Social media went crazy after Whang-od — the famed Kalinga tattoo artist — appeared on the cover of the April edition of Vogue Philippines, effectively becoming the oldest Vogue cover star ever at 106 years old.
Whang-od headlines the magazine’s beauty issue, with her portrait taken by Artu Nepomuceno.
The hype wasn’t just confined to the Philippines, though. The rest of the world took notice of Whang-od, who has been nominated as a National Living Treasure, and is credited with keeping alive the dying art of batok, a traditional way of tattooing, in her remote and mountainous village of Buscalan in Kalinga province.
Even Hollywood star Halle Berry took to social media to proclaim her love of Vogue’s choice.
The John Wick 3 star shared Whang-od’s cover with her followers on Instagram and Twitter.
“Now THIS is beauty,” she wrote.
Berry has 8.3 million followers on Instagram and over 800,000 on Twitter.
“She’s awesome. 106 years old!” Mario Lopez commented.
“Thank you for always empowering what is truly important,” Nepomuceno, who took the cover photo, wrote.
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