With Christmas seeming like it’s been gone forever, it’s officially time to start celebrating the New Years Season. But how could we do that without ending this year on a warm, soppy and heartfelt look back at everything the team at Rogue has achieved this year!
Aiden!
For those of you that don’t know, Aiden is our head piercer and the Studio Owner here at Rogue, and the guy who does all the work behind the scenes to keep the studio running effectively! It’s been a fun and impressive year for Aiden and we can’t thank him enough for everything that he’s done for us and Rogue along the way. Alongside mentoring Jay through the second year of their apprenticeship, and helping round out Gemma’s training, he has been a very busy man.
This year he got the show on the road with F:LUX Jwllry, making some brilliant 18k gold rings, charms and chains. We have had some beautiful pieces come through the studio, and they have looked absolutely amazing on our clients.
Aiden also attended UKAPP this year (again), but the exciting news is this year he was teaching again as well! With the help of Gemma rounding up and wrangling piercing videos from expert piercers all across the world, Aiden made a full demonstrative video on how each and every single piercer pierces differently. Different techniques, jewellery, methods and processes, but as long as you are executing safe and viable piercings, then it doesn’t matter how you do them. We are all human and individual, it would be impossible to do everything the same as the next person. This class was definitely a big hit and left a lot of piercers feeling happy and refreshed, and ready to try new things.
Throughout all of this, running a business, being a mentor, travelling the world, and being a good boss, Aiden has been producing some amazing work this year. From heavy large gauge and intimate work, to shiny nose piercings, he’s definitely blown us all away.
Breo!
Breo is our resident head piercer, piercing full time at Rogue. Breo has done his fair share of travelling and surprising piercers world-wide this year. In the spring he travelled to Madrid for the Spanish APPE and in Autumn he travelled with the rest of the Rogues for another weekend at UKAPP in Manchester. This was an exciting conference for everyone at Rogue as this was Breo’s first ever time speaking and teaching a class at a conference. Over the past few years, Breo has been researching body language and it’s importance to piercing and how we as piercers should be reading our client’s body language to help their time with us go much more smoother. As Breo is originally from Spain, English isn’t always his first language, also working at a studio in Nottingham city centre means Breo works with a range of clientele who don’t always have English as their first (or even second) spoken language. He realised that body language is sometimes much easier to help ease a clients appointments, as it often helps us read in between the lines of missing pieces of information. Of course, being the sweetheart he is, decided to share this information with as many people as he can.
Throughout his busy year, his work has only improved. Both technically, with his techniques, and aesthetically with the finished product. He has been absolutely smashing large gauge work left right and centre, and pulling off some beautiful classic piercings that work great with a clients anatomy. As Breo is often in the piercing room, it’s very rare that he will help a client choose their jewellery, which means often it is a surprise of what he is working with. Yet every single time does a client finish their appointment, does that piece look beautiful and unique, as well as perfectly fitting their anatomy.
Gemma!
For the past two years at Rogue, Gemma has been known as our junior piercer. After not having a great start in their piercing career, Gemma joined Rogue in January 2022 and has been a fantastic addition to the team. Over the time they have been here, they have worked extensively inside and outside of work to further better their skills and learn new things. This year they have been focusing on building their portfolio for intimate work (and oh boy have they done an absolutely fantastic job), but also their large gauge work. They have also helped Jay in their apprentice work, teaching them skills and knowledge that has helped themselves. They have been producing some absolutely stunning work and we couldn’t be more proud of them. From the new year in 2024, Gemma will no longer be our resident junior piercer, but instead will be another one of our piercers leading the studio.
Not only this, but Gemma had a very exciting 2023, especially in the summer. After the UKAPP conference in 2022, Aiden, Breo and a few other piercers had encouraged Gemma to apply for the 2023 Las Vegas Scholarship for the annual APP conference. And of course, without a doubt she absolutely nailed her application and interview process and got awarded the Legacy Scholarship. So off she went to America, by herself, to yet again further and better her skills and knowledge in her career. She came back so full of energy, confidence, and a new found feeling of trust in herself that was absolutely amazing to watch. I hope she is as proud of herself and how far she has come in the past two years, as we are. She also volunteered to work alongside Hika and vendor for Queen of The Ashes Jewellery at the UKAPP conference.
Kat!
Kat is our dedicated jewellery specialist at work. They could recite the entire catalogue of BVLA and their gem list and options if you asked. They are definitely a special addition of the Rogue team. Kat works extensively with clients to build and create custom orders for jewellery, as well as curations that are fitting for the client, both aesthetically and financially. Thanks to Kat, our jewellery cabinets are always full of brand new shiny pieces for our clients to choose from, but it is a struggle to keep the team from buying everything. We can collectively agree Kat has some brilliant taste.
For the second year in a row, Kat taught a class at UKAPP all about Wound Healing Dynamics. Being the resident scientist in the studio, it was only fitting to use their knowledge and teach it to those who create wounds day in and day our in their careers. It’s beneficial all around!
And while we’re mentioning Kat being our resident scientist, can we all just say a massive congratulations! Last September, Kat went back to university to study and complete their Masters degree in Microbiology and Immunology. They officially graduated two weeks ago, and we couldn’t be more proud of them. While Kat isn’t a piercer, they extensively work with clients and piercers day in and day out through troubleshooting, jewellery management, and jewellery installations. They decided to help further their education and knowledge in the piercing industry to benefit both piercers and clients, and anybody else that may deal with piercings on a regular basis. The entire community is grateful for their tireless work.
Jay!
Jay is our apprentice at the studio! They are the loud and colourful, pink loving chaos gremlin who will be blasting System Of a Down at 9:30am in the morning as soon as you walk into the door. In November Jay hit a massive milestone here at Rogue, and over the next 10 months will be working through their third and final year of their apprenticeship at Rogue. From the new year Jay will be moving up into and offering apprentice rate piercings on large gauge and intimate piercings, as well as microdermals and surface work.
2023 has been exciting for Jay. They have volunteered and worked with two different vendors at two different conferences. First they worked with Inari Organics at the Manchester Trade Show, and then Queen Of The Ashes Jewellery at the UKAPP in Manchester too! Alongside this, they travelled outside of the UK for the first time to head to Berlin for the BMXNet conference! They took every single class they possibly could, and was very excited to put their certificate on the wall when they arrived back. Hopefully 2024 will bring a lot more travel and fun for Jay!
So all in all, 2023 has been a hectic but amazing year for all of the Rogues, and I haven’t even touched on some of the stuff they’ve been up to. However, we can say we are proud of every single one of them, and we’re really excited to see what they bring in 2024.
We also want to extend many thank yous to you guys, our clients. Without you Rogue wouldn’t be able to run. We wouldn’t be able to do the beautiful work we do, or go to conferences. Our apprentice and junior wouldn’t have been able to progress either. Everything we do, we can only do with your amazing support. So from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, and have a happy new year! Here’s to 2024!
