AFTER 10 years of honing the skills of aspiring Cairns fashion designers, Tropical North Queensland TAFE fashion teacher Yvonne Turnbull is cutting, sewing and zipping together her own label for women aged 35 and over. 

Ms Turnbull, who has a long history in fashion design, started working on label Whytea about six months ago after she noticed a yawning gap in the market.

"A lot of my friends are professional women who complained they were having trouble getting clothing," she said.

"I thought, 'That's the only way to go. Ladies are crying out for clothes.' It is my age group, so why not?

"I had a lot of friends who commented on some of the garments I designed and there were requests for me to create a label. I'm involved with my graduate students and I was inspired by them."

With a variety of pieces including gold metal lace and low-back red evening pieces to a brushstroke dress in coffee and black tones, mum-of-three Ms Turnbull, who spent her Christmas break sourcing fabric for Whytea in Sydney, has crafted the label around busy women.

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