Seventy-Two-Year-Old Grandfather, China’s Latest Teen Fashion Model

Move over, ladies. There’s a new face of teenage fashion in town: a 72-year-old, 5-foot-5 grandfather from China named Liu Xianping. And boy, can he pull off a sweater-skirt-scarf combo.

Photos of Liu Xianping modelling women’s clothing – including coats, skirts and leggings (not to mention the occasional wig) – have gone viral since they were posted to a website for Yuekou, an online clothing retailer run in part by his granddaughter Lv Ting.

“Why unacceptable for someone like me to wear women’s clothes?” Liu asked in China Newsweek. “Modelling for the store is helping my granddaughter, and I have nothing to lose. We were very happy on the day of the shooting. I’m very old, and all that I care about is to be happy.”

It’s reported that Liu’s unlikely rise from helpful grandparent to Internet fashion sensation began when he was helping his granddaughter decide which items of clothing work best together.

“He picked up one piece and tried to give some advice on how to mix and match,” Lv Ting said in the same article. “We thought it was fun so we started shooting.”

Thanks to the power of the World Wide Web, the images went viral and, according to the Daily Mail, the site’s sales “have increased fivefold.”

If that wasn’t encouragement enough, Liu’s fan base is growing. The website offbeatchina.com quoted one fan as commenting, “He almost feels like Karl Lagerfeld!” and another praising his “good figure, especially those legs!”