In the world of celebrity children that is always changing, North West, the 12-year-old daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, is one of the most interesting. North was born into a world of fame, fortune, and constant attention. She has always been a little troublemaker, mixing innocence with bold fashion choices that make headlines. But her latest TikTok debut, which was a bunch of videos showing fake face tattoos, a septum piercing, black grillz, and electric blue braids, has sparked a lot of debate. Is this just a young person’s way of trying things out, or is it a call for limits in a life without them? As North and her friends with the same style lip-sync to viral songs, the internet goes crazy with concern, admiration, and everything in between.
The big reveal happened on the weekend of October 18-19, 2025, on North’s and her mother’s joint TikTok account, @kimandnorth, which has more than 10 million followers. The pre-teen looks almost like a different person in a series of clips. Her signature brown hair is now long, bright blue braids with highlights that frame her face, which has changed because of temporary art. A delicate star tattoo is under one eye, and cursive writing that is said to spell her name curves beautifully across the other cheek. Bright blue contact lenses give you an otherworldly look, and fake lashes that flutter like butterfly wings make it even more so. But the hardware is what really stands out: a fake septum piercing glints in her nose, a subtle lip ring illusion, and her smile shows off black grillz that scream hip-hop swagger. North wears an oversized black T-shirt, baggy shorts, chunky sneakers, and layers of chunky silver necklaces. She strikes poses on a private jet and backstage at an OsamaSon concert. OsamaSon is a rising rapper whose beats have the same rebellious energy.
Millions of people watched the videos in just a few hours. They show North and her friends lip-syncing to popular audio clips while making peace signs and smirks. One video shows them huddled together in a dimly lit area behind the stage. You can feel the excitement of the concert even through the screen. “This is us,” the energy seems to say, a statement of tween unity in a world that often sees them as accessories to their famous parents. But even though it looks like it doesn’t care, the style comes from rough urban subcultures. For example, think of Lil Uzi Vert’s diamond forehead implant or Post Malone’s inked face, but with a rebellious twist. It’s clear that these aren’t permanent marks; North’s caption stresses the “fake” part. Still, the boldness feels huge for someone still in middle school.
The public’s reaction has been predictably split, like a digital Rorschach test for people’s worries about youth, fame, and being a woman. Comments on sites like X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit range from supportive cheers to outright fear. “She’s 12, not 21—where are the parents?” one person said on the Daily Mail article thread. This is a common belief that tattoos and piercings, even fake ones, make people seem older than they are. Another person joked, “What in the Kanye West is going on?” This was a reference to her father’s own history of pushing the limits of fashion, from his Yeezy seasons to his controversial public persona. Some people say that the look glamorizes a “thug life” stereotype that isn’t good for kids and could lead to real-world judgment or exploitation. “This is just sad… she’s growing up too fast,” wrote a Yahoo commenter, linking it to larger worries about child stars losing their childhoods to performative adulthood. Some people even think that family plays a role, pointing to Kanye’s recent work with edgy artists or Kim’s SKIMS campaigns that use suggestive images.
On the other hand, supporters call North a pioneer who isn’t afraid to show off her creativity in an industry that eats up young people. One TikTok user said, “If you like it, totally do it—it’s really cute!” They were happy that people could express themselves. Fashion fans on Us Weekly praised how well the outfit went together, saying that the blue braids and metallic accents gave it a cyberpunk look straight out of a Balenciaga runway—ironic, since North has been sitting in the front row at Paris Fashion Week since she was 10.
For a lot of Gen Z and Alpha commenters, this isn’t surprising; it’s just another day in the TikTok world, which is full of AR filters for fake tattoos and piercings. They say that North’s look makes high-fashion rebellion more accessible and easy to get rid of. In a time when kids make digital profiles before they even tie their shoes, why should a girl be ashamed for playing dress-up with ink that washes off?
This isn’t the first time North has worn clothes that caused a stir. Just a few weeks ago, in early September 2025, paparazzi took pictures of her in Rome with what looked like a dermal piercing on her middle finger. It was a flat, embedded anchor that caused its own controversy.
Kim and North were on vacation in the beautiful Eternal City, but everyone was looking at the tween’s edgy accessory, which she wore with electric blue ponytails and a heart-shaped purse. Brian Keith Thompson, a professional piercer at Body Electric Tattoo in LA, told People that these kinds of changes need consent from people over 18 because the healing process is complicated. This sparked debates about whether it was real or costume jewelry. At the time, Kim was also in trouble, with sites like LADbible asking if the SKIMS mogul was putting looks ahead of making choices that were right for her age.
If you go back even more, the pattern gets clearer. Fans and even a source close to Kanye were angry when North wore a strapless black corset and mini-skirt to a dinner in Rome in August 2025. The source said North was “way too young to be parading around like this.”
Later, Kim took responsibility for the mistake on Hulu’s The Kardashians, saying, “We made that mistake in front of the whole world.” But she also stood up for her daughter’s independence: “All the kids are wearing the same things, but when my daughter tries it, I’m like, ‘OK, we’re never wearing that again.'” This tension—encouraging individuality while protecting from criticism—is similar to the Kardashian-West co-parenting relationship, which has been strained since Kanye’s divorce from Kim in 2022 and the headlines that followed.
On October 15, 2025, Kim talked about the parenting tightrope directly on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast. “It’s really hard,” she said, remembering how happy North’s blue hair phase made her. “Babe, it is what it is if you want blue hair.” She is so happy about it.
But the Rome corset disaster showed her where she could go too far: “Sadly, we did that in front of the whole world.” Kim is the strict-but-protective mom, while Kanye is more relaxed. Remember his 2020 interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! where he said he wished he had bought stock in “North’s future”?
Sources say that Ye, who is now working on his Vultures album trilogy, encourages North’s artistic side because he sees parts of his own disruptive genius in it. But since Kim is the main guardian, the buck stops with her. This is even more true because she is a style icon whose every move sets trends.
North’s “shocking” look is really just a sign of a bigger cultural change: the shortening of adolescence in the age of social media. In the past, teens would rebel in secret garages with safety pins. Now, kids share their experiments with billions of people. Platforms like TikTok, which use algorithms to create echo chambers, reward extreme behavior. For example, fake tattoos get more likes than fairy wings. This isn’t so much rebellion for North, whose life has been filmed since she was born in 2013 (hello, KUWTK delivery special). It’s more like refinement. She isn’t sneaking out; she’s putting on a show on the side of a concert with her parents watching. The private jet is a reminder of her gilded cage.
Psychologists might have something to say here: Dr. Gail Saltz, a psychiatrist in New York City, has said in past interviews that famous kids often act out to feel in control when things are out of control. North’s choices—temporary, thematic, and group-oriented—scream, “I’m in charge of my image.” This is a healthy change from the passive paparazzi fodder she was when she was a toddler. And let’s not forget the joy: those videos are full of fun, which is very different from the “concern” that adults show when they project their problems onto kids.
As North turns 12 in the middle of all this chaos, her future looks bright. She has already voiced characters in Paw Patrol and performed with her mom at the 2024 Grammys, which suggests that she has a lot of different talents. Will this fake ink phase go away like last season’s SKIMS drop, or will it become a bigger part of her brand? Only time will tell, and maybe a post from Kim will help. For now, North West reminds us that in the Kardashian world, surprises happen all the time, and the family business is to change things up. At 12, she’s not just showing off a new look; she’s writing her own story, one temporary tattoo at a time.
