Kate Lambert, known professionally as "Kato", is a British model, fashion designer, singer and entrepreneur. A native of Wales, Kato emigrated to the United States in 2007. She became a US citizen in 2019.
One of the most recognisable faces of the steampunk community, Kato has been called "the supermodel of steampunk" and steampunk's "it" girl. Steampunk comic heroine Lady Mechanika was inspired by her look, and her work has been featured in several books on steampunk art and fashion including International Steampunk Fashions, where her photo is featured prominently on the cover.
Kato was also on the cover of the August 2014 issue of Bizarre Magazine, which referred to her as a "steampunk idol" and "pin-up legend". She also appeared on the cover of the Spring 2012 issue of FEY Magazine, and also the covers of September 2012 Ladies of Steampunk and April 2013 LoSP Bronze Age (NSFW) magazines. In July 2016 she was on the cover of Phantasm Magazine's steampunk issue, where she was referred to as "The Queen of Steam".
Kato is a frequent guest speaker at steampunk conventions, most recently Wild Wild West Con in Tucson, Arizona and Salt City Steamfest in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Modelling and inspiration:
Early in her modelling career, Kato modelled for Toxico clothing with Ulorin Vex, and later with Chad Michael Ward. In 2004 she began designing and making outfits that had a Neo-Victorian and post-apocalyptic vibe, then modelled them herself and posted them on MySpace. Her inspiration at that time was the 1800s meets Mad Max and Tank Girl, but she didn't know what to call her style until former Abney Park vocalist Magdalene Veen noticed her work and pointed out "how Steampunk" her illustrations and style were.
