Homeless Chinese man becomes ‘derelicte’ fashion icon, web celebrity

This is right out of Zoolander: A beggar living in the Chinese city of Ningbo has become a fashion icon and web celebrity.

But who is this ‘beggar prince’ (aka ‘Brother Sharp’) with the furrowed brow and the ‘penetrating’ gaze?

China’s human flesh searchers had been wondering the same thing. They tracked down his family and orchestrated a reunion. Some details (Xinmin via China Smack):

‘Brother Sharp’s’ real name is called Cheng Guorong, born 1976, and is from Poyang county of Jiangxi province…  According to “Brother Sharp’s” younger brother Cheng Guosheng, “Brother Sharp” has two children attending school in his hometown, that his wife and father suffered a car accident last year and both have passed away…

…Cheng Guosheng said his older brother came to Ningbo in 2000 with others from his hometown to find work, had still been in contact with his family the past few years, but beginning in 2003,  information from him had stopped. Family members have previously came to Ningbo to find him multiple times, with the most recent time being the year before last.”

Cheng Guorong’s brush with fashion fame is both fascinating and tragic. Judging by the comments left online, his fans seem more interested in his cheek bones that his well-being. Said one:

China truly has innumerable handsome guys, Brother Sharp, you are truly too handsome.”

Another:

That frowning look…
Ai yo! My little heart!
Really so handsome!”

As the Independent notes, ‘homeless chic’ is not unique to Ningbo:

The suggestion that homelessness can be cool chimes with a fashion trend that many have considered tasteless: in January, the designer Vivienne Westwood presented a “homeless chic” show in which models were styled to look like rough sleepers, a move prefigured by Ben Stiller’s satirical film Zoolander, which featured a similar show called Derelicte. Two years ago the supermodel Erin Wasson revealed the homeless were her fashion inspiration, saying: “When I… see the homeless, like, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, they’re pulling out, like, crazy looks and they, like, pull shit out of like garbage cans.’”

Ai yo, indeed.