This record's gonna be tough to beat! April 2023 Vogue Philippines cover model Apo Maria “Whang-Od” Oggay, an Indigenous Filipina tattoo artist, just became the oldest person to ever be featured on the cover of a Vogue magazine at 106 years old.
Whang-Od was announced as the record-breaking cover star on Thursday, March 30, with an Instagram post that read: “Apo Maria ‘Whang-Od’ Oggay symbolizes the strength and beauty of the Filipino spirit.”
The tattoo artist was further described in the rest of the caption, which read: “Heralded as the last mambabatok of her generation, she has imprinted the symbols of the Kalinga tribe—signifying strength, bravery and beauty—on the skin of thousands of people who have made the pilgrimage to Buscalan. ‘When visitors come from far away,’ Whang-Od says in the Butbut language, ‘I will give them the tatak Buscalan, tatak Kalinga for as long as my eyes can see.’”
The gorgeous shot, which sees Whang-Od posing with her hand under her chin à la Rodin's The Thinker, was taken by photographer Artu Nepomuceno.
Vogue Philippines further detailed the cover star's work in another post, the caption of which read: “By tattooing people outside of her community, Apo Whang-Od sparked renewed interest in the ancient practice of stick and thorn tattooing, which had started to fade away. Now, the 106-year-old mambabatok is leading a new generation of tattoo artists who are eager to carry on the tradition.”
According to CNN, the oldest person to ever grace a Vogue cover prior to Whang-Od was Academy Award-winning actress Judi Dench. The Belfast star was featured on the front of British Vogue in May 2020 at 85 years old.
What a truly stunning cover.
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