He’s impressed millions of fans on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, with his fashionable pieces made from seemingly anything. Now, Lu Kaigang, a self-styled ‘village supermodel’ is ready for his big debut in Hong Kong’s Elle magazine.
A self-styled “village supermodel” in rural China has taken the internet by storm with his couture pieces made from everyday household objects.
Lu Kaigang, who goes by Luxianren online, has dazzled viewers with his surprisingly fashionable pieces made from old curtains, dead leaves, and even an air-conditioner.
He models the clothes himself, turning the dirt roads of his village into his own personal catwalk. On Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, he has over three million followers and countless others worldwide.
Lu’s social media fame has earned him international attention, leading to an invitation to the spring/summer 2020 edition of London Fashion Week.
(Watch part one of our series on Lu Kaigang here.)
In the previous installment of our two-part series on Lu, we met him at his village in Nanning, a city in southwestern China. In part two, we bring him to Hong Kong to work with Elle magazine on his first editorial photoshoot.
“I’ve never really gone far from home.”
“I’ve never really gone far from home,” Lu tells us before the shoot. “I’m very nervous today. Shooting for a magazine is very different from what I usually do.”
We give him two challenges. First, he has to make a couture outfit using only laundry bags, rubber gloves, and duct tape. Then, he has to model that outfit—plus the white tarpaulin dress that made him famous—on the streets of Hong Kong.
He can’t verbalize the design techniques he’s applied; he just knows what looks good and what doesn’t.
As soon as he sees the materials, Lu goes straight to work. High fashion seems to come naturally to him. He starts snipping away at the laundry bags, arranging the cut pieces on a mannequin.
He can’t verbalize the design techniques he’s applied; he just knows what looks good and what doesn’t.
“At that time, I just wanted to become a model,” Lu said. “One thing led to another and now I’m designing clothes, I’m live-streaming. It just turned out that way.”
Watch the video above to see the final result.
