Mobolaji Charles Olasupo Toye is a successful model-turned fashion designer. Today, he makes clothes for celebrated Nigerians. In this interview with  TUNDE AYANDA, he disclosed the pains and gains of what he does and things that keep him going. Excerpts:

Suddenly you  went off the scene, what exactly happened?
Well, not that I went off the scene like that, I am still very much around, it’s just that I am doing the background work on something. What I am more known for is modelling –I am doing something different from that, maybe that is why I appeared to be off the scene. I am still around. Even with modelling, I still make sure that I do at least one major work in a year. It is my first love, I can never leave it. What I am doing presently is fashion-related as well, because fashion for me is more like a leisure I enjoy doing it. I have a good pedigree in it. I have worked with the best in the country, doing fashion. So, when I started my own thing it was like a drama because I know the nitty-gritty of the business. I  have laid the foundation for my fashion business.

So, you went off public glare and not off the scene?
Yes, that is right. I am putting my fashion business together. It is just because I have not got to the level of the likes of Dakova, Kesse Jabari, Deola Sagoe, among others, that is why you have not heard from me.

So, what is keeping you?
What is keeping me? I think it is more about learning to crawl before walking, running and flying. So, I am at the crawling and walking stage now, but very soon I will fly. That is when you will see me in the limelight. Actually, I am working on something big now and please don’t ask me because I am keeping it quite for now but I tell you it will make me fly real high.

How soon would that be?
Let’s say before the end of this year.

How is the project and is it like  that of the popular designer, your employer, Remi Lagos?
It is not that big, but relatively big because Remi Lagos has been around for quite a while and what she has been able to achieve is huge. It will be very difficult for me or anybody to say “I want to be as big as Remi Lagos.”

Just you or anybody?
I mean anybody because I know for a fact that most of the so-called celebrated designers get clothes from Remi Lagos. That is the truth. She is one of the best now and I learnt from the best. So, it will be extremely unfair and inappropriate for me to compare myself with her or say I can just rival her achievements just like that.

So, it is correct to say that you can’t attain or surpass the achievements of Remi Lagos?
Definitely, the prayer of any boss is for his subordinates to surpass his achievements and anytime I see Remi she always says, “Charles, I am proud of you.” So, with this word of encouragement, which is based on the level I have attained, working underground then, I see myself surpassing even my personal dreams.

Your trade name is simply Charles Toye, what inspired it?
I just want to keep it simple. I don’t want anything so big and I believe my name is as good as any.
Who are your clients now?
Most of our clients do not like making themselves known. They do not want  their designs to be replicated, they don’t want people to know where their stuffs come from and they are particular about a certain level of exclusivity. They do not want to see what they wear on every other person.

Doesn’t this mean inability to publicly identify with your products?
Well, not really. As I said, I am enjoying myself. Though I am not making the kind of money I desire but I am okay. The fact that my clients are not anybody is a big boost. I believe if it is not paying off now it will certainly pay off later.Your departure from the employment of Remi Osholanke, the owner of Remi Lagos, was sudden and trailed with a lot of speculations of bad blood between the two of you.

What actually happened?
I did not fight with her. She was my boss and is still my boss and I learnt so much from her. Apart from being a designer she is someone with a very strong personality. She doesn’t joke with her business, she is a business woman. We did not fight over anything. It was just time for me to move on. We never had any issue. I just let her realise it was time for me to move on. I have learnt all that I desired at the place. It was like when I was with Mon Ami –Larry Ojomo– when I learnt how to sew. I learnt the business aspect from Remi Lagos.

So, there was no fight or anything like that?
At all, there was no fight, no war. I just left peacefully like I came. I was there for four years and during this period we opened four branches all over Nigeria. I grew the business and I left because it was the right time for me to go and do my thing.  She is doing the female lines and I am doing the male lines.

Some believe that you opted for the male lines in order not to fight with her?
No, it is not because I didn’t want to fight with her. I know how to make female clothes. What I know best is how to make female clothes. I ran Mon Ami for two years and all we did was female clothing. Female clothing is actually my major line but I am also very good with male clothing. The main thing, however, is that making male clothes is actually in-built for me. It comes to me naturally and unlike the male clothing I didn’t learn it. So, I find it easy to start off with male clothes now.

What is your business strategy in making your customers keep coming back?
Naturally, I give them designs –a kind of service that they can’t get anywhere else and secondly I try to keep my customers close. Let me give you an example, Jimmy Jatt; it will be very difficult for any other designer to make clothes for Jimmy Jatt. I give him stuffs that make him look good and aside this we are very good friends. And some many others like that that I cant afford to mention their names.

How soon are you kick-starting your female line?
I was thinking of next year, 2011. Yeah, I will launch it next year. Actually, it is not that I don’t make female wears, it’s just that I have not gone fully commercial with it. Everything my wife wears I make them and some other ones that are commissioned designs for specific people.

You worked with Mon Ami and Remi Lagos,  what are the two major lessons you learnt from these A-list designers?
Customer relations and finishing and also the fact that a good designer doesn’t have to keep a brochure and show the clients most times; you have to come up with something nice and wonderful that will suit the clients. I learnt that from Remi Lagos.

Since you started you have churned out  how many designs?
I can’t say because I don’t keep tabs…I just know that most times I try my best not to repeat designs with clients.

At what point did you decide to set up your own fashion designing out fit all the time you reigned as a successful model?
I just know that all the while I was a model I knew anything that I will earn my livelihood from must be fashion-related.

I remember that  you reportedly took some people to court?
No, I didn’t take anybody to court. We just advocated for better pay in order to get better welfare and all that and in the course of that I was blacklisted and I went underground, but today, I thank God for everything.

But it is not all a loss because your modelling career is presently serving as a big boost for your fashion business?
Yes, that is true. It is helping me and I thank God all that I fought for is manifesting though I am not happy with the present state of things in the modelling industry. When I was blacklisted it was very painful but I believe I was destined to fight and that is that.

What are your professional and private ambitions?
I want to be the very best in all that I do. I want to be the best husband to my wife, the best father to my children and the very best provider of my kind of services to my clients.

What are your favourite things?
I love meeting people and making friends. I love fashion and anything that will enhance the fashion industry is my passion.

As a model, who is your favourite designer?
I have worked with all the top designers –Adebayo Jones, Deola Sagoe, Mon Ami, Tiffany Amber, you name it, both locally and internationally. I can’t really say this or that person except you want me to mention my own name.

Any unpleasant experience since you started?
No, but there have been seeming disappointments but nothing to regret so far.