106-year-old Indigenous tattoo artist Apo Whang-Od becomes Vogue's oldest cover star

Apo Whang-Od has become the oldest cover star to appear on Vogue.

Photographed by Artu Nepomuceno, the 106-year-old Indigenous tattoo artist is on the cover of Vogue Philippines' April Beauty Issue wearing beaded necklaces and and showing off her many intricate tattoos.

Whang-Od is one of the last mambabatok, or traditional Kalinga tattooists, of her generation and has been training and inspiring the next generation of artists who will follow in her footsteps, continuing a thousand-year-old practice.

Batok is an ancient tattooing technique that uses a mix of water and charcoal that's tapped into the skin using a thorn end of a pomelo or calamansi tree and a wooden mallet.

Whang-Od has been hand-tapping tattoos since she was 16 and learned under her father's guidance. Among her proteges are her grand-nieces Grace Palicas and Elyang Wigan.

"When visitors come from far away, I will give them the tatak Buscalan, tatak Kalinga for as long as my eyes can see," Whang-Od said, speaking with Vogue Philippines in the Butbut language for the outlet's accompanying cover story.

Prior to Whang-Od, Judi Dench was Vogue's oldest cover star, having been featured on British Vogue's June 2020 cover at the age of 85.

Vogue Philippines Editor-in-Chief Bea Valdes elaborated on the direction of this month's issue saying, "In this issue we honor women, wise and wild, shaped and fashioned in their own image, by their own hand, writing their own history."

The issue also touches on topics such as beauty brands in the metaverse and what it means to create your own image, as well as tracing the roots of the Philippine national dress Barong and piña weaving.