Mother and daughter make-up artists Jayne and Meagan Daley were “delighted” to be part of the inaugural Belfast Alternative Fashion Week (BAFW), where they were forced to “think outside the box” while styling models for the ‘fairytale and gore’ themed runway show.

Impartial Reporter:


Belfast Alternative Fashion Week is described by its organisers as “an exciting collection of unique and visually spectacular creative catwalk shows.” Its aim is to address the “lack of understanding and connection” between alternative and commercial fashion and lifestyles. Therefore models included amputees, cancer survivors, members of the LGBT community and people sporting ‘hipster’ beards, body art, tattoos and piercings.
Jayne Daley, from Enniskillen, has been a make-up artist since the eighties. She currently teaches the Media Make-up course at Enniskillen’s South West College. She was asked by a friend to take part in the unique event and took the opportunity to invite her daughter Meagan along too. Twenty-one year old Meagan has recently graduated from a degree in Fashion at Liverpool John Moores University. She said she was “honoured to be part of such a rewarding, exciting experience.”

Impartial Reporter:


Prior to this event, Meagan tested her skills while working on the make-up team for the Vogue Ball in Liverpool. However, the “craziness” of BAFW really put her to the test. She explains: “It’s safe to say that we live in a very diverse world, full of quirky and crazy personalities. I was lucky enough to experience this by picking up my makeup brush and adding to the craziness! BAFW definitely tested my creativity skills. With no brief but a fairytale and gore theme, it’s safe to say my brain was doing over time trying to think of what I could create. But for the first time in my experiences with make-up I went in with a blank page and created these two avant garde looks and I thank Julia Clements for opening my mind to this type of creativity.”
Jayne commented: “I’ve never done anything like this before. Everyone was so diverse. It was creatives coming together and it was unbelievable. I definitely had to think outside the box. The whole night was so emotional, beginning with a catwalk show by a group of cancer survivors called ‘wecancervive’ – one model opened her butterfly wings and she was covered in beautiful body paint – there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Impartial Reporter:
“The event was held in Elmwood Hall, Belfast and it was electric!
She concluded: “I think I am converted to the alternative way of life.”