Apo Whang-Od, 106 years old, appears on the cover of this month's Vogue Philippines. She's the oldest person ever to be on the cover of Vogue. Whang-Od is a master of an indigenous "hand-tapped" tattoo technique using a bamboo stick, a thorn, water, and coal.
"We felt she represented our ideals of what is beautiful about our Filipino culture," Vogue Philippines editor-in-chief Bea Valdes told CNN. "We believe that the concept of beauty needs to evolve, and include diverse and inclusive faces and forms. What we hope to speak about is the beauty of humanity."
From Vogue Philippines on Instagram:
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."
