Oh My Lordi: The legendary Finnish rock monsters make their (vegan) modelling debut

In a studio in northern Helsinki, an unexpected meeting of art forms is taking place. A group of ghoulish characters, plucked from a wild nightmare, are donning the finest designer handbags. There’s a chartreuse Prada raffia tote, a blazing neon orange Balenciaga Bistro Basket, a monogram Gucci 1955 Horsebit and a parakeet green Bottega Veneta crossbody bag, amongst others – all crafted from vegan materials.

It was a special request made by today’s models, also known as the legendary Finnish rock band Lordi, who have collaborated with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, for a while now. “We’re all about being cruelty-free – from the makeup we use in our masks to the materials used in our outfits,” says frontman Mr Lordi. “All of us are fierce animal lovers, and all band members have pets.” Currently in Mr Lordi’s home in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland, resides his beloved dog and 10 snakes. “I also used to have cats and 18 spiders,” he adds, nonchalantly.

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We’re perched on bar stools in a quiet corner while his bandmates are having their solo shots taken. Mr Lordi cuts a menacing figure – over two metres tall in his bulky attire – yet the man behind the mask is polite and pleasant. “It’s so fun. There must be heaps of models who’d kill to be in Vogue, and it’s kind of crazy that we’re here,” he says of his band’s Vogue Scandinavia debut. “I love photoshoots; I even prefer them to performing. When you’re on stage, you’re repeating the same thing, but today, we’re creating something new. Plus, I love any chance to wear my costume.”

Speaking of costumes, Mr Lordi’s spine-chilling get-up, along with those of the rest of the band members, Hella, Mana, Kone, and Hiisi, have been completely designed and crafted by the frontman himself. It’s a passion that was ignited within the artist, whose real name is Toni Putaansuu, as a preschooler. “I was reading a lot of horror comics like Hulk and Dracula and I really wanted to look like the characters,” he recalls. “So I went through my mum’s makeup bag and learned how to draw a monster face on myself. I also cut milk cartons and repurposed them into fangs.”

At just 18, Mr Lordi formed the band of his dreams. Two years later, the masks entered the picture. It was the mid-1990s, and through his final project in art school – also Lordi’s first-ever music video – the budding singer had finally found the perfect way to combine what he cherished the most: rock music (“I’m a diehard Kiss and Alice Cooper fan”), monsters and special effects makeup. Initially, only the music video’s actors sported the ensembles created by Mr Lordi, but that changed swiftly. “When I saw the end result, I was like, ‘What the f***, it needs to be the other way around!’”, he says.

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While the band had a unique thing going, it took a decade before Lordi secured a record deal. “There were two reasons for why it took so long,” explains Mr Lordi. The first was the band’s image, which was “an absolute no no” for some. Then there were the folks who thought Lordi’s music was too light when compared to their devilish looks. Many of the band’s songs adopt a dynamic, 1980s melodic heavy music style, or classic rock as it’s called today. They’ve even ventured into disco with their tune ‘Believe Me’. “We were told that with our looks, we should either be a death metal band, or change our image,” Mr Lordi says.

But Lordi’s unwavering dedication to their art paid off. In 2002, they finally found a record label that understood their vision. What followed was the band’s first album, Get Heavy, boasting hits like ‘Would You Love A Monsterman’ and ‘Devil Is A Loser’, which have garnered tens of millions of streams on Spotify. Four years later, another career-altering moment arrived when Lordi nabbed the top prize at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with their explosive blockbuster track ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’. If the band was a niche act before, now it was on the world map.

“I don’t have a competitive bone in me,” says Mr Lordi. “And Eurovision wasn’t necessarily something the band was dreaming about doing.” Nevertheless, they couldn’t say no when Lordi was invited to Finland’s Eurovision tryouts. The band ended up dominating the auditions and scored a record number of votes. “It was a lot of fun, and it was great that they asked us to go,” Mr Lordi says. The Eurovision win was a massive deal for Finland and the band’s recognition skyrocketed both locally and abroad. “If you show a picture of Metallica to an 80-year-old granny in Italy, she probably won’t recognise who they are,” Mr Lordi says. “But if you show a picture of Lordi, she most likely will have some sort of idea of who we are.”

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Although almost two decades have passed since Lordi’s big win, the band is doing “better than ever”. Tours, like the one across Europe they’ll be on by the time this issue comes out, fill up much of Lordi’s calendar and this summer will be packed with festival gigs. On top of all that, the band is also working on their next album, which is set to drop next year. “Time is a funny thing,” Mr Lordi says. “It’s been 22 years since our first album, and I hear words like ‘iconic’ and ‘veterans’ used when referring to our band – for me, it still feels like it was yesterday.”

Has he ever thought about doing anything else? “No, I will not set up a village store somewhere or start selling cars, and I definitely won’t retire,” he laughs. For Mr Lordi, making music, being creative and embracing the monsters that have fascinated him forever stem from an intrinsic need. He oversees the entire creative process for the band, from developing new costumes to designing graphics and album covers, and “won’t let anyone else touch it”. Without Mr Lordi, there would be no Lordi. “All of this is as important to me as sleeping and eating,” he says. “I need to do this, I need to create.”