How Tattoos Became a Stepping Stone for Body Mods and Alternative Style

Welcome to the 134th insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode, we explain fashion’s controversial history with body mods and tattoos, a tale full of iconography, crime and affluence.

While entirely separate in origin, fashion and tattoos have shared expressive properties for centuries. Rooted in opulence, each retains a highly spiritual and emotional placement in the artistic sphere, dating back to ancient times atop royal bodies and societal figureheads. Historically, tattoos stand among Greek barbarians and the mummies of Egypt, but have since found an embracing niche atop the runway.

Despite similarities in exterior appearance, body mods and fashion have only recently intersected. For years, the public eye viewed tattoos and piercings as a rather stigmatized art form, most notably frowned upon in Japanese culture. However, through events like World War II, in which Western soldiers would return with overseas markings, a shift would slowly begin to propagate in the general populous, normalizing these lifelong motifs.

Fast-forward thirty years and we find ourselves at ink’s crossroad with fashion, debuting in Issey Miyake’s Autumn/Winter 1971 collection. Held in New York City, the Japanese designer would become the first of his kind to acknowledge tattooing on a broad scale, paying homage to the traditional irezumi style. Through skin-fitting body suits and full print graphics, we would witness the first steps in a societal shift, igniting a fury of takes on his famed illustrations.

Soon after, creatives like Martin Margiela and most notably, Jean Paul Gaultier, would draw inspiration from Miyake’s newfound medium. Gaultier would build off of Margiela’s inventive sheer textiles to create his own career-defining illusory garments, many of which have resurged even in a contemporary light. Spawning fan favourites like Von Dutch, Christian Audiger, and Ed Hardy, tattooing would become increasingly popular in the fashion scene and in turn push for widespread acceptance.