Ear piercing studios bring "earscape" trend to New Orleans
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Rowan is a national line of piercing studios with a location on Magazine Street. Photos: Courtesy of Rowan
One of the trendiest accessories to have right now is an ear full of studs, and swanky piercing studios across New Orleans are helping buyers achieve it.
Why it matters: "Ear piercing is a milestone that transcends culture, religion, age, and gender," says Louisa Serene Schneider, the founder and CEO of piercing studio Rowan. But gone are the days of dragging a parent into Claire's between fluorescent-lit mall outlets.
The big picture: Piercings have long been in fashion, but as Marie Claire writer Halie LaSavage wrote last month, now, "they are growing up."
- And with them, millennial-tailored, quietly cool brands have popped up nationwide, like Studs, Rowan and Mejuri, and doing so on main streets rather than in shopping malls, making the overall experience more chic.
- Plus, they're bringing with them with innovations like flat-back earrings that make them more comfortable for near-permanent wear.
- Schneider, for example, was inspired to start Rowan after taking her own daughter to get her ears pierced for the first time. But she was disappointed not to find a place that felt "safe and celebratory." So, she created one.
The intrigue: The new piercing studios often tout improved techniques and hygiene, like having trained nurses on-site and using needles instead of piercing guns.
- At Rowan, Schnieder says, that's translated to "an adverse reaction rate of less than 1% compared to the industry average of 30%."
By the numbers: By all accounts, the piercing business is booming.
- Rowan now has 52 locations, including one in New Orleans, with plans to have more than 65 by the end of the year. The brand, which plans to expand in Louisiana soon, has done more than half a million piercings in the past few years, Schneider says.
- Studs, which also has a New Orleans studio, has more than 25 locations nationally, according to a company spokesperson.
What she says: The trend "is great for my business," Porter Lyons founder Ashley Porter Holly tells Axios New Orleans of her local, luxury jewelry shop. When the company built out its flagship location on Royal Street in December 2022, Holly added a piercing studio to the space.
- That decision coming soon after she'd designed a new flat-back earring line, has been great for business, with many first-timers getting pierced on-site.
- Porter Lyons, according to the website, will even host private piercing parties.
- "You get to wear as many pieces of jewelry in your ear as possible," Holly says. "One customer has like 30 piercings in each ear, and they're all Porter Lyons pieces. It is amazing."
State of play: The trend had me mulling over a hole new look for my ears (sorry), and when a friend said she'd get a new piercing for her birthday, I went along with her to Studs on Magazine Street.
- The small boutique felt like a big upgrade from the Oakwood Mall outlet I got my first piercings in. As we waited, we browsed a curated collection of earrings and eyed up the "earscape" displays to figure out where we'd want them.
- Soon enough, I sat in a small room that looked like a chic doctor's office and squeezed the life out of a stress ball as a needle pushed through my cartilage.
- It wasn't painless , but I am already considering where my next one will go.