Designer doctor captivates on catwalk

On Feb 14, Valentine's Day, which fell on the fifth day of the first lunar month as the Chinese were celebrating Spring Festival, Shanghai-based showroom interior designer Huang Weilai found himself unable to sleep after receiving a message from the Milan headquarters of women's fashion brand, Miu Miu.

The Italian brand wanted to invite Huang's mother Qin Huilan, who turned 71 in December, to walk their runway show at the Paris Fashion Week for its Fall and Winter 2024 collection show.

"I was so excited and I couldn't believe it," says the 34-year-old. "I've been following fashion news for years and I know that selecting models for runway shows is very important. I am so proud that my mother, a woman in her 70s, was invited."

Qin shared her son's excitement. Born and raised in Liuzhou in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, she is a retired physician. After accepting the invitation, she left for Paris on March 2.

"The 70-year-old wore a long gray coat with silver embellishments, a pair of oversized metallic gloves, a black scarf, a small brown leather bag and a pair of pointy-toe Mary Janes. … Huilan had plenty of eyes on her while she walked the runway, as the fashion house had a stacked front row. ... But she walked like a pro and brought her love of the house to the forefront," an article on the website of American magazine People said on March 5 after the show.

Qin shared her excitement in an Instagram post afterward. "Who would have thought that at the age of 70, I would be standing here on the runway today? Come on! Look! This is Paris! Look! This is the Miu Miu runway!"

She also posted photos of her on the catwalk and backstage on Xiaohongshu, an Instagram-like social media platform popular in China.

Qin says that she likes Miu Miu and Prada and started to watch their runway shows in 2006. "When I tried on my outfit, the Miu Miu team decided to make some changes. It was originally a simple gray coat but they wanted it to look more like my own clothes — 'Qin style', as they put it. So I stood for two hours as they sewed on beautiful embellishments by hand," she says.

The brand's news release regarding its Fall and Winter 2024 collection reads: "Concurrent gestures express different moments in life — they coexist within single outfits, just as we each hold simultaneous memories of our own experience. … Girlishness is a word we can revalue, from a pejorative gendered noun, anchored to age, to a universal idiom expressive of the strength of rebellion, a spirit of freedom and individuality, one attribute of a richer whole".

The gray-haired retiree soon went viral, with her followers increasing drastically. Today, Qin has over 33,000 followers on Xiaohongshu and over 16,000 followers on Instagram.

Wowed by her impressive presence on the runway, fans applauded her inspiring story and the message she delivered, that turning 71 was a new beginning.

"She never gets nervous in front of the camera and is comfortable displaying herself in beautiful outfits. Although there were many people at the show, she enjoyed the spotlight, striding along with confidence," her son Huang says.

"We were overwhelmed by the comments and the likes. We also received emails and messages, including from relatives and friends in Liuzhou."

The trip to Paris was not easy for Qin. She is of Zhuang ethnicity and only speaks the Zhuang language.

The original plan was to have Huang travel to Paris with his mother, but he was unable to do so, as his visa got delayed.

"I was so worried about her. She cannot speak English and can only communicate through translation apps. Because of the time difference, I almost didn't sleep and I helped her to deal with some emergencies," Huang says, adding that his mother didn't know how to order food on her first day in Paris because she couldn't speak English and that she also got lost in her hotel.

Qin managed to tackle the challenge of preparations despite the intense schedule by using a translation app to overcome the language barrier. She is proud that she took action to prove that age is not a barrier.

"I want to encourage everyone who is confused at a certain point in life, to never give up on your dreams. Before I turned 70, I was focused on caring for my patients as a doctor. Who would have thought that at 70 I would be standing here on the runway today?"

Qin records her life and writes about her feelings in her posts on social media. In one post, she wrote: "After retirement, I had nothing to do but eat three meals a day. After my parents died, I was depressed and felt like I had no one to talk to anymore."

About two years ago, she and her husband moved from Liuzhou to live with their son in Shanghai.

Since her son helped her sign up to social media accounts and taught her how to post and communicate on those platforms, Qin has been sharing her daily life, especially her personal style, which caught the attention of fashion enthusiasts and led to her being featured on magazines and appearing at fashion events.

All this seems to have opened the door to a new world, says the physician-turned influencer, who is happy that people from all over the world have left her comments and likes, and that they appreciate her outfits. "I hope more people will see me, a 70-year-old woman from China, who likes to wear Miu Miu and Prada," she wrote in one post.

Huang says: "I just wanted to let her have fun with social media. I take her out and take photos of her, and gradually she began to enjoy social media."

Qin's posts often feature her wearing brightly colored outfits, high heels and eye-catching accessories. As she says, during her decadeslong career as a doctor, she only wore a lab coat every day, but she still loves matching white with different colors.

She also dresses her hair in different styles, such as long braids, a tight bun or leaves it loose and decorated with a neat bow.

"My husband once took a business trip to Shanghai during the 1980s. He bought me lots of dresses. When I wore the outfits around my hometown, people's feedback was varied," Qin says. "Nowadays, aesthetics of beauty are quite different and diverse. I am glad that I can wear whatever I like and pursue beauty at 70."