When Liberty London invited Maria Tash to take up a permanent residence in its jewellery hall in 2016, it was a sign of how far the jewellery designer and professional piercer had come at overhauling our preconceived notions of piercing parlours. Gone were the shop-floor chairs and one-size-fits-all metal guns of yore. In were three private rooms and display cases full of Tash’s delicate ear, nose, naval and nipple bars, studs and rings.
Two years on, and “ear curation” and “ear estate” are no longer buzzwords, but the preferred way to wear jewellery for individuals who can’t bear the faff of removing a tragus hoop to shower or swim. Tash’s business is still booming. So much so, that Harrods suggested she set up a second permanent boutique in its fourth-floor fashion lab.
Tash, who counts Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss and Scarlett Johansson as clients, couldn’t resist the call of the retail behemoth and the chance to connect with its international clientele, as well as her growing male demographic. And so, her new boutique, which is decorated in the soft grey tones and metallic accents that are resolutely Tash, is officially opening its doors this week.
“We had more freedom in creating a branded space that keeps our look consistent globally,” Tash tells Vogue of how the concession differs from the previous retail concepts she has enjoyed in the UK. “We are also excited to stock designs that have been popular in our Middle East and Far East pop-up locations for Harrods’ customers. This means more jewellery weighted with marquise, pear diamonds and other larger stones.”
The continued success of the brand is rooted in this desire Tash has to connect with customers in each sales territory. “My stylists spend time with each client to look at their anatomy, skin tone and personal aesthetic, so they can make a purchase that many feel becomes a kind of second skin,” she shares. “There are many clients we don’t actually pierce – they just want to purchase beautiful pieces of jewellery.”
Those who do offer up their rooks, daiths and helixes to the needle are treated by piercers who have been trained in creating specific angles that Tash, herself, has developed for different face shapes. “Just as people who care about fashion layer clothes in tasteful and artistic ways, we layer pieces of jewellery on the ear and body to create a unique combination that’s guided by a person’s beauty,” she asserts.
It has taken Tash years to develop the jewellery that is ions away from the industrial steel pieces she had to work with in the early 1990s. “Over the decades I have learned what thickness of jewellery can work in specific areas of the body,” she says of the process. “My pieces sit closer to the body – they are refined, durable, lightweight and low-profile.”
And she’s not finished mapping out the ear estate available to us yet. “New areas are still being explored for piercing locations, which will be possible only by inventing new jewellery shapes.” Head to the fourth floor of Harrods for your own anatomical consultation – and a perfectly-formed precious stone that will hug whatever part of you Tash’s team deem most beautiful.
