The album's release coincided with a change in Nico's look, when she adopted what has been called a "gothic horror princess" persona and "switched from dyed blonde to dark henna and started wearing black, heavy fabrics and boots". As a result, in addition to being a musical prototype for the goth subculture, Nico became a visual one as well. Claire Marie Healy wrote, "Nico's visual statement of these years speaks of the power that comes with creating a new persona for yourself" and she described the singer as "the first ever goth girl". By the early 1980s, many women began to dress like Nico; nicknamed "Nico-teens", they were the first goth girls, encouraging a cult following for the singer.