When the zombie tattoo boy Rick Genest made his fashion debut as a model for Thierry Mugler in 2011, the modified community cheered in approval. For those who don’t know, Mr. Genest is covered in a monochrome full body tattoo that makes him look like the living dead and has very noticeable piercings in his septum and the bridge of his nose. Many will recognize him from his cameo in Lady Gaga’s hit music video for the tune “Born This Way,” an appearance masterminded by the same fashion director responsible for the Mugler campaign. But who could have anticipated with his rise to fashion fame as Mugler director Nicola Formichetti’s new muse, that a resulting trend would set the fashion world to finally become more appealing to the modified set?
This trend was only further confirmed with the styling of some ravishing runway models at the Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2012 show in Paris. Here models with real tattoo art and piercings, including stretched ear lobes, were featured alongside unmodified models who had been styled to appear modified through the use of glued on gems and elaborate cuff style ear jewelry. Some clear piercing favorites throughout the show were the monroe (a piercing of the upper lip), the nose, and the ear cartilage.
And in a flash of sheer brilliance, the modification worthy fashion is still continuing through this month’s Fashion Weeks, as Dagmar debuted a collection in Stockholm that was inspired in part by Lisbeth Salander, the pierced, tattooed, and mohawked title character in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Not sure which direction the fashion world’s newfound love of all things edgy and alternative is going to take, but for now, you can’t help but sit back and enjoy the ride.
