TikTok Anti-Influencer Sajjad Is 'A Force To Be Reckoned With'
Graphic by Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez
Syed Sajjad Hussein, a Pakistani-American content creator, wants you to know the fashion industry has become a cash cow that has lost touch with its roots. He wants to change that with his blunt “IDGAF” energy.
“My main motivation is to get fashion back to what it used to be and what it should be and what it's always been,” said Sajjad.
With 58,000+ followers and over 2.9 million likes on TikTok, @sajjad.hus is no stranger to telling people the truth, whether they like it or not. From giving his two cents about a pop culture phenomenon to calling out fashion houses for not creating culture, Sajjad is a breath of fresh air in an industry that traditionally doesn’t include marginalized identities.
Growing up financially insecure in New Jersey, Sajjad has seen how the industry takes advantage of consumers and their wallets.
“[My family] didn't have two pennies to rub together, but [my dad] sent me to pre-K head to toe in Ralph Lauren,” said the self-proclaimed ‘Anti-Influencer.’
Due to his father’s hyper fixation with styling and looking presentable, then 12-year-old Sajjad begged his parents for a bottle of ‘Bleu de Chanel.’ Shortly after, he became enamored with most aspects of the luxury fashion industry.
“It's just really a passionate hobby of mine. And for whatever reason, my life is just centered around [fashion],” said Sajjad.
Once he started his account in the summer of 2022, Sajjad began to post styled outfits, reviews of the latest shows and walking through exhibitions at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. But, he began to notice that the fashion side of TikTok was oversaturated by a certain persona.
“I would see so many people who love talking about fashion and don't know jack s**t about it. You have the ‘Hi, my name is Rebecca and I went to Chanel and bought a $10,000 purse and I'm gonna unbox it for you today [influencer],’” said Sajjad.
After having a negative experience at a major Italian fashion house boutique, Sajjad’s fascination with luxury goods came to a halt. Then, a cousin in Pakistan introduced him to counterfeit designer clothes, bags and accessories. Once he stopped contributing to major conglomerates and bought counterfeits, he realized that the industry was selling an idea and depended on over-consumption.
Sajjad switched up his content and gave fashion TikTok a unique voice. He now focused on how fashion marketing and business work in the industry and gradually transitioned to anti-influencing content.
Through prior experience in the fashion industry, Sajjad learned that counterfeit designer goods are often owned by industry professionals and luxury doesn’t cater to minority groups. Even with all of the problems he has noticed, his biggest problem is fashion becoming a consumer capitalist environment.
“I'm very anti-commodification of art. You can’t put a price tag on art. And sadly, that's what every major fashion house has done,” said Sajjad.
When it comes to fashion houses collaborating with artists, Sajjad is quite the fan of incorporating the artist’s unique style into a staple item of a brand. For example, Louis Vuitton’s 2001 collaboration with American artist Stephen Sprouse and 2003 collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.
Collections such as Alexander McQueen’s F/W 1995 “Highland R**e” and F/W 2009 “The Horn of Plenty” are what the anti-influencer wants to come back in fashion; designers that want to be innovative and create shows that have a purpose, rather than recycling the same ideas.
Now, in the current state of the fashion industry, we are witnessing astronomical price increases, slapping logos onto a variety of products and even the debate of counterfeits being better quality than the original product.
“People will turn a blind eye to uphold their racism, classism, colorism, every-ism that has to do with fashion, just to make themselves feel like they are worthy. It's just a bag. It's not that serious,” said Sajjad.
Sajjad has been told that luxury is the idea of being affluent and pushing that “vibe” onto the masses. Once this idea takes control of the industry, the clothes can’t speak for themselves any longer and fashion loses one of its core meanings.
While in the middle of a rebrand, Sajjad has many exciting endeavors and is grateful for these opportunities. Yet, he doesn’t want to lose his core base during this transition.
“I love giving people what they want. I love having a platform for people to find themselves and then to expand and grow their horizons,” said Sajjad.
When discussing what his future will look like, the anti-influencer wants to be famous, even if it's the last thing he'll do. Even though he believes that he is setting the bar high, Sajjad wants to have his own Kim Kardashian moment and skyrocket into stardom.
“I'll be a force to be reckoned with. I just want to be in the room. I want everyone that has said s**t about me, that has said that I'm ugly, I'm dumb, I don't know anything about fashion. When I'm getting paid to wear Alexander McQueen head to toe, I want all of you to sit back and think, wow, we should have been nicer to him, because he would have brought us up with him,” said Sajjad.
As he continues to gain an audience through his account, Sajjad will still be the voice that the fashion industry is afraid of—one that tells the truth.
Sajjad says that people will never speak out against a major fashion house due to prioritizing a brand deal, free product or invite to a show. In his case, he won’t be participating in anything of the sort.
“If I can't have everything, I don't want anything at all. I have nothing to lose. I will go to the bone, to the end of the world to prove that I'm right, to prove that what is happening is not what should be happening,” said Sajjad.