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Salomé Grouard

When Vietnamese-American singer Sailorr’s first live performances resurfaced online in late 2024, it attracted a lot of attention: not just for her hypnotic music, but for her distinctive black teeth. “So I’m not the only one distracted by her mouth?” read a comment liked nearly 2,700 times under a video of one of her performances.
Against Instagram’s sea of bright-white veneers, Sailorr’s dark smile isn’t just a fashion statement: publicly practising teeth blackening is a homecoming, a cultural reclamation that she and other artists of Asian descent, including Molly Santana and Qui Yasuka, have been reviving in recent years.












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A new take on a centuries-old practice
Teeth aren’t a new canvas for self-expression. We’ve become used to seeing grills and gems everywhere since about the 1980s – the trend owes much to hip-hop culture’s rich influence on fashion and music.
While less known globally, Asia’s traditions of dental adornment are no less culturally profound. Teeth blackening, in particular, has been practised for centuries and was regarded as a rite of passage, a marker of beauty, adulthood and refinement across the region, especially in Vietnam and Japan. In Japan, aristocrats stained their teeth with iron filings and vinegar in a practice called ohaguro from the 11th to 19th centuries. In Vietnam, nhuom rang dates back to the Hung King era (2879-258 BC) and made use of betel, charcoal and beeswax.












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In both cases, the imposition of Western beauty standards during colonial times nearly erased the practice throughout the region, explains Dr Aida Yuen Wong, professor of art history at Brandeis University. “In Vietnam, French colonial rule engendered new beauty standards. And though Japan was never colonised, authorities banned the practice in alignment with Western ideals, driven by a desire to avoid appearing as uncivilised.”
Shunned into near extinction, teeth blackening was mostly preserved by the elders – until artists like Sailorr, and Japanese-American creatives Sukii Baby and Molly Santana, reclaimed the practice and inspired a new generation of women.












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Beauty trend and identity politics
“I’m Vietnamese-American, so I knew of teeth blackening,” says aspiring fashion designer Mou Isabel Phung. “But when I saw Sailorr and Sukii Baby mixing such an old traditional practice into modern fashion, I knew I wanted to do it as well.”
The practice struck a chord with the 20-year-old, who’s been seeking ways to assert her identity as a queer Vietnamese-American in fashion. Growing up in Texas, she was shadowed by Western beauty ideals and endured isolation and racism in fashion school – one of only two Asian students, she was mocked for her skin and facial features and had racial slurs used against her. “It’s been terrifying being a person of colour in America,” she says. “Bringing back teeth blackening is my way to fight back: if the West wants traditional values, I’ll show them mine.”
“Western beauty ideals remain deeply ingrained,” Dr Wong says. “Dark dental ornamentation still sparks strong reactions, as both Asian and Western norms favour white teeth. Reviving these practices is a form of resistance – and a way to reclaim cultural memory and identity.”
For Mou, it’s no coincidence that the trend started to gain recognition in 2024, after Trump’s re-election as president. While part of a broader countercultural pushback, she also sees it as a way for Asian women to reclaim their power in the face of fetishisation.
Challenging fetishisation
Dr Wong notes that these acts of reclamation are especially powerful for women. “They create space to embrace alternative forms of beauty that challenge narrowly defined standards.”
Asian women have long been boxed in by narrow ideals of beauty, Mou adds, which makes reclaiming these traditions both freeing and empowering. The mixed reactions on social media only underscore how deeply these norms persist. “Some people judge the practice purely on whether it’s attractive to them,” she says. “But that’s not the point – we’re celebrating something that was shamed for centuries. We’re not here to fit a gaze.”
It’s a mindset echoed by Sailorr, who wrote in an Instagram caption, “Using traditional practices to embrace my modern femininity reminds me to keep pushing outside the norm.”












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That sense of liberation crystallised for Mou on the runway, when she was invited to wear blackened teeth for her friend Camille Renée’s senior show at the Columbus College of Art and Design. “It made me feel not only accepted, but celebrated for being my authentic self,” she says.
Now, Mou hopes to pass that feeling on. She’s exploring new ways to share the message – from silk-screen prints based on her make-up to future fashion collections. However it takes shape, she plans to keep embracing her heritage – on her own terms.


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Teeth blackening was a traditional practice in countries like Vietnam and Japan, but fell out of favour as Western beauty norms prevailed


Teeth blackening was a traditional practice in countries like Vietnam and Japan, but fell out of favour as Western beauty norms prevailed.


Why Asian women are reclaiming tradition with teeth blackening

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Teeth blackening was a traditional practice in countries like Vietnam and Japan, but fell out of favour as Western beauty norms prevailed

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}A new take on a centuries-old practice

Teeth blackening was a traditional practice in countries like Vietnam and Japan, but fell out of favour as Western beauty norms prevailed

A new take on a centuries-old practice