The Darker Side of Fashion

Permanent body art such as tattoos have become the latest phenomenon to hit the fashion industry, what once was perceived as deviant, masculine and rebellious is now so popular that it has surprisingly become an actual fashion trend. Today, tattoos are just the beginning; extreme body modifications are the new trends to look out for.

Quentin Inglis, owner of Kalima Emporium Studio in Worthing is known by many as the ‘king of body modifications’. Later, he will leak the secrets of what is the ‘next big thing’ to become an extreme fashion trend. But first, let’s find out how permanent body art is becoming more and more extreme…

Tattooing has been practiced worldwide for thousands of years. Traditionally tattoos became widespread as forms of identification amongst tribal groups, they then became known as exclusive trademarks for particular cultures and gangs. However, within the last decade tattoos have proven to be trendy, stylish and cool; they have now become a mainstream trend accepted and wanted by many.

Sacred Art Tattoos in North London gave us their opinion on the tattoo trend, “Tattoos have become extremely popular over the last ten-years or so, this is due to how generations change. People are no longer afraid of looking different; it’s a creative personal choice we’re very happy to be a part of”.

Tattoos come in all shapes and sizes; some may choose theirs from books whilst others choose to design them in order to fulfil an acquired taste. This makes permanent body art a form or originality and a way of personal expression. However, tattoos are now so popular that trend setters are finding new ways to push the boundaries of body art.

A new found trend is scarification; this is body art at its most extreme. Instead of inserting indelible ink into layers of the skin to create a design, scarification involves cutting and scratching the skin to form scars that will then heal creating a design. Both these forms of body art have the same purpose, although the outcome is considerably different. Tattoos will leave the skin with decorative ink, whilst scarification will leave the skin with what looks like; 3-D colourless tattoos.

Scarification has also been practiced worldwide for thousands of years. However, they were traditionally forms of branding for slaves and criminals. Today, this form of permanent body art is still a taboo trend. Cutting skin for cosmetic purposes is not as understood as tattoos; many have confused scarification with self-injury. Although, who is to say scarification will not follow the same route as tattoos?

Quentin Inglis aka the king of extreme body modification took the time to tell us why he thinks scarification is becoming so popular within today’s society. But first, let’s take a look at some of his work:

Quentin Inglis has been doing extreme body modifications for nearly a decade now; he’s self-taught and regarded by his peers as the best in the country.

“Scarification will never be as popular as tattoos or piercings; this is because extreme body modification just doesn’t have the same level of popularity. It’s an extreme trend that many fear of doing. Saying that, the original intention of permanent body art is to stand out and be an ‘individual’, so the more tattoos and piercings become increasingly popular, the more it seems less originl. People want to be individual and going to these extremes help them to do that”.

‘People will now go even further to “alienate themselves”, they thrive off the fear and risks’.

“Another modification that is becoming extremely popular is subdermal implants. These are similar to body jewellery, except they are implanted underneath the skin. In the ‘body modification community’, implants will start appearing a lot more”.

More importantly, Quentin left us with some advise for anyone who is considering having an extreme body modification…

“Research, I can’t express how important this is. These forms of body modification are extremely serious and not to be rushed. Today people can write anything on their websites, just because they say they’ve been doing it for a long time doesn’t actually mean they have. Location is also not important, people should go to where is best, not where is local or convenient”.

It is now evident that permanent body art trends have only just begun. For anyone who was shocked by the phenomenon of tattoos isn’t going to be happy with what’s about to follow. Initially, scarification and subdermal implants may only be desired by a niche market of extreme trend setters. But over time similar to tattoos, may be desired by many. Fashion trends come and go but the darker and more extreme trends last forever.

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