Get to the point — start piercing

While most of us mere mortals are still trying to wrap our heads around the fact that it’s actually December, Planet Fashion already has its mind rooted firmly in next year. So as January’s issue of Vogue touches down on news-stands today, it’s time to start thinking about the inevitable: what’s en Vogue for 2013?

While I’ll leave the matter of what length of trouser leg we’ll be wearing to a day when we’re not all exhausted by the prospect of present shopping, one prediction within the style bible’s pages is somewhat harder to leave undiscussed — body piercing. It’s in.

The once polarising form of body modification has now been embraced by the fashion pack and rebranded as an elegant and timeless fashion statement. What was a rite of passage for any teenage rebel has been recast into a beautiful, rarefied form of adornment.

Surprising? Well, not entirely. Back in January, the first girl crush of the year arrived in the form of Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, complete with double nose, lip, eyebrow and nipple piercings, while designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and Riccardo Tisci have been quick to back the trend in their catwalk shows.

Last season, models at Chanel’s ready-to-wear show boasted delicate faux-pearl piercings, which lined the ear and were placed on eyebrows, lips and even the spine. Givenchy, meanwhile, has championed the trend throughout the year, with collarbone-length chandelier earrings and decorative septum nose rings seen at its spring couture presentation, which also appeared in its recent advertising campaign.

Of course, the Vogue feature also proves the piercing point in some style, with Swedish beauty Hedvig Palm shot by Patrick Demarchelier with thousands of pounds’ worth of diamonds shimmering in her nose and ears.

And other models such as Freja Beha Erichsen and Catherine McNeil have been none too shy about concealing their own multiple piercings. “I see my body as a blank canvas that’s aching to be decorated,” says model of the moment Abbey Lee Kershaw of her 10 piercings — including nose, nipple and navel — while 40-year-old model and Vogue contributing editor Laura Bailey says of her newly acquired ear cartilage hole: “I did it to feel a tiny bit like that pretty, carefree teenager. To make grown-up life and fashion feel a bit more punk, a bit more free.”

But while the fashion statement of next season seems to demand a little more commitment than simply sticking on your two-tonne Mawi chandeliers, there are options available for those with a lower pain threshold. Ear cuffs, recently spotted on the likes of Skyfall heroine Naomie Harris and at Rodarte’s SS13 show, are an effective alternative. High-end labels such as Erickson Beamon and Husam el Odeh are championing a selection, alongside a vast array from the likes of Topshop and ASOS. Perfect if you would rather leave the holes to the hardcore.

See the full feature in the January issue of Vogue, on sale from today.