Regular piercings and tattoos are passé; it is nipple piercing that is on the rise in the Capital, parlours testify. While earlier it was mostly foreigners who wanted this, now local Delhi youth are fast catching up.
“Lots of people of both sexes have started coming in for nipple piercing,” says Karan Arora of Ron Tattoos and Piercing studio. “While earlier we would get around 10 requests in two months, now we get 50 a month. About 80 per cent of nipple piercing clients are guys.”
In their quest for a unique body, clients do not just stop at nipples. “We’ve also done genital piercing on 3-4 people, for which we had an international artist come in. That’s something that’ll gain prominence in India in the next 2-3 years,” says Karan.
Hendry of Body FX Tattoos echoes, “We get 5-6 clients daily for nipple piercing. It’s no longer a taboo, with a host of celebs getting similar piercings. It’s more common among guys because they can flaunt it afterwards.” Toni of Hawk Tattoo agrees, “The number of clients coming in for nipple piercing has doubled recently. It’s fashionable and people like showing it off to their friends. We also get occasional requests for genital piercing.”
Neeraj Ahuja, 22, who got his nipple pierced some months ago, says that although the idea sounds unnerving at first, it is well worth the pain. “Piercings are all about making a statement… but then, everyone gets more or less the same piercing [eyebrow, chin]. I thought it [nipple stud] would set me apart,” he says. He admits, though, the craze did not last long — he got rid of it within a month.
{{/usCountry}}Neeraj Ahuja, 22, who got his nipple pierced some months ago, says that although the idea sounds unnerving at first, it is well worth the pain. “Piercings are all about making a statement… but then, everyone gets more or less the same piercing [eyebrow, chin]. I thought it [nipple stud] would set me apart,” he says. He admits, though, the craze did not last long — he got rid of it within a month.
{{/usCountry}}Fad or not, for now the numbers will keep rising, believes KD of Kdz Tattoos, as there is also a corresponding rise in the number of tattoo-seekers. Delhi, it seems, is getting more adventurous with its body.
Celebs who flaunt a pierced nipple:
Axl Rose of Guns n’ Roses
Lars Ulrich, drummer for Metallica
Lenny Kravitz, singer/musician, also has a pierced nostril
Tre Cool, drummer of Green Day
Tommy Lee, drummer of Motley Crue, has a pierced nipple, nostril, and several earlobe piercings
Christina Aguilera, has piercings all over her body
Pink, singer
Nicole Richie, actress-socialite