by Tutu Akinlabi

According to designer for the stars, Durojaiye Owolabi, some Nigerian celebrities are cheapskates who like free things and don’t pay up debts on time.

Owolabi, who boasts of clients like 2face Idibia, is the owner of Mood’deo International and he has said that his business has suffered because of the attitude of some of the country’s famous citizens.

The designer, who said that 2face was an amazing client, opened up in an interview with Punch Saturday Beats.

Excerpts below:

“I see entertainers as celebrities. They dictate what goes on in the fashion world. I see them as people that have made it, rich and affluent and whatever they put on has to be the best.

When I started my outfit, being a celebrity designer is what I targeted because abroad, celebrities are the people that would help you showcase your work. I decided I would
work with a few of them but I was shocked because most of these celebrities like cheap things. I cannot mention names but you would be surprised that most of the big names do not pay on time.

But I have worked with 2face who even paid more than the cost of the item. But people like 2face are scarce in the industry. These celebrities want things for free. This made me change my mind to be doing clothes for the masses because my fashion line is going to end up as an NGO. I thought I could make enough money from being a celebrity designer, then I could turn my business into an NGO for the less privileged kids but things did not work out as I planned.

Sometimes when these celebrities bargain for an attire, you would be shocked and ask yourself if it is the same person that we see on television.”