Pensioner Who Went Viral Growing Big Vegetables Is Face Of New Gucci Collection

A pensioner with a passion for growing massive vegetables has become the face of a new Gucci clothing line.

Gerald Stratford, from Milton-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire, UK, shot to fame last year when he started a Twitter account to share his love of veg, posting dozens of cheery snaps from his garden.

And after gaining a huge social media following, over 280,000 followers on Twitter alone, the retired fisherman is now heading up the Italian fashion house's new collection of sustainable clothing.

Gucci's 'Off The Grid' collection uses recycled, organic, bio-based and sustainably sourced materials for its clothing.

According to reports, items are made from ECONYL, which is a kind of Nylon that has been made from old fishing nets, carpets, and offcuts.

In footage for the advert 'Gardening with Gerald', which is a collaboration with High Snobiety, the 'Veg King' can be seen giving pointers to a group of models who have pitched up to lend him a hand.

Gucci/HighSnobiety

The shoot has gone down a storm with Gerald's fans, who can't believe how big time he has become.

Sharing the snaps to Twitter, one user said: "Absolutely obsessed with Gucci using Gerald aka 'Twitter Veg-Growing King' in their latest campaign."

Another cried: "MY MAN GERALD GETTIN THAT GUCCI."

Speaking to LADbible last year, Gerald said he joined Twitter in February 2019 after some of his friends suggested it as a means of sharing gardening photos.

At the time he didn't have a clue what was happening to his phone when he shared photographs of his potatoes in May - in a tweet that has now totted up thousands of likes.

"I put it on Twitter and the phone went mental. I didn't understand really what was going on," he recalled.

"I phoned my nephew up, who's more into computers than me, and he said, 'I'll come back in five minutes'. He says, 'You've gone viral'... I even had to ask him what that meant."

Gucci/HighSnobiety

Gerald's popularity has since snowballed, to the point that he now boasts hundreds of thousands of followers from all over the world.

"I do think there's quite a large proportion coming from the US of A, the younger generation," Gerald said.

"I don't really know why. But obviously they like me and my veg and my smile, and if that's the case, that's what I will give them."

Gerald has even been given a few new nicknames by his international fan-base.

He said: "I'm 'The Potato King', 'The Vegetable King', 'Cheers' - because I finish off all my tweets with the word 'cheers', right, because I like the word, it's a happy word. It sends a positive happy message.

"They also comment on my clothing. They like my braces, the clothing, they call me stuff like 'a cool dude'. Some of the American sayings I struggle to understand, I've never been to the States.

"It's all good though, I haven't had one negative [comment]. Long may it continue."

Long live the Veg King.

Topics: Food, Funny, Fashion, Social Media, Pensioner, Twitter

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom