The oldest person to ever appear on the cover of Vogue magazine is a 106-year-old tattoo artist from the Philippines.

The hand-tapped traditional tribal tattoos that adorn Apo Whang-Od, also known as Maria Oggay, are seen on her arms and chest in the April issue of Vogue Philippines.

The oldest mambabatok in the nation, Whang-Od, is based in the mountain community of Buscalan in the Kalinga region, about a 15-hour drive from Manila (traditional Kalinga tattoo artist).

According to the cover story, the centenarian started tattooing under her father’s instruction when she was 16 years old. She travelled to remote communities to use a bamboo stick with a thorn at the end to inscribe sacred symbols on the skin of ladies and headhunting warriors.

Whang-Od, who is in a rural area of the nation, is accustomed to the spotlight because of his appearance in the Discovery Channel documentary series Tattoo Hunter from 2007. Whang-Od, who was around 90 years old at the time the documentary was recorded, continued to labour daily in the rice fields.

Actress Dame Judi Dench, who was featured on the cover of British Vogue in 2020 at the age of 85, held the title for being the oldest Vogue cover model before Whang-Od’s debut on the cover of Vogue Philippines.