Photo: YouTube
You're never too old to model!
By Emily Francos — Written on Jul 29, 2020
An 80-year-old couple has officially proven that age ain't nothing but a number, even when it comes to being Instagram models.
Hsu Hsiu-e, 84 years old, and her husband Chang Wan-ji, 83 years old, have been washing clothes in the Houli District of Taichung City, Taiwan.
Wan-ji started the laundromat at the age of 14 to help support his family.
Their grandson, Reef Chang, recently convinced them to take some of the pieces of clothing left over the 70 years that they have worked at their laundromat and start modeling them and posted the pictures on Instagram.
Now, as a laundromat owner, the biggest rule in the industry was to never wear someone else's clothes. But as BBC News wrote, "their grandson convinced them to reinterpret fashion, let everyone know that age is not a barrier to having fun with clothing, and that even old clothes can be transformed into trendy outfits."
Reef told BBC News, "They didn't understand at first. They also don't understand fashion trends, but when they were young they were very fashionable. They thought why would people of this generation like clothes from their generation?"
Reef said that he wanted to give his grandparents something to do out of their normal, everyday life.
Reef told BBC News, "Their business is not always busy. They would doze off in the shop and their spirits weren't high. So I thought since our family has these clothes, I can remind people to pick up their clothes, and remind my grandparents their life can still be great even in old age."
Hsiu-e told BBC News, "I never would've thought at my age so many people would want to look at pictures of me.
He convinced his grandparents to try something new and with the help of some of his friends. Reef mixed and matched a lot of the clothing left at the laundromat and accessorized them with purses, hats, and sunglasses.
He then took awesome pictures in front of their shop.
Wan-ji said, "Dressed like that, I feel 30 years younger.
The couple has donated hundreds of clothing items to charities for those who have suffered from natural disasters. But they still have so many pieces of clothing at their shop that have not been claimed.
Now they have over 130,000 followers on Instagram from people all around the world.
The biggest thing the couple is doing is showing others to not see age as an obstacle in life when you try to look trendy or try and have fun.
Hsiu-e said, "Many people are not really old, it's just their heart is old. They say they don't have any energy and they rest and rest till their health declines."
Reef explained to BBC News that this experience has been most rewarding when he said, "What really touched me is many people typed really long messages to me saying it reminded them that they haven't spent much time with their grandparents."
Reef also said, "I feel when I was young, they gave all their time for me. Now that they're so old, I don't know how much more time I will have to spend with them," and "They're very happy now; they've never been recognized like this."
They are not looking to retire anytime soon and Reef is preparing to do a "winter season collection" next.
Above all else, the family wants to remind everyone to not forget to pick up your laundry.
Emily Francos is a writer who covers relationships, pop culture, and news topics.