Hester Jarvis: The Mother of All Fashionistas

Hester Jarvis The Mother of All Fashionistas
A middle aged mother scooped top honours in the nation's longest-running fashion awards.

Townsville mother-of-two Hester Jarvis, 47, may not be your typical fashionista or live in a fashion capital but that didn't stop her winning the supreme award at the NRMA Australian Fashion Design Awards at Brisbane's City Hall.

With the Melbourne Cup on her mind, Hester's latte-coloured silk chiffon dress, designed under her Ja Delle Designs label, was a three-time winner on the night in the fashions on the field category, viewers' choice and the supreme award.

"I'm over the moon to think I won three awards with one dress; I can't quite believe it," she said.

Living in north Queensland is no barrier to success for Hester, who says she spends hours on the phone sourcing fabrics.

"For me it is all about the fabric. With this dress (her winning entry) I started with a great piece of fabric and I just knew exactly what I wanted to do with it," she said.

Hester's love of fashion started as a child but it wasn't until her children Jodie, 24, and Jamie, 20, started competitive figure skating that her creative side was set free.

"They had the most elaborate costumes on the rink and when they got a bit older I decided to do something for myself and enrolled at TAFE to study fashion design," she said.