{{Short description|Australian fashion designer (1935–2019)}} {{Infobox person | name = Norma Tullo | birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|01|31|df=yes}} | birth_place = Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|02|18|1935|01|31|df=yes}} | occupation = Fashion designer | years_active = 1960s–1980s | spouse = Brian King (m. 1962) | website = }}
'''Norma Tullo''' (31 January 1935 – 18 February 2019) was an Australian fashion designer, known for her use of Australian wool in her women's fashion collections during the 1960s and 1970s. A recipient of the Wool Board Awards, the Lyrebird Award, and the David Jones Award, she was also appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1972 for her contributions to fashion.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Fashion Flair: Australian Women Designers |url=https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/rb_flair.pdf |access-date=2025-02-09 |publisher=National Gallery of Victoria}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Project |first=Australian Women's Archives |title=Faith, Hope, Charity - Australian Women and Imperial Honours - Browse Alpha - K |url=https://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/honours/k.html |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=www.womenaustralia.info |language=en-gb}}</ref>
== Early life and career == Tullo was born on 31 January 1935 in Australia. Before becoming a designer, she worked as a legal secretary in Melbourne, where she began creating clothes for herself and her friends.<ref>{{cite web |title=Norma Tullo Collection |url=https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/artist/7154/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |publisher=National Gallery of Victoria}}</ref>
In the early 1960s, she opened her own studio in Melbourne. She was an early advocate for using natural fibers, especially wool, in her designs, promoting Australian wool as a premium fabric.<ref name=":0" />
In 1965, she was invited to collaborate with Butterick Patterns to produce patterns for home sewers as part of their Young Designers collection.<ref>{{cite web |title=Remembering Norma Tullo |date=7 July 2022 |url=https://circavintageclothing.com.au/2022/07/07/tullo/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |publisher=Circa Vintage Clothing}}</ref>
She signed a contract with the Isetan department store in Japan in 1966.<ref>{{cite web|first=Fraser |last=McEwing |title=Farewell Norma Tullo: Australian Fashion Royalty |url=https://www.ragtrader.com.au/news/farewell-norma-tullo-australian-fashion-royalty|date=25 February 2019 |access-date=2025-02-09 |publisher=Ragtrader}}</ref>
== See also ==
* Prue Acton * Mary Quant * Jean Muir
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Tullo, Norma}} Category:1935 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Australian fashion designers Category:Australian women fashion designers Category:Designers from Melbourne Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire