Katherine Von Drachenberg, known as Kat Von D (born March 8, 1982), is an American tattoo artist, model, musician, author, entrepreneur, and television personality. She is best known for her work as a tattoo artist on the TLC reality show LA Ink, which premiered in the United States on August 7, 2007, and aired for four seasons. She is also known for being the former head of Kat Von D Beauty (now KVD Vegan Beauty).
In 2008, Von D created and launched a makeup line for Sephora. She released new collections each year and expanded the line to include fragrances. In 2012, through Sephora, her New American Beauty Art Tour benefited the charity organization Art of Elysium. In June 2016, she announced that all products in the line would be reformulated to be vegan. In August 2016, the line released a limited edition lipstick called Project Chimps, with 20% of sales donated to Project Chimps, an organization dedicated to providing care for retired research chimpanzees.
Her makeup line later became embroiled in controversy after releasing a lipstick named “Selektion.” The word “Selektion” is widely considered controversial and inappropriate in her native Germany, where it was used by the Nazis to determine who would be selected to work or die upon arrival at concentration camps. The backlash led to the lipstick being renamed “Beloved.” This decision was even more controversial due to her implication in other antisemitic acts. Von D faced criticism again when she named a lipstick “Celebutard.” Sephora quickly pulled the lipstick from stores and issued an apology.
Von D is the founder of the MusInk Tattoo Convention and Music Festival, which began in 2008. MusInk is an all-ages tattoo, music, and art festival held in Southern California.
On September 2, 2010, Von D opened the art gallery and boutique Wonderland Gallery in the space adjacent to High Voltage Tattoo. She launched the clothing lines KVD Los Angeles and Kat Von D Los Angeles in the United States and Canada in the fall of 2011, with the latter expanding internationally the following year.