SADIQ DESH
Sheer Delight
written CHIDOZIE OBASI
As a creative fresh into his path whilst showing a patience that equates to burgeoning success, 29-year-old Sadiq Desh isn’t ready to rest on his laurels just yet.
“Over the last year, I’ve had some firsts!” he exclaimed, adding that “I saw a lot of me honing on my social media style and modeling.” Born in Nigeria and now hailed in Berlin, he finished high school and moved to Canada to pursue his Bachelor’s degree, working in finance for a year before switching to the fashion sector.
Desh deems Canada “a small market,” so it wasn't until the pandemic when he moved to Berlin and started gaining more of a following on social media that he ventured into the creative world. On the impact of industry, he speaks candidly about the complexities of the system. “It still goes in waves I think,” he opines. “Just being in Germany, across the fashion scope and within the influencer community there isn’t much inclusion, which is why I'm happy independent outlets — like yours — exist and represent people who look like me, because there’s media that keep using influencers or models who look exact same, so seeing that is always a bit frustrating because they could maybe tap out of their usual zone and give people a different dimension of what they do rather than using the same kind of boys all the time,” he adds.
“Sometimes there’s things that people do that make you feel like you don't belong in a certain room… you can definitely tell when people feel entitled because of their ego.”
Sadiq Desh speaks with Chidozie Obasi
for LE MILE .Digital
Moving on to representation, Desh believes that there can still be more profiles like him in the industry. “I still think there’s things that can be done, as there’s still moments where I don’t feel like I'm being respected or treated a certain way, especially in the influencer market where you’re dealing with people with egos and followers,” he shares. “Sometimes there’s things that people do that make you feel like you don't belong in a certain room, and whether it's consciously or unconsciously you can definitely tell when people feel entitled because of their ego. I just always want to make people feel welcome no matter what level of popularity they have.” His transition to being just a set fixture to appearing on socials happened out of the blue in 2017, because the first big fashion brand that invited him was Gucci and he attended their small activation, which led to expanding his career.
But there’s more to the story. “The positives of this job is that obviously you’re lucky enough to make a living out of it, which I think in the bigger scope of things is kind of crazy that you just have this social media profile on a platform and you’re able to profit from it,” he shares. “But I think the benefits for me have been that I was able to have an avenue to meet more people and get educated on things I probably wouldn't have been educated on in other areas. Obviously the downfall with that is if you’re ignorant over certain things and you’re putting stuff out there—and it's perhaps not the right connotation—you could get some backlash as there’s no learning curve or there’s no room for learning when you have such a platform, so you kind of have to take things as they come.”
cardigan MOSCHINO
shirt DIOR MEN
shorts FENDI
tie PAUL SMITH
necklaces LAG World
loafers SEBAGO
top FERRAGAMO
brown vest DOLCE&GABBANA
white shirt MANUEL RITZ
pants PAUL SMITH
loafers CHURCH’S
total look MIU MIU
“What keeps me grounded is the urge to resonate with what’s authentic to me… not just the monetary gain, but what feels authentically delightful to me.”
Sadiq Desh speaks with Chidozie Obasi
for LE MILE .Digital
total look LORO PIANA
total look VALENTINO
sweater + shirt + tie PAUL SMITH
pants ZEGNA
shoes SEBAGO
Desh has always taken a personal approach within his platforms. “I mostly gain traction because of my thoughts on things and obviously fashion but my personal say about topics or how I’m feeling is what keeps people,” he opines, reflecting on the notion of authenticity. “I think it's a double-edged sword, because one wants to be authentic, but then people have a short attention span on the internet so one minute you're viral and the next minute you’re forgotten,” he concludes. “What keeps me grounded is the urge to resonate with what’s authentic to me, and to be honest sometimes I've lost that because of the commercial process of social media; however, what I've been pushing forward since last year is not just the monetary gain, but what feels authentically delightful to me.”
blazer JIL SANDER by Lucie and Luke Meier
sweater CANALI
shirt ALESSANDRO GHERARDI
pants MEIMEIJ
loafer CHURCH’S
blazer ISABEL MARANT
shirt DIOR Men
pants JIL SANDER by Lucie and Luke Meier
shoes FERRAGAMO
photography ANTONIO CROTTI
fashion director + stylist CHIDOZIE OBASI
head of production JESSICA LOVATO
fashion coordinator LUCA MICELI
make up AMY KOUROUMA via WM MANAGEMENT using Nabla Cosmetics
hair ALICE FANTINI using Davines
talent SADIQ DESH
fashion assistants LORIS VOTTERO + CLOE RUBINATO + ANNA REGAZZONI + JORDAN MAX BAGLIONI + ALBERTO MICHISANTI + MARTINA MANENTI + MARTINA MUSMARRA + EDWARD PUSCA