Dumpster Chic and Haute Homeless: Placing Brother Sharp in a fashion industry continuum

In 2010, a Chinese homeless man became an Internet sensation when photos of him were posted online. Soon nicknamed ‘Brother Sharp’, the man’s celebrity went viral, first in China and then the world; Chinese young men imitated his style while he still ate out of trashcans. His fame coincided with a controversial homeless-inspired menswear collection from Vivienne Westwood, and the two incidences were linked in the media. While Brother Sharp’s sudden fame was a phenomenon of the Internet age, the idea of the homeless and the poor has had a long history as inspiration and entertainment for the general public. This article traces fashion collections from Christian Francis Roth and John Galliano, among others, the popularity of Mary Kate Olsen’s ‘Dumpster Chic’, along with the phenomenon of ‘slumming’ across centuries, and the ethics of such fashion expressions and fascinations.