Meet Lolo Drip, TikTok's 71-Year-Old Fashion Influencer
This lolo is winning fans online with his Gen Z fashion.
(SPOT.ph) At 71 years old, Rogelio Tabuzo, aka Lolo Drip on Tiktok, never thought he’d have a modeling career, much less earn from it. But such is the fate of this cool grandpa and basketball coach from Biñan, Laguna, thanks to his two apos—brothers Jhamil and Calvin.
“Nung una trip lang talaga and di namin akalain na mag te-trending,” 19-year-old Jhamil tells SPOT.ph. It was his US-based brother Calvin who brought up the idea of asking their lolo to model streetwear popular among the Gen Z crowd. Calvin got inspired by the account of another senior TikToker from Germany, Jaadiae, who models streetwear from the likes of Dior, Puma, and Adidas, and has 5.7 million followers to boot.
When one of the first few Lolo Drip posts gained 28K reactions and 20K shares, the brothers decided to open an account on Instagram and Tiktok, and that’s when Lolo Rogelio’s career as brand endorser took off.
“Yung mga unang post sa TikTok almost 1M view, then yung sumunod 3M na. Yung pinaka nag-boom is 8.5 M views,” says Jhamil. This was when Lolo Drip donned a pair of white baggy pants with a black bootleg ASAP Rocky shirt and Air Jordan shoes. The Lolo Drip TikTok account exploded on October of 2021, just a month after the FB account started. Since then, Lolo Drip has gained 191K followers on Tiktok and has since collaborated with more than 50 local brands, among them Top Wide, Degraded, La Creation, Sentiment, SourcePH, Geezerph.
Life before his Lolo Drip era
At 5’10” and physically fit, having played basketball most of his life, Lolo Rogelio has got the height and swag to model. “Nung una nag-dalawang isip ako kasi baka hindi bumagay. Iniisip ko baka pagtawanan ako, pero nag-try ako kasi baka maganda yung maging resulta,” he says.
His Tiktok posts show the old man in all his white-haired glory, doing the cool, ‘drippy’ poses to suit the Gen Z vibe of the clothes he is promoting—mostly hoodies paired with baggy pants or jorts (jean shorts), with ski caps and shirts that have phrases like “Protect Your Peace of Mind”, “Exist, Live, Self, Made”, and “Pretty Boy Energy” written on them.
These days, people recognize Lolo Drip when he goes to the mall and often get requests for a groufie or selfie. Naturally shy and soft-spoken, he says he is trying to get used to it. “Oo, mahiyain ako,” he adds. “Hindi ako sanay na nilalapitan ng mga tao. Pero masaya na rin ako.”
Lolo Drip, or really Lolo Dada to his grandkids, wasn’t totally oblivious to fashion before his TikTok fame. As a young student at Manuel L. Quezon University in Quiapo in the late 60s and early 70s, he would shop at Cartimar and Recto, then the go-tos for the trendiest PX goods. “Mga uso nun ay Hush Puppies, Adidas, Pony, and Marlboro na maong,” he recalls.
The Bicol native says he would go to school in polo and denim pants paired with Hush Puppies moccasins without socks. He wouldn’t say if he was popular among the ladies then but reveals he married young, which forced him to quit school and raise a family (he has four children). He worked for the government for a while but never abandoned his passion for basketball and played in many regional tournaments. These days, when he’s not busy modeling, he coaches and trains the basketball players in his barangay.
The gentle septuagenarian is well loved by Calvin and who grew up with their lolo and lola since their mother, a single mom, had to work abroad. “Simula nung bata kami, siya na po ang nag-alaga at tumayong tatay namin, kaya close na close kami,” says Jhamil. “Si lolo din ang nag train sa amin mag basketball kaya naging player rin ako sa school and nakasali sa ibang commercial leagues.”
How TikTok changed Lolo Drip's life
Bringing them closer still is Lolo Drip’s newfound career on Tiktok, which Jhamil shares has contributed to his Lolo’s income. Almost every other week, they get a fresh collaboration offer, either with a new brand or a repeat client. The talent fee helps with their allowances for transportation and food during shoots. This, of course, is separate from the earnings they get straight from Tiktok.
With Lolo Drip followers still growing (in a span of just an hour, this writer observed, his Tiktok followers went from 190.9K to 191K; five days earlier it was just at 185K), his talent fee should inevitably increase. Jhamil says they put in a lot of effort in making quality content, which translates to the number of engagements they get for each post. They also get feedback about the boost in sales for the brands Lolo models for.
Even with a total of 8.1 M likes to date, Lolo Drip may still be on the cusp of being a full blown influencer/endorser but Jhamil says foreign brands have also started noticing his lolo's popularity and that there are five collabs in the pipeline—two are from a brand in London, another two in the US, and one in Egypt. Lolo Drip is also about to strut his moves on the ramp in a mall event for the popular American brand, Lacoste, an event that will also feature young actress Kyla Estrada.
Jhamil—who styles his Lolo for every shoot, does all the social media work, deals with all the brands along with brother Calvin—says life has definitely changed for them. “Parang noon pinagkaka-abalahan lang namin ay basketball, bahay, and school. Then, nung nag-boom si Lolo, nabago yung buhay namin like may extra income na, natuto na kaming mag-promote, nafi-feature na kami sa media, at may nakaka-salamuha na kami na ibang models at sikat na influencers.”
The Tabuzos are grateful for all the blessings that have sprung from their content concept and, so far, they say bashers have not crept into their comments or DMs.
Tiktok may be a whole new world for boomer Lolo Rogelio, but with his Gen Z grandchildren by his side he is able to tap into his ‘Pretty Boy Energy’, influence millions in the process, and, perhaps unknowingly, break social barriers. “Natutuwa ako kasi kahit sa ganitong edad ko, nakaranas ako ng ganyan—nakakapag-model ng iba’t ibang brands at nakilala ng ibang tao,” says Lolo, who continues to have his feet planted firmly on the ground despite all the attention he’s getting. After all, Lolo Drip is just all about good vibes and we’re here for it.