Jane Bellis: Event

TURNING THOUGHT INTO ACTION

.....One more thing about Jane.

She is as stubborn as she is passionate. Highly empathic by nature with a strong sense of self and an even stronger sense of justice, Jane is a natural problem solver, so when something seems broken - you can be damned sure she'll do everything in her power to fix it.

After spending all of her adult life trying to make women with incredibly low self esteem feel a little better about themselves, whilst at the same time playing an integral part in the process of creating the images of 'perfection' that cause these problems - she decided to use her skills and experience to challenge stereotypes and perceptions and try to create a shift within the industry.

Backstage at London Fashion Week was the catalist.

Watching the same size, shape and look sashay down the runway, the way it's always been - parading out the beautiful creatures in all of their manufactured, manipulated, filtered and edited glory to pray on the insecurities of the general public in order to sell products and make profits.

And so Alternative Fashion Fest was born. The seed that would eventually grow into Art & Soul Tribe.

Jane Bellis: Homepage_about

JANE BELLIS

Founder & CEO

With over 20 years in the Fashion & Beauty industry Jane has a wealth of experience both in front and behind the camera.

Starting out as a model in her teens whilst training to become a Makeup Artist, Jane soon discovered the more negative and destructive side to the land of the 'Beautiful People'.

Being told at the tender age of 17 and at a slim but healthy size 10 in the mid 1990's that she was 'too fat' to be considered for runway work Jane continued on for a few years with 'Beauty' jobs such as campaigns for No7 and Wella before turning her attention to developing her career in Makeup & Hair Artistry and raising her family.

Fast forward a few years (and 4 kids later!) Jane now has a string of awards and accolades to her name and is now considered to be at the top of her field. A master international artist and educator and salon owner for 13 years, Jane now specialises in Fashion & Editorial and Bridal work.

As well as teaching her craft with a series of workshops, masterclasses, seminars and online webinars, Jane thrives in her role as Creative Director for one of New York Fashion Weeks largest shows, with a team of over 100 artists and showcasing more than 40 designers from across the globe.

Photography Credit: Andy Forster & Sean Murray

Lindsey Witkowska

Strategic Director

Lindsey is commonly known within the Tribe as Jane's other half. With matching values, passion and energy the pair have formed an unbreakable bond propelling them forward on their mission. A multi-skilled performer and designer with a strong background in fashion, she originally became involved as The opening designer at the very first Alternative Fashion Fest show.

She immediately saw an opportunity to showcase her diverse range of skills, and as a natural leader, quickly became the no nonsense, work hard -play hard 'people manager' as the organisation grew.

Lindy says that she realised she was in exactly the right place at the right time with the same vision & values and so naturally fell into the role of keeping all of the balls in the air and keeping Jane in check!

The pair consider themselves to be 'Soul Sisters' and can regularly be found with their heads together scheming and plotting their next phase of operation 'Make the world a better place'

As an Artist in her own right Lindy is a well respected fire performer and her burlesque performances as alter ego 'Arielle Firecracker' are something to behold!

She can also regularly be found backstage, managing the rabble, as well as in the classroom, completing her Law Degree!