Photos of a 72-year-old Chinese man modelling stylish clothes for young women have recently went viral online, after his granddaughter posted them on China’s largest retail website. What started out as a silly joke turned into a massive advertising campaign for her store.

We’ve had posts about successful elderly fashion models before, but Liu Xianping, a grandfather from China, is the first elderly male model who reached Internet stardom for modelling girls’ clothes. Liu, 72, has been posing for his granddaughter’s female fashion store on Tmall and although the garments are designed for sweet and cute teen girls, featuring rosy shades, laces and ribbons, he totally pulled it off. His confidence in front of the camera, his slim physique and pair of long skinny legs have apparently gained the admiration of millions and made some girls green with envy. And most importantly, his granddaughter’s store sales have increased 5 times since his pictures went viral.

Liu Xianping has been modelling clothes for Yuekou, a Tmall female fashion store started in May by 5 recent college graduates. One of the five is Liu’s granddaughter  Ms. Lv. Apparently, the whole thing started as a joke, one day when her grandfather came to help them with unpacking their creations. In an interview with Chinese media, the girl said: “He picked up one piece and tried to give some advice on how to mix and match. We thought it was fun so we started shooting.” Apparently many of the combinations in the fashion photos are her grandfather’s ideas. He put on short skirts, long stockings, dresses and sometimes even wore wigs to get that genuine teen girl look.

So how does Liu Xianping feel about his fashion exploits? “Why unacceptable (for someone like me to wear women’s clothes ? Modeling 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,” he told a journalist. Reactions from Chinese netizens have been overwhelmingly positive; many of them thought he was cool, open-minded, and some even compared him to Karl Lagerfeld.

via Offbeat China