Cheng Guorong: China's most stylish homeless man (8 photos)

While global couturiers have been figuring out how to sell us ripped jeans for exorbitant prices for years, an ordinary vagabond from Ningbo accidentally created a trend with his everyday look. In 2010, the internet exploded with photos of Cheng Guorong, who was immediately dubbed "Cool Brother" and crowned a leading figure in street fashion for his piercing gaze and innate sense of style. However, behind this glossy image lay a classic tragedy: the loss of his wife in a plane crash, two children to raise, a robbery while working, and, ultimately, a mental breakdown and a one-way ticket to the margins of life. Online fame, of course, gave the young man a brief happy ending with a return to his relatives, but fairy tales don't take hold in our reality. After four years of comfortable domestic life, Cheng once again fled civilization, proving that true freedom and the spirit of the streets cannot be traded for the stuffy comfort of home.