AT THE BODY ELECTRIC

We're constantly talking about a number of trends in style, beauty, wellness and more. This month, we chatted with Celebrity Piercer and owner, Brian Keith Thompson of the famed Body Electric, which is Hollywood's destination for tattoos, body piercing and jewelry! We wanted to know more about trends that are taking place in body piercing, how he came into the business, who he has worked on (Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone are just a few as well as who he'd love to include within his client list. We also want to know what we should look for, as those that may be getting piercings at their local studio.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Tell us how you got into the world of piercing?

BRIAN KEITH THOMPSON: That’s actually a funny story. I was getting tattooed at Body Electric and, after five years of frequenting the place, it came up for sale and I bought it. I needed a job, so I started piercing. I didn’t realize I would actually fall in love with it and actually be good at it; I was just doing it to kind of pass the time and get the respect of the fellow employees by having something other to do than just make money and run the business.
And the better I got at it, the more I loved it; the more I loved it, the better I got at it.

AM: What is Body Electric, when did it start, what services are offered there?

BKT: Body Electric was started March 16, 1992 by a tattoo artist from Switzerland. I became the proprietor on June 11, 2006. I’ve owned it for 11 years. The services we offer are tattoo, body piercing, and jewelry sales. We don’t do anything other than those three things.

AM: Why is Body Electric such a destination that has a number of celebrities flocking to it?

BKT: I ask myself that question every day. I think it has to do with a lot of different things: (a) it’s been around for a long time, so it's kind of a pillar in the Hollywood tattoo community; (b) consistency and trust: like any business—be it a restaurant, retail story, tattoo-piercing studio—
you need to have consistency. And that consistency needs to be maintained month after month, year after year. And you need to maintain trust with your clients. If your clients trust you and you can maintain that trust, you can maintain your business and you will be there year after year. If you erode that trust, it’s just a matter of time before you’re closing your doors for good.

AM: We’re always talking about trends. Are there trends in piercing we should keep an eye out for as we continue into 2018?

BKT: Yes. Multiple dainty constellation-style piercings decorating the ears is very in right now—multiple locations, but doing it small, dainty, and with taste. Also, I think that asymmetry is going to continue to be a very popular trend. A lot of my clients aren’t wearing the same earring in both the first holes of their lobes. I’m seeing this a lot more. I’ve been an advocate for asymmetry for quite some time and I love to see that it’s catching on and people are embracing it, because you can have two different looks: your left ear has one look, your right has another. To me, that’s really cool to have that change of pace.

AM: For those who are looking to get their piercing done that won’t do so at Body Electric, what should be looked for in terms of sanitary work spaces and processes?

BKT: Start researching online. If you find a studio that doesn’t have a website, that’s the first red flag. If you find a studio that has a sprinkle of bad reviews, but the majority of them are good, that’s not a reflection on the studio. It’s usually a reflection on the clients.

If you see a lot of five-star reviews and then one star and then a fifteen fivestar reviews and another one-star, those are probably a specific client's attitude problem or just their taste—not liking the particular studio. You can’t make everyone happy all the time. (And why would you want to?).

If you see a studio that has nothing but two- and three-star reviews, one after another, and people are just voicing their concerns, that is a sign that maybe you should investigate further. Maybe walk into the establishment. If you walk in and it looks cluttered, it doesn’t smell good, the floor looks dingy, the employees look like they are really pissed and they don’t want to help you, just turn around and go find somewhere else. You will regret it if you don’t.

A clear sign of a functioning, good business is the employees are happy. If you walk in and everybody is miserable, that’s the sign of all signs. You’ll get a gut feeling. You’ll know when you’re in the right location. Everyone has a different taste and style. A studio that you like, someone else may not like. It doesn’t mean that you’re wrong or they’re right. It’s just your taste—you like this particular studio and that’s fine, too. But definitely look at the website. Find a piercer or a tattoo artist that likes your style.

Look at their portfolio. Do they do the style of work that you like? Do you see it in their portfolio? If they just tell you that they do a certain style of work and they’re good at it, that’s not enough. Somebody who is really good at a particular craft is going to have photos of that craft and if they’re doing it well, they are going to have multiple, different options for you to look at. A true professional is going to have this photo evidence readily available.

Not all artists use printed-out portfolios anymore. I don’t even have one. It’s mostly digital now. My portfolio is my Instagram. And that's okay. So just check their Instagram out. If you see things you like and you see that they can handle it, that's the best way to go forward, I think.

AM: Is there any recovery or upkeep that needs to be kept in mind after piercing a body part?

BKT: Absolutely. There’s months of aftercare and keep-up. I’ve said many times that getting a piercing is an instant gratification, but it can take months—sometimes up to a year—to heal a specific body part. And you have to have this in mind when you get pierced. “Do I have the time to care for this? Do I have the maturity to care for this? Do I have the patience for it?" All
of these factors in and sometimes it can be a "slow boat to China," but if you're patient and thorough, you can heal it and move on.

“... I think that asymmetry is going to continue to be a very popular trend. A lot of my clients aren’t wearing the same earring in both the first holes of
their lobes. I’m seeing this a lot more. I’ve been an advocate for asymmetry for quite some time and I love to see that it is catching on and people are
embracing it ...”

— Brian Keith Thompkins

I would also say that if you're starting to get pierced, start with no more than three at a time. Heal those successfully and then move on. Doing too much too soon can just add to the problems that you may have healing. 

AM: What celebrities have you worked on and who would you like to work on that you’ve not yet done so at this point?

BKT: I worked on Jennifer Lawrence multiple times, Emma Stone, FKA Twigs comes in quite often. I’ve done multiple piercings on her. I’ve pierced Beyoncé numerous times. I just recently pierced Adele. That was really cool. Those are a few of the celebrities I’ve been lucky enough to work with.

I was watching Saturday Night Live this past Saturday and Natalie Portman was hosting. I was losing it when she did that rap. There are a few close-ups of her and...funny, that's how much I
think about work... I'm watching this at home and thinking, "Wow, I'd like to pierce her ear.” I don’t know if that sounds weird or not, but sometimes I do that. I just see an ear and I think “Wow, that’s a really great look. I’d like to pierce that.” I told my girlfriend that I hope I get to pierce Natalie Portman.

Read more from the Feb Issue and see At the Body Electric in mag.

TALKING ILLUSION WITH JOAN JULIET BUCK

We live in an age where we have the opportunity to get an inside look in the careers and people's lives via social media, reality TV or directly from the person themself! Growing up, we enjoyed reading Vogue as a means to be transported to high style, fabulous designers, locations and more. As we grew up, we realized that this signified the best of the best regardless of what edition we happened to be flipping through. 

French Vogue represents one of the most iconic titles and has had a number of notables helm this cover. We had the opportunity to chat with Joan Juliet Buck, who shares her time at Vogue (1994 - 2001); growing up in a family whose connections to those in film; art and literature is astounding and how she navigated her world is a page turner. Readers see how she befriended Karl Lagerfeld; her love affair with Donald Sutherland; her connection to Anjelica Huston; and more interactions that are effortlessly shared in 'Price of Illusion.' As a writer for a number of prestigious titles (Vanity Fair, American Vogue, Travel + Leisure, The Los Angeles Times and Conde Nast Traveler), feature editor at British Vogue, Editor in Chief of French Vogue her memoir navigates her journey via frank honesty about her world, her participation in it  and how she was able to step back and take the life she truly wanted is one that is refreshing! 

ATHLEISURE MAG: What is the meaning behind the 'Price of Illusion?'

JOAN JULIET BUCK: It's sort of well, now you know because you read the book.

AM: Yes, so what made you decide to write the book and to make it so personal.
 
JJB: Well the only way to write is to do so completely honestly. I'm not interested in writing fiction. I think that the most important thing for me was to sit down and write. The original manuscript was a lot longer. I think I had 20 edits to get it down as I was numbering them. I kept thinking that I was finished and done, but I edited a lot. It took me about 2 years to write the first 1,050 pages and then it took me 4 years to sculpt the story out of it.

The thing that became more and more important was this guardian angel that I read about when I was 7 years old. The guardian angel says to the little girl, "Don't go playing with the pretty people of the gorgeous garden. The pretty children wearing the beautiful clothes in the beautiful garden - don't go." Of course what the guardian angel doesn't say is that if you go, you will pay the price of illusion.

Of course, I went into the pretty garden with all of the pretty children and the beautiful clothes and flowers. Just like in the dream in the book that I read at 7 years old, let's just say it wasn't for me.

AM: Do you feel that maybe because of your upbringing of growing up around Peter O'Toole, John Huston and Anjelica Huston that it became a natural inclination to go into this garden because you were born into that world?

JJB: Of course. I was and that is what I considered natural. But one way to reclaim it would have been to become an actress, but my father (Jules Buck, an American film producer) said don't become one. So I thought I would become a writer and of course, I went towards beautiful magazines. Then I chose the beautiful world. I first went to Conde Nast magazine for Glamour at the age of 19 and then Vogue when I was 23. I couldn't leave - it was a beautiful garden and I couldn't leave. I thought it was my reproduction of what I grew up in - you're exactly right - you got it completely!

AM: Obviously, we work in the magazine industry and we were struck by how you integrated the state of the magazine world at that time with the consolidations in titles, the merge to going online and how you dealt with creating great content with such lower budgets. What do you think of the state of the fashion magazine business which is still battling these issues now?

JJB: They're in a very difficult state. There are certain magazines that manage to be surprising and glamorous. W and Harper's Bazaar both manage. But so many of the other magazines have gone so mainstream. The way we managed in French Vogue, as you saw is that for example, the model Caroline Murphy was AMAZING. She would work for our shitty prices, we would have to borrow horrible places in the country where people were practically in sleeping bags and she wouldn't care! She was really a trooper. But these days, the people who still work with Vogue or used to work for me say, "they used to put me on a plane to do an interview and now it's all on the phone!"

AM: Would you ever see yourself going back to working as an Editor in Chief or starting your own publication?

JJB: No - I think you have to be young and full of energy. I realized a lot of stuff about myself in life and then again when I wrote the book. I'm one of those people who need a lot of sleep. I can't function on 6 hours. It's really grueling and a hard job. 

AM: I had to laugh as we don't get a lot of sleep around here so your point is very valid!

JJB: It's true - but you're having fun though right?

AM: We love our readers, sharing the athleisure culture and being able to share the voices in our community. Everyday is different than the next which keeps it interesting. If you're not passionate and in in tune with what you're doing, it can really suck you dry!

JJB: That is so true and the difference for being a writer as I had always been and then being a boss - which I had never been, was so different. The days were fuller with events that had to do with other people and it didn't exhaust me in the same way that writing does as you're birthing something. It's almost a physical feeling. When going to events, I felt punch drunk from small talk.

AM: Were you concerned when you were writing this book that you had to go back and let people know that they were being included in this book as you include a number of people such as Anna Wintour, Karl Lagerfeld, Mario Testino.

JJB: No because I had done enough reportage on my own life by keeping a diary that I didn't feel that I needed to speak to anyone about what had happened because I knew very well. It was all in my diary. Are you asking if I needed to ask permission?

AM: Well yes, I know a number of the people that you're talking about in the book and I think that you're spot on. But there's always what you know that happened and what people like to revise in their heads and I just wondered if in that process that you were concerned that there would be a letter or email from someone who may have had an issue.

JJB: You're always concerned. I was concerned with certain friends who looked in the index and saw that they weren't in it. But that's ok and we had a conversation about it. Remember, I didn't belong to anything when I wrote this book. I didn't owe anyone anything and I didn't have any allegiance. I was gone. That's a fantastic freedom.

AM: I think that's what really draws you to this book because of the frankness and honesty. When you're in the industry, there are politics and things to consider so it would be tough to write something of this nature while navigating those associations.

JJB: You can't write honestly if you're protecting something. I was in a very privileged position. I decided to make my exile from Vogue a privilege instead of a drawback. 

AM: What are some of the things that you liked while you were at French Vogue Paris and duties that you had to do as a part of your job that you may not have enjoyed?

JJB: Well, let me see - you know this very well, but to be the person whose decision is final. I had that when I was there and when I went back to American Vogue and my decision wasn't final - I could provide my opinion, but I had to go ahead with it. Just being the decision maker was great. Watching people spark to an idea and watching how this thing would be like firecrackers - that was very energizing. It would also make me wistful because they would go off to do the photoshoot or reporting and I would be sitting behind the desk and then going to a cocktail party. I don't drink, I hate going to cocktail parties as I don't like standing. I don't mind walking, but I don't like standing around and I really don't like small talk. It was all kind of a nightmare. I also liked having the access! I loved going to museum shows before they even opened. It was nice to buy my clothes at wholesale prices, but it was weird as you would order 6 months in advance at the showroom and it felt more like business than shopping. 

I didn't like having people do things that they didn't want to do. If they didn't want to do it, I could usually see why and it made me say things to get them to do it - which I didn't want to do - I'm lousy at manipulating people. The schedule - the fashion shows - putting on your costume and the marathon of shows! I need my sleep and I need my food! It felt like torture.
 

AM: After going through all of this, how essential is balance to you?

JJB: It's everything!

AM: How do you envision success?

JJB: Well that's interesting. Because for me success is being able to write what I want to write and not having to do things that I don't want to do. That's the number one. It would be nice if success came with an enormous amount of money to reward me for my efforts. 

There is a line from Gertrude Stein who says, "I write for myself and for strangers." The success of the book - right now what I'm feeling for the first time in my life is because I wrote honestly and didn't write - so many strangers are reacting to this book with a full heart. In the fashion world, you don't see a full heart. I'm seeing that. The communication and atomization of everything from letters, Instagram etc and there are all these hashtags from strangers who are reading it. 

They have opened their heart to the story that I told which is extraordinary. In a world of magazines, you don't think that that is possible. In magazines people react because they want something from you.

AM: If this became a movie who would play you and your parents?

JJB: So think of it more like a very long TV series like Mad Men - going on and on. I've actually got my casting. Have you ever seen Orphan Black?

AM: Yes we're obsessed with the show!

JJB:  Of course you have! I think Tatiana Maslany is it. She is an extraordinary actress and like me, she can look like a whole bunch of different people. It's not consistent and one of the interesting things that I found doing this book because I was excavating - I played all these different parts and role. So I think Tatiana's talent to look like so many different people and she's not really pretty but she can be - that is so me! For the young me, it's Hailee Seinfeld.

AM: Good choice - she's fantastic!

JJB: Didn't you love her in The Age of 17? Hailee looks so much like Tatiana so it's perfect! For my parents, I keep thinking of Michael Stuhlbarg for my father. For Uncle Don, definitely Mark Ruffalo. 

That's who he looks like and the feeling - slightly rumpled, sloppy but with a really big heart! For mom, Natalie Portman!

AM: When you were talking about your mother from her style, jewelry, and movement - she seemed to have such an ethereal air. That's a perfect casting choice! 

JJB: Mom was so classy and the absolute embodiment of grace, beauty, charm, and style. Not quite me!

AM: We were so blown away about the book as there are so many layers that intersect!

JJB: The thing is, this book is not about fashion, Hollywood - they're in there. But this book is about people who are obsessed with such a beauty and things being wonderful. Everybody has that.

AM: Yes and historically, there are events that you mention that are mirrored today in terms of terrorism/bombings - that these things unfortunately still happen but that life also has to continue on with our personal chaos along with the global one. The weaving of these elements is what makes it so intriguing.

JJB: I love it and am thrilled that you felt so connected to it!

Read more from the April Issue and see Talking Illusion with Joan Juliet Buck in mag.