20 best iconic tattoo studios around the world

1. Fortune Tattoo
City: Portland, OR (US)
Setting up shop in a city with one of the
highest rates of tattoo parlors per capita
in the United States ( around 12 per
100,000 people) can’t be easy, but Ms.
Mikki was up for the challenge. She
opened Fortune Tattoo on April 1st, 2010,
and it’s already one of the most well-
known, respected and popular tattoo studio in the city
As is Ms. Mikki, who’s been featured in
Tätowier Magazine , Skin & Ink, and
Northwest Tattoo.
2. Tin Tin Tatouages
City: Paris (France)
Tin Tin has been tattooing for nearly three
decades and opened his shop in
Monmartre in 1999. His work has been
featured in magazines like GQ and Elle, in
advertisements for Givenchy perfume,
and on celebrities like Marc Jacobs and
Philippe Starck.
3. Boston Tattoo Company
City: Boston, MA (US)
The studio might be new (opened May
2010), but owner Jason Zube wasted no
time developing a solid reputation.
Boston Tattoo Company was the 2011
winner of the “Best of Boston” readers’
poll by The Boston Phoenix .
4. The Tattoo Temple
City: Hong Kong (China)
Joey Pang has a two year waiting list;
unsurprising, considering she developed a
brush-stroke technique of tattooing that
resembles elements of traditional Chinese
calligraphy. Tattoos out of this studio
have been featured on CNN, CBS, and
The Travel Channel.
5. Black and Blue Tattoo
City: San Francisco, CA (US)
Germany-born Idexa Stern opened Black
and Blue in 1996, and the six-member
staff speaks a combined seven languages.
Idexa specializes in “black work,
geometric patterns, scientific imagery,
and organically inspired designs,” and was
named 2009 and 2010 Best Tattoo Artist
in the Bay Area in the San Francisco Bay
Guardian ‘s “Best of the Bay” Readers
Poll. Her work is also featured in Black
Tattoo Art and Tattoo World .
6. Toronto Ink
City: Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
“As Seen on MTV.” Mark Prata of Toronto
Ink was the tattoo / art designer for the
A&E TV series “Breakout Kings” and was
the on-air tattoo artist on MTV Live in
2007.
7. Caio Tattoo
City: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Caio started tattooing manually — as in a
needle and no machines — over 40 years
ago. He was in the business back when
tattoos were for, in his words, “sailors,
prostitutes, and bandits.” Caio’s shop in
Arpoador is located on some prime real
estate; right on the stretch between the
Copacabana and Ipanema beaches.
8. Saved Tattoo
City: Brooklyn, NY (US)
Scott Campbell opened Saved Tattoo in
2005, which has since expanded to
include eight other tattoo artists. Famous
clientele includes Heath Ledger, Sting,
Orlando Bloom, and Robert Downey Jr.
9. Kaze Gallery and Tattoo Studio
City: Denver, CO (US)
Kaze pulls double-duty as both a tattoo
studio, where artists Sandi Calistro and
William Thidemann specialize in custom
designs, and a gallery, hosting art
openings for both local and national
artists every month.
10. Angel Art Tattoo Studio
City: Bangkok (Thailand)
Mr. Tung is one of the most well-known
tattoo artists in Bangkok. His tattoos are
free-hand, drawn right onto the skin
rather than on paper, so each one is an
original.
11. Shanghai Tattoo
City: Shanghai (China)
Shanghai Tattoo’s pieces have been
featured in tons of media, including CNN
GO , Adidas commercials, Inked
Magazine, Shanghai Daily, and
Sueddeutsche.de . The studio recently
moved from an area known as “Cool
Docks” to a larger space on Maoming nan
lu.
12. Apocalypse Tattoo
City: Seattle, WA (US)
Apocalypse Tattoo of Seattle has been
featured in dozens of local and
international magazines, including Tattoo
Burst (Japan), Tattoo Energy (Italy),
Tattoo Society (US), Skin Deep (UK), and
Tattoo Arte (Mexico).
13. AKA
City: Berlin (Germany)
AKA is more than a tattoo studio.
According to their website, it’s also “a
café, a performance space, and a foster
home for all kinds of artistic stray cats.”
This isn’t just a place to get a tattoo; it
also hosts exhibitions for tattoo artists
(and other artists) to display their work.
14. Horiyoshi III
City: Tokyo (Japan)
Not only is Yoshihito Nakano — also
known as Horiyoshi III — one of the most
respected tattoo artists in the world, he’s
also the founder of the Yokohama Tattoo
Museum. His studio is located in
Yokohama, but he is closed to new
clients.
15. Hanky Panky
City: Amsterdam (Holland)
His studio in Amsterdam is just one of the
contributions Henk Schiffmacher, also
known as “Hanky Panky,” has made to the
world of tattoo art. Henk has also been
an advisor for exhibitions covering the
history of tattooing at The Museum of
Natural History in New York and the
Museé de la Civilisation in Canada. His
clientele has included members of the
Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, as
well as Kurt Cobain.
16. Into You
City: London (England)
In 1993, Into You was the first custom
tattoo shop in London. Owner Alex
Binnie is credited as one of a small group
of artists to popularize large-scale tribal
design tattoos. His work has been
featured in Henk Schiffmacher’s “1000
Tattoos.”
Tattoo by Alex Binnie of Into You
17. High Voltage Tattoo
City: Hollywood, CA (US)
Also known as “Kat Von D’s High Voltage
Tattoo.” Kat’s stint as a tattoo artist on
“LA Ink” made her a name in the tattoo
world. She held a Guinness World Record
for the most tattoos given by one person
in a 24-hour period at 400 (which was
broken by Oliver Peck in 2008).
18. American Tattoo
City: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Named one of the top five tattoo parlors
in Argentina by The Argentina
Independent , American Tattoo is actually
three studios located in Barrio Norte.
Owner Mariano Antonio has inked
Maradona, Katie Price, and members of
Guns ‘n’ Roses.
19. Mana’o Tattoo Studio
City: Papeete, Tahiti (French
Polynesia)
Mana’o is the studio-home of Manu
Farrarons, arguably the most famous
Tahitian tattoo artist alive today. His
tattoos consist mainly of traditional
Polynesian designs. In 2011, he was
named Best Tribal Tattoo Artist at the Ink
n Iron International Tattoo Festival in
Long Beach, CA.
20. Sleevemasters
City: Sydney (Australia)
Scottish tattoo artist and writer Terry
Wrigley once called Sleevemasters “the
busiest tattoo studio in the world.”
Sleevemasters opened in 1984 in
Sydney’s “red light” district. They handle
any type of tattoo and specialize in re-
works and cover-ups.