Who is Vogue’s Oldest Cover Model Apo Whang-Od? Few Fascinating Facts You May Not Want To Miss It

Updated On March 18, 2024 | Published By: Gracie Hale | In Career , Interesting Facts

Source: Lifestyle Asia

Apo Whang-Od is a Filipina tattoo artist from Buscalan, Tinglayan, Kalinga, Philippines
She is listed as the oldest person to ever be featured on the cover of a Vogue magazine
Whang-Od is also considered the oldest mambabatok or traditional Kalinga tattooist from the tribe of Butbut in Buscalan, Kalinga

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Meet Vogue Philippines’ cover model for its April issue

Apo Whang-Od has been featured on the cover of the 2023 April issue of Vogue in the Philippines edition of the magazine. She is listed as the oldest person to ever be featured on the cover of a Vogue magazine.

On Thursday, March 30, the official Instagram page of the magazine announced as the cover star of its April issue.

The magazine shared a photo of Whang-Od posing with her hand, which was taken by photographer Artu Nepomuceno.

“Apo Maria ‘Whang-Od’ Oggay symbolizes the strength and beauty of the Filipino spirit.”

Apo Whang-Od has been featured on the cover of the 2023 April issue of Vogue in the Philippines (Source: WIKI)

“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.’”

Besides, she is also thought to be the oldest person to feature on the front page of the magazine. Before her, Judi Dench was featured in British Vogue’s oldest cover star ahead 85 in 2020.

She is one of the few Vogue cover stars to come from an Indigenous community.

Also read Timothee Chalamet Makes History as the First Male to Grace the Cover of British Vogue!

Where is Apo Whang-Od from? How old she Is?

Apo Whang-Od, who is also known as Maria Oggay, is from Buscalan, a remote, mountainous village in the Kalinga province of the northern Philippines.

Apo Whang-Od is listed as the oldest person to ever be featured on the cover of a Vogue magazine (Source: NewsBreak Original)

According to Wiki, she was born on February 17, 1917. As of 2023, she is 106 years old.

At the age of 15, she learned tattooing from her father, who was considered a master tattooist in the region. She has been doing the batok for more than the past 80 years.

Apo Whang-Od is a hand-taped tattoo artist

Apo is also considered the oldest mambabatok or traditional Kalinga tattooist from the tribe of Butbut in Buscalan, Kalinga.

The equipment for tribal tattoos required a bamboo stick with a thorn at the end, water, and coal. A mambabatok can only pass their skill down through their bloodline so, she is training her grandniece Grace Palicas to continue the tribe’s tattoo tradition.

While interviewing with Vogue Philippines, Whang-Od expressed she intends to continue tattooing for as long as her sight allows. She said,

“Why not keep tattooing while I can see? I’ll only stop when I can no longer see, so I can continue to give people the mark of Buscalan, the mark of Kalingaa.”

Apo Whang-Od is the oldest mambabatok or traditional Kalinga tattooist (Source: Tumblr)

Apo Whang-Od has never been married

The relationship status of Apo Whang-Od is single.

She previously dated a guy named Ang-Butbut warrior, Butbut warrior, when she was very young. However, many elders objected to their relationship, believing the man’s bloodline was not pure.

Ang-Butbut later married Whang-od’s best friend Hogkajon. Sadly, Ang-Batanh later died as a result of a logging accident.

After that, she stayed single and decided to not marry.

Also, read Who is Gabriella Karefa-Johnson? Meet the 1st Black Woman to Style a Vogue Cover

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