personal tragedy, Emily Riggs has found solace and success on a sheep farm in rural South Australia and working in the field of fashion.

Shortly before her 10th birthday, Ms Riggs, 35, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, forcing her to undergo two years of gruelling chemotherapy.

It caused her hair to fall out, triggering self-consciousness within a shy country girl on the verge of adolescence. During her fight with the lymph node cancer, Ms Riggs’s mother died, aged 43, after a five year battle with breast cancer.

The heartache, and soul crushing incidents of being mistaken for a boy because of her short hair, sparked within her a passion for fashion that would eventually lead to her establishing her own label, Iris & Wool, in 2019 – “Iris” for her mother’s favourite flower and “wool” for the premium merino fibre used in the brand’s clothing and for the 15,000 sheep that roam the paddocks of Ms Riggs’ home in rural South Australia.

“I lost all my hair because of the chemo and I was mistaken for a boy a fair bit, which really shattered my confidence and it was then that I turned to fashion,” Ms Riggs said.

“Looking back, the first seeds were planted then and fast forward 20 years and I fell in love with my farmer husband who exposed me to wool fibre so I thought why not combine the two and create Iris & Wool.”

Shine Youth category winners Kate Strong and Claire Harris. Photo: Jackson Madders

In memory of her mother, money raised from every item of clothing sold through the online store is donated to the McGrath Foundation, which places nurses in communities across Australia.

Her passion for Australian wool and giving back to help others facing cancer has led Ms Riggs to be crowned the winner of the Shine Passion Award, as well as the overall winner of the 2022 awards.

Now in their sixth year, the Shine Awards – a collaboration with Harvey Norman and rural newspaper The Weekly Times – seek to recognise the achievements and contributions of women across rural and regional Australia.

Iris & Wool has built a national following in its three years but has maintained its rural roots.

The business is still run from the sheep property where Ms Riggs lives with husband Tom and children Sam, 5, and Lucy, 2, near Burra, 140km northeast of Adelaide. She attributes the success to the inherent qualities of the merino wool supplied by farms across South Australia, Victoria and NSW, including her own.

Courage category recipient Tanya Holmes, who founded Imperfectly Perfect Sugar Cookies at Bathurst after suffering ruptured vertebrae that left her partially paralysed. Picture: Kirsten Cunningham

“I would have thought they would be all regional but I actually have a fair few loyal city customers, which is lovely, and I see a lot of return customers,” Ms Riggs said.

“I think that merino wool just really sells itself. It’s a quality fibre, natural, renewable, sustainable and it all comes from a sheep’s back made with sunshine, grass and water.

“You can’t get much more natural than that.”

Ms Riggs is among eight other women from rural Australia to win a Shine Award this year.

Harvey Norman chief executive officer Katie Page, who was on the judging panel, said Ms Riggs’ vision, courage and determination to help others epitomised the 120 women nominated for this year’s awards.

“Six years is a relatively short period and yet in that time drought, bushfire, Covid and floods have been such dominating, inescapable forces,” Ms Page said.

“The brilliance of the women of Shine is that these collective challenges are not their story; their stories are one of triumph, innovation, determination and camaraderie.”

Herald & Weekly Times chairwoman and News Corp Australia community ambassador Penny Fowler said nominees had made a valuable difference to their communities.

“This year’s finalists and winners are doing inspiring work and truly deserve the spotlight,” Ms Fowler said.

The stories of the finalists will be shared in a special magazine inserted into Thursday’s edition of The Australian.

Dedication category winner, Cattle farmer Bloss Hickson. Picture: Supplied