Rick Genest

Rick Genest, known as Zombie Boy, was a Canadian model and performer who made his own body an evolving artwork. His skeletal tattoos became internationally recognizable through Mugler and Lady Gaga, bringing a character developed in Montreal’s underground scene into fashion photography and popular culture.

Raised in Châteauguay, Quebec, Rick got his first tattoo, a skull and crossbones on his shoulder, at 16. He later moved into Montreal’s punk community and began developing a full-body design with tattoo artist Frank Lewis.

Bones and insects formed an elaborate anatomical image across his skin. Sideshow performance was another part of his working life before fashion, giving the Zombie Boy character a stage as well as a visual identity.

Nicola Formichetti encountered photographs of Rick online and contacted him through Facebook. Their collaboration led to Mugler’s fall-winter 2011 menswear imagery and a runway appearance in Paris, Rick’s first trip outside Canada.

He then appeared in Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” video, where the singer wore makeup resembling his tattoos. The same character connected the fashion show, campaign photographs, and music video.

Rick described his approach to the runway in a 2014 interview with AnOther. “They showed me how to walk. I changed it up and they loved my style,” he recalled of his first Mugler show. The tattoos had developed gradually, and his work with photographers extended the performance he had already created around them.

Magazine assignments included Arena Homme+ with Steven Klein and GQ Style with Karim Sadli. A Dermablend film reversed the usual reveal, concealing his tattoos with makeup before Rick wiped it away. Advertising for Rocawear and an appearance in 47 Ronin extended his work into other commercial and screen settings.

His 2016 editorial for Dressed to Kill Men, photographed by Sylvain Blais, placed him in tailoring and evening wear, keeping the tattooed character central to a different type of menswear image.

Rick died in Montreal on August 1, 2018, aged 32. A subsequent coroner’s investigation concluded that his death followed an accidental fall. His fashion career remains closely associated with a form of self-invention that began before his first professional booking.