Want Show As Young: The world’s oldest Instagram influencers? Meet Chang Wan-ji and Hsu Sho-er, the octogenarian couple behind a laundry shop – with 650,000 followers, and counting
Grandson Reef Chang set up the @wantshowasyoung Instagram account as a way to highlight sustainable fashion and put a smile on his grandparents’ faces – 3 months later the handle has attracted followers from across the world with its kooky pictures of the 80-something couple modelling old clothes left behind by customers
In June this year, Reef Chang made a decision that changed the lives of his octogenarian grandparents forever. He posted the first Instagram photos to @wantshowasyoung – an account that has now already amassed more than 650,000 followers. Not bad for 83-year-old Chang Wan-ji and his wife, Hsu Sho-er, 84, the owners of Wansho Laundry in central Taiwan.
Seeing the life of my grandparents is very boring. I can‘t bear to see them sitting in a daze every day
It was the height of the pandemic, the whole world turned into a slump. Businesses were slowing down as everyone was in lockdown and Wansho Laundry grew eerily quiet.
This was when Reef Chang decided to put a smile on his grandparents’ faces by dressing them up in some of the clothes that had been left in the laundry shop over the years. Little did he know that he was also going to brighten everybody’s day, or least the thousands of followers just around the corner.
“Since I have been aware of the problem that no one takes the laundry when I was a child, I hope that through a move, I will let everyone know that they must remember to pick up the clothes or help them find a new owner. Besides, seeing the life of my grandparents is very boring. I can‘t bear to see them sitting in a daze every day. I hope to give them some changes and fun in their later life,” Reef Chang said in an interview after the account suddenly went viral.
Chang Wan-ji started working in the laundry shop at 14, which makes it around 70 years old. His grandson, Reef, is also helping in the family business whenever he can. Over time many clothes have not been collected. And these are what the couple have been wearing in their posts, mixed with their own clothes and styled with a little help from Reef.
“They are very happy because many netizens will encourage them and praise them, as if there are many more grandchildren in the world,” Reef said. “They also feel that they have done a good thing, telling many elderly people not to limit themselves.”
Overwhelmed with support from around the world, they even gave back. Reef posted a giveaway in July, where he wanted to share 30 badge patches of the shop logo.