It’s big and it’s bland, full of tension and fear. They do it over there but we don’t do it here. Fashion! Turn to the left. Fashion! Turn to the right. We are the silver squad and we’re coming to town. The first part comes courtesy of David Bowie, the last sentence of China’s shíshàng nǎinai (时尚奶奶 in Chinese).
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Literally translating as “fashion(able) grannies,” but occasionally referred to as glammas–the new generation of grandmas who are stylish in the way they live and dress and do not fit the typical cardigan-bearing, permed hair granny stereotype, this quartet of late-aged urbanite women entered the (live)stream of their golden years with gusto, strutting their stuff on catwalk and cover alike.
The fab foursome consists of former librarian Wang Nianwen, 75; retired basketball player Lin Wei, 66; once-upon-a-time English teacher Sun Yang, 65; and accounting pensioner Wang Xinghuo, 71. First joining the realm of modeling in the early 1990s, the ladies today have indulged in the industry to their full-time post-retirement delight.
Arguably soaring to supermodel status, they put on impromptu catwalks that attract adoring crowds across China’s trendiest territories, while their online following soars well north of a million. Hashtag: Squad goals.
Presenting the changes in their own blueprint for life, with a sartorial lining: the shíshàng nǎinai
A New Face
The seventh national census released in May 2021 showed that by 2050, one in three people in China, or 487 million people, will be over the age of 60 – that’s more than the total population of the U.S. No other country in the world is facing such a great demographic challenge… Seems like quite the gloomy scenario, but, for now, let’s focus on the positive: a whole new world of supply and demand is opening up.
A combination of continuous innovation, be it on the nation’s social or digital levels, thrusting China’s wind of change has affected all layers of society and the older generation has certainly not been an exception. This sprouting population of silver foxes and vixens, combined with rising incomes and living standards, means an explosion in consumption by China’s elderly people is forecast in the next decades ahead. The 2021 China Report on the Development of the Silver Industry reads that the spending potential of China’s 60-plus populace will soar to 106 trillion yuan ($25.1 trillion) by 2050, making up a third of the nation’s GDP. This means that China will become the country with the world’s largest silver market.
And with that calculation, once expected to selflessly stay at home and look after the grandkids, seniors – particularly women – have become a coveted market for products such as clothing, accessories, cosmetics and travel, according to Mintel Consulting. And as is the case with any hot-off-the-press product, or market, there’s always the need for a new face.
Ma Yinhong. Image via Dawn
Role Models
In the past five years, international catwalks have taken on board age diversity and models like 62-year-old American Jacky O’Shaughnessy, 76-year-old modeling veteran Jan de Villeneuve, and of course, this name might ring a bell with most, Elon Musk’s mother: Maye Musk. These silver ladies have been making waves as fashion’s most-coveted runway assets over the past five years.
Once confined largely to life insurance and healthcare advertisements, today’s glamorous Chinese seniors, too, cater to the high fashion appetite. The number of fashion brands in China that are marketed to the elderly doubled between 2017 and 2019, according to a recent report in the South China Morning Post. But the silver lining here is not just confined to the acknowledgement of their physical “worth;” it marks a new window of opportunity. These catwalk veterans are becoming far more than mere brand billboards; they embody new lifestyles.
Fifty-nine-year-old-year-old Ma Yinhong first caught the author’s stylish expat eye on WeChat, as the mother of an acquaintance; it’s a small fashion world. Ma, the oldest model to hold court at Shanghai Fashion Week last year, has become one of a growing number of older models greatly desired by Chinese and international labels courting China’s growing faction of “silver spenders.” This echoes a trend now well established in Western markets, where brands have been keen to tap the pockets of the affluent baby-boomer generation. Ma seems to embody this target market of older Chinese who are spending more on themselves. And are using their newfound name and fame, perhaps unintentionally so, to establish their own brands. That of role models.
The Fab Four. Beijing-style. Image courtesy of the shíshàng nǎinai
The Digital Stomp
Portraying older models in active, youthful lifestyles sells well in a culture with a strong tradition of respect and deference towards elders. And what other platform would better suit their further promotion… than social media.
With her expanding presence on popular Chinese consumer platforms like Little Red Book (小红书| xiǎohóngshū) and exponentially rising follower numbers on short-video apps like 抖音 (Dǒuyīn aka the OG TikTok), Ma’s influence stretches well beyond the kaleidoscopically colorful outfits she shows off.
“Many people told me that they are no longer afraid of getting old and having wrinkles and some even dyed their hair white–like mine,” Ma said in an interview with Shine. “If you follow others, then you will lose yourself. I dress only for myself. Even if you say I don’t look good in the clothes, I will still wear them. I can dress in anything depending on my mood and the occasion,” she added. Now that’s what you call branding.
Like Ma, the shíshàng nǎinai’s passion for fashion has stood the test of time, yet their online influencing stint came about rather unexpectedly. “We dabbled in it by accident; it was never really part of the plan,” the group told yours truly. “We were working with a designer in Sanlitun [Beijing’s commercial district] and then got ‘discovered’.” And so the fabric unfolded…
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With their official accounts on various platforms, including their immensely popular Dǒuyīn which boasts almost 2 million followers – including yours truly, the role model memo is glowing up by the viewer. No longer satisfied with striking a pose or gracing a cover, the shíshàng nǎinai have shifted their focus to areas other than modeling, bringing them a deeper sense of fulfillment and joy. Through regular livestreams and other public activities as influencers, whether it’s sharing their experiences in love and life or presenting China’s minority accessory styles, the quartet wants to convey their lust for life, the benefits one can reap from reaching their golden years and an insatiable taste for the unknown.
“Our content is not only watched by our own age group, but also our grandchildren’s generation, which we honestly weren’t expecting,” the squad said. “As part of the silver generation, we believe we must take to the benefits of the digital era with full zest. Many of our peers may assume that they, as seniors, are incapable of making change; which is a completely outdated presumption.” Who knows, perhaps younger viewers, too, can take a leaf out of their playbook. One is, after all, never too old to learn.
Presenting the changes in their own blueprint for life, with a sartorial lining, the shíshàng nǎinai want to prove to their fellow silver vixens that with a passion for beauty and good health, old-age can still become one’s prime time.
Turns out all that glitters… is silver.
THIS ARTICLE IS AN EDITED VERSION OF ELSBETH VAN PARIDON’S FEATURE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN BEIJING REVIEW, VOL.65, ISSUE 2.
FEATURED IMAGE: Elsbeth van Paridon sits down with the shíshàng nǎinai
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Perpetually in pursuit of the greater good that is “China Fashion”, van Paridon set up The China Temper to help promote the dynamite dynamic fashion scene sprouting within Beijing, Shanghai, and China overall. Catering to anybody and everybody who reads English and/or Chinese, Temper covers all the basics and bases. From China's street style scenery to its budding photographers, internationally renowned designers, and underground quirks plus phenomena: We present one hot-hip-happening current collective weaving The New "Made in China" tag.
The term “Made in China” is undergoing the ultimate 21st Century makeover. Escorted by the increasingly strong influence of a new thinking among China’s younger generations, regarding individuality and the expression thereof, the fashion scene in the Middle Kingdom is exploding. And stretches far beyond what meets the eye. It’s appliqué, one might say.
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