This is Heylyn Yates aka Ai Yuanlin Ying aka The Butterfly Dragon from my series of books of the same name available freely at
http://thebutterflydragon.blogspot.ca.
Heylyn is a fashion designer and owner of the company West Meet East International (her own fashion house). She is the daughter of a Chinese family that emigrated to Canada where she pursued her dreams of being an artistic designer.
During her early teen years, she befriends Alicia Westen, a young lady genius who has debilitating self esteem issues as a result of her slightly heavier appearance. Heylyn designs a prom dress for Alicia in exchange for tutoring, and helps to bring Alicia out of her shell. As a result, Alicia gains the confidence to pursue her goals and becomes an innovative researcher and biomedicine designer.
Alicia designs a substance and treatment, that can cure a host of degenerative diseases (including the potential to repair the spinal chord, nerves and musculature enabling those bound to wheel chair to walk). The formula in future versions also has the potential to wipe out Cancer. As a side effect of the early version of the formula, she discovers that when applied to clothing, it can imbue the wearer with incredible powers whose effects can be shaped by artistic designers.
After years of being apart from Heylyn, they reunite and become superheroes in order to deal with a criminal mastermind who steals the formula to power his criminal empire.
In book two, the former heroes reunite to save the their city and the world from a new threat. The answers to their conflict lie in a little girl, the force of nature called the Dragon Butterly and what could potentially unite the West and the East or plunge the world into a millenium of war and darkness.
The Butterfly Dragon I: Heroes Of Our Own
The Butterfly Dragon II: The Dragon Butterfly
Enjoy! 
The Butterfly Dragon available at http://thebutterflydragon.blogspot.ca
Copyright © 2015 Brian Joseph Johns « Less
