Fashion celebrity and Instagram star Japanese grandfather, 84, shows age is no barrier to being hip

Wearing an untucked check shirt under a combat jacket that hangs loosely off his shoulders, “Silver” Tetsuya looks every inch the model.

His orange trousers are appropriately baggy, his trainers are the latest release and the yellow-lensed glasses are so hot they’re cool.

He tops the ensemble with a brand-name baseball cap and a casual, almost ironic smile – and he has every reason to smile. He is 84 years old, is a retired teacher who lives in one of the most rural areas of northern Japan and has not once mooched moodily along a catwalk.

Silver Tetsuya is living evidence of the adage that in the age of Instagram, anyone can be a model.

“I used to be the principal of a high school but I retired 20 years ago and started doing some farming,” he tells the Post.

“I’m still in good health and I travel back and forth between Akita prefecture and Tokyo by myself, so I would say that I’m enjoying life without being too conscious about getting old.”

The idea of getting Tetsuya kitted out in the latest fashions came from Naoya Kudo, his 29-year-old grandson, who works in advertising and convinced his grandfather to be a little more daring.

“I’m not sure where my own interest in fashion comes from,” he says. “Perhaps it is because I am originally from the countryside that I thought it would be cool to do something that is very different from other people here.”

And the very first time he got his octogenarian grandad into the latest fashions, they were in stitches.

“So far, we have done 20 fashion shoots with different looks and there are lots of outfits that I have not posted on social media yet, so we’re going to be adding more to his site soon,” Naoya says. “Ultimately, I would like to hold a photo exhibition or create a photo fashion book and be able to give it to my grandfather.”

Neither, however, had any idea just how famous Silver Tetsuya was going to become.

He initially showcased his grandfather on Twitter, but provoked such a response that he set up his grandfather’s dedicated Instagram account.

The account now has nearly 100,000 followers and a recent series of images gained him 10,000 followers in a single day – and Tetsuya affectionately refers to them as “students”.

Whether it’s Naoya’s photos, Silver Tetsuya’s natural insouciance in front of the lens or the clothes – or a combination of all three – his “look” has caught the imagination.

A long, black jacket cinched at the waist with a Dolce & Gabbana belt and worn with purple tracksuit bottoms and a black aviator’s-style hat. A baggy black T-shirt emblazoned with a skull motif matched with orange shorts, a leather bag at his waist and a baseball cap. Tight black-and-white striped trousers paired with a tiger short and a Russian-style hat with fur ear-warmers pulled down.

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In another shot he is giving a piece of farm machinery some encouragement with a perfectly shined pair of black leather boots.

There is nothing, apparently, that Silver Tetsuya will not try in the name of fashion.

“I would not say that I have any particular favourites when it comes to brands, but recently I have been wearing Alyx, Loewe and Kudos,” says Tetsuya.

Tetsuya’s 84-year-old wife, Chizuko, has encouraged him to explore his inner fashionista. Naoya says she was initially surprised when they went on a shoot together but now she just finds it all very amusing.

“I think it’s great when someone who is in their 80s is not afraid to try something that is very different and very new,” he says.

“By watching my grandfather, I have also learned some very important lessons. And I hope that other people who see my grandfather and what he has done are inspired to try something they might never have thought of doing before.”