Tattoos: From Cutting-Edge to Couture

High-fashion thrusts tattoo art onto the runway and into the spotlight

First it was Ari Marcopoulos’s short film “No Way Back” for Yves Saint Laurent men’s spring/summer ‘11 collection, featuring famed tattoo artist Mark Mahoney in action.  Then – or perhaps simultaneously – it was tattooist-to-the-fashion-elite Scott Campbell’s SS’11 collaboration with Louis Vuitton, and the accompanying “video diptych” part one and part two.

Tattoo art, fashion, and commerce have always been linked (and I’m not talking Ed Hardy or Kat Von D’s Sephora collaboration). Chanel – as well as Rodarte and John Paul Gaultier – sent models parading down their spring ‘10 runway adorned with delicate temporary tattoos; Chanel’s are now sold for $75.00 per sheet. Marc Jacobs enlisted Campbell again to apply temporary work on his models for the men’s SS’11 Louis Vuitton show.  And totally tattooed “Skullface” Rick Genest recently walked the runway for Thierry Mugler during Paris fashion week.  Daily Candy sings the praises of Friday Jones, who advertises “tattoo couture” and holds personal “fittings” in a spa on NYC’s upscale Fifth Avenue. She even offers topical anesthetic, which makes the majority of tattoo purists shudder.  Let’s not get started of the dude with the full sleeve of Louis Vuitton logos – an ultimate statement of consumerism.

Tattooing even extends to the world of high-end liquor. William Grant & Sons (Hendrick’s, Hudson, Lillet) recently launched a rum with purveyor of old-school tattoo art, Sailor Jerry, and the documentary Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry: the Life and Times of Norman Keith Collins and a limited-edition companion coffee-table book Homeward Bound (also available for $75.00) were released this year.

So what gives? We all know that high fashion houses have done things like brand a trash bag, call it a trend, and have a waiting list before you say, “Omigod, that trash bag is $2,000?” For many aficionados, tattoos are not a passing trend, but high-end services like Jones’ have dragged tattooing out from under its slightly subversive rock and made it even more mainstream-friendly.  Whether this is good or bad depends on your perspective, and if you were one of those kids who got super bummed when their favorite band made the move from van to tour bus.

“Over the past ten years the popularity of tattoos has risen. The reality shows like Miami Ink provided people who may have never walked into a tattoo shop a chance to see what it was all about,” says Adam Korothy of Brooklyn’s Asylum Tattoo.  “These days a lot more people in the fashion industry are drawing inspiration from tattoo art, and also getting tattooed themselves. I recently was asked to tattoo a Chanel logo. I also did a first tattoo on a woman who works for a major fashion magazine.” The parallels do make sense. Like fashion designers, tattoo artists have a vision, but it comes with great responsibility – after all, their work won’t rip or fall apart, and good work will never need to be repaired or recycled.

Our picks for good shops, should you find yourself in need of a pretty little swallow or even, sigh, your favorite designer’s logo? Erich Weiss, director of Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry, recommends “Bert Krak at Smith Street Tattoo, Topper at Philadelphia Eddie’s in Philly, and really anyone at Olde City Tattoo in Philly.” Korothy at Asylum gave me one of my favorite tattoos ever, and Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg is home of the aforementioned Scott Campbell (good luck getting an appointment!), along with Michelle Tarantelli and Anderson Luna.  Mark Mahoney, whose career spans three decades, is the force behind L.A.’s Shamrock Social Club.  As a matter of fact, Shamrock’s tagline “Where the elite and underworld meet” is the perfect way to sum up the current wave of tattoo popularity.  Just remember, darling: internet stardom is fleeting – your full-sleeve of Louis Vuitton logos will be around forever.