A New York City fashion designer with Maritime roots is planning a photo shoot in Moncton for her winter fashion line.

Lainy Gold has been busy sketching, cutting and sewing in her mother’s living room and, while it’s not the studio space she’s used to, she says there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.

“My mother called me in October and told me she couldn’t breathe. I said, ‘Maybe you have pneumonia?’ She said, ‘No, I can’t walk up the stairs. I don’t know if I can work,’” says Gold.

“So I came home to see her and took her to the doctor and she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.”

Gold was already busy preparing her winter clothing line for the upcoming Fashion Week in February in New York City, but she knew she had to be with her mother.

So, she set up shop in her mother’s living room in Moncton, doing the work she would normally do in her New Jersey studio, with unlimited material at her disposal.

“That’s a challenge. There’s one amazing fabric store, but those amazing fabric stores don’t always have what I want to have,” says Gold.

Another challenge has been figuring out photo shoots for her clothing line, which are set to be featured in fashion magazines in the United States and France. She would typically shoot them in New York, but this time Moncton will be her backdrop.

“I am so excited because of all the buildings you have here in Moncton,” she says. “You have the churches, the old castle that’s here, so I thought, ‘Hey, why not continue my collection here?’”

The photo shoot is scheduled for Monday and it will feature some prominent city landmarks, such as the Capitol Theatre.

Local photographer Wade Carrier has volunteered his time to help Gold with the shoot.

“We’re hoping the weather is going to be nice. So far the forecast is going to work in our favour,” says Carrier. “It’s not going to be too sunny or too cloudy. A little bit of snow might make for a nice atmosphere.”

Gold is dedicating her winter fashion line to her mother and has even named one of the dresses after her. Gold also plans to auction off one of her designs to help raise money for her mother’s in-home care, to help the woman she says encouraged her to follow her dreams.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis