It’s that time of year where we’re all reflecting on the last 12 months. What a whirlwind! Coming out of the pandemic and navigating a post-Covid world has been interesting. This year, Rogue welcomed two more full-time piercers to the team – Breo and Gemma! Jay has excelled phenomenally through their apprenticeship under Aiden, from picking up a needle for the first time in February to piercing unaided and making amazing connections with clients – Jay is smashing it! Aiden and Breo had a busy 2022 too. Travelling to Berlin for the BMXnet conference in September, followed swiftly by the UKAPP conference where Aiden taught a class on surface finishing and Breo supported Inari Organics at the exposition. Kat also taught their first class this year! After graduating from Nottingham University with a Bsc in Zoology, Kat taught Piercing Wound Healing Dynamics at the UKAPP conference to a packed room of piercers!
We’ve had some amazingly talented guests visit us to pierce at Rogue this year too! Flavio stopped by this autumn, all the way from Brazil! It was such a pleasure to meet and work with him. Recently we’ve had our good friend Andre stay with us from Berlin, Andre brought a wealth of knowledge to the team as well as a cosy DVD evening at the studio and some amazing piercing work!
Who knows what next year holds in store for us, but as always we are eternally grateful to our clients for keeping us busy and for supporting us through all the changes 2022 has brought! (and thankyou from Gemma for welcoming me to the team!)
Let’s take a look at some highlights! Starting with the Head Rogue himself, Aiden! We celebrated 3 years since Aiden opened the doors to Rogue, from humble beginnings surviving on noodles and a small heater, to having a team of 5 operate 7 days a week to make Nottingham shine! Aiden has lots of plans for 2023 and we can’t wait to see what’s in the works.
Breo joined as a full-time, resident piercer in January this year and has been loving all the large gauge and complex projects you guys have trusted him to perform. Breo has had a busy year, flying to Berlin with Aiden for BMXnet, then back to the UK for UKAPP where he represented both Rogue and Inari Organics, bringing high quality, implant grade jewellery to the UK. Breo also took part in the Piercer Trade Show which was held in Ireland for the first time in 2022!
It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Gemma aswell. Joining the team in January, Gemma started as a Junior Piercer, working under Aiden and Breo to develop her skills and build on her experience. Gemma became a UKAPP member this year, attending her first conference where she met some amazing people. Gemma has been working on documenting the experiences of people in the industry and has interviewed several peers for the Rogue Blog. We hope there’s more to come!
Jay is piercing! As Aiden’s apprentice, they have been working incredibly hard and learning so much. Jay picked up a needle for the first time in February and pierced Aiden’s helix (no pressure!), now they’re signed off on several piercings and can confidently perform lip, helix, lobe, navel and nipple piercings without guidance. Jay has overcome a lot of challenges this year and we are all so, so proud of them for sticking around and working hard. Jay is going to take the world by storm. Keep your eyes peeled for more of their shenanigans in 2023!
Kat has had a year full of accomplishments. They have created so many beautiful and thoughtful curations with our clients and continued to design incredible custom pieces for both our customers and our cabinets. Kat celebrated their graduation from Nottingham University with a Bsc Hons in Zoology and is currently studying for their Masters degree in Immunology! It was a big year at UKAPP as Kat taught their first class, educating piercers on Wound Healing Dynamics. Expect more science and more sparkles from Kat in the upcoming year!
And last but certainly not least, our honorary Rogue and full time Revenant, Anna Garvey! Together Anna, Revenant, Rogue and Un1ty tattoo raised over £500 for the Mastectomy Tattoo Alliance this year by hosting a fund raising weekend. Anna has created some phenomenal artwork this year and it’s been amazing to see all of her stunning designs come to life. Anna spent the summer in Peru, riding horseback through the mountains and emerging herself in nature, ready to bring that inspiration into the new year! We love working so closely with Anna and Revenant and we’re so excited to see more creativity and beauty from them.
Thank you once again to everyone who has visited us this year, all our fantastic clients, our friends, family, piercers who have come to visit or guest with us, the continued support of our industry means the world to us. See you all in 2023!
