(NYO) From the beginning, Vogue Philippines editors had no plans to style or dress Whang-Od. The goal was “representation, not appropriation.”
The April edition of Vogue Philippines gained worldwide attention when it put 106-year-old Apo Whang-Od—also known as Maria Oggay—on the cover of its Beauty Issue. Choosing Whang-Od was an especially bold statement considering it has been less than a year since Vogue Philippines released its debut issue in August 2022. The move sets up the new publication as one that tells important women’s stories and depicts beauty beyond the Hollywood influencer-model-actress archetype.
Whang-Od is not only the oldest person to ever be on the cover of Vogue but also a beautiful person with a fascinating story to tell. As the accompanying article by features editor Audrey Carpio revealed, the thousand-year-old practice of batok tattooing will continue purely because Apo Whang-Od has been training her descendants in the tradition… Read More
