This Taiwanese Couple Modelled Laundry Customers Forgot At Their Laundry Shop And Now They’re Instagram Icons
The couple, Wan-ji and Sho-er, who run a laundry shop in Taichung, Taiwan, have gone viral on Instagram.
An elderly couple who own a laundry shop in Taichung, Taiwan, has gone viral on Instagram for dressing up in outfits assembled from the clothing customers forgot to pick up from their store.
The couple, 83-year-old Wan-ji and 84-year-old Shu-er, have been married for 61 years and have been operating the Wan-Sho Laundry Shop for almost 70 years, their 31-year-old grandson, Reef Chang, told me.
Chang, who runs their Instagram @wantshowasyoung, said ever since he was little, he had noticed that customers often forgot to pick up their clothing from the laundry shop.
He then came up with the idea to dress his grandparents in the leftover clothes because he wanted to remind people not to forget to leave their clothes behind as it results in losses for laundry shop owners and encourage them to support his grandparents and those in their industry.
“Part of it was also because I saw that my grandpa and grandma’s lives were very boring, and they were sitting around everyday doing nothing so I wanted to help them experience some fun and excitement in their later years,” he said.
Chang said Wan-ji and Shu-er initially didn’t believe that people would like the outfits because they considered them “old clothing,” Chang said.
@wantshowasyoung now has more than 111,000 followers, and his grandparents make suggestions on the outfit colors and combinations, even saying things like “This is how I used to wear it.”
Chang said none of them expected the Instagram account to take off internationally.
“For my grandparents, they would have never thought in their entire lives that so many people would fall in love with them,” he said.
Chang said he reads every comment and message to Wan-ji and Shu-er and that the couple are very happy to hear the support and encouragement of people from all around the world.
Chang said they will continue to share photos and that his grandparents hope to show people around the world that they shouldn’t limit themselves.
