Grannies pose at Hangzhou Hubin Pedestrian Street, July, 2020. [Photo/Hangzhou.com.cn]

Six months ago, the "Fashion Grannies", a group of models who have become an internet sensation, came to Hangzhou to start a second fashion business.

On March 25, 2018, a video featuring an older woman wearing a blue and gray qipao (a traditional Chinese one-piece dress) in the Humble Administrator's Garden of Suzhou was uploaded to the internet. The video was viewed over one million times and shared by more than 40,000 people.

Protagonist Liu Xiaoping is from Beijing and is 72 years old. Standing 1.69 meters, she loves to wear qipao, as she believes it highlights her Eastern beauty.

In her youth, Liu Xiaoping worked as a car sheet metal worker, but she always made sure to dress well. In 1989, she signed up for modeling classes on her days off. Later, she often participated in modeling competitions and performances, but she was not known until the online video went viral.

From then on, she was known as "the most beautiful granny to wear qipao". In June, 2019, she was invited to join Fashion Grannies by He Daling, a 27-year-old woman from Ruian, Wenzhou.

He Daling and another young woman, Hu Yuan, are the founders of Fashion Grannies account. He Daling, who works in marketing and media, was inspired by a fashion week she attended.

Fashion Grannies in Guangzhou, November, 2019 [Photo/Hangzhou.com.cn]

A video of grannies wearing qipao walking around Sanlitun in Beijing on June 3, 2019, quickly became the most-searched item on Sina Weibo, Kwai and Tik Tok. The video received nearly 2.8 million likes and was viewed over 40 million times a day. After that, He Daling decided to enter the elderly fashion industry. The group now has over 2 million followers on both Kwai and Tik Tok.

The group has about 20 members now, mostly from Nanjing, Beijing and Northeast China, all aged between 60 and 75. All the grannies are fit and healthy, and share a deep love for beauty and life. In April, the founders decided to move the group from Beijing to Hangzhou, where the climate is more suitable and the potential for development is greater.

In the company, although many of the employees are below 30 years old, they don't call the models "grandmas"; instead, they call them "sisters".