Shaun Ross and Diandra Forrest: The Man and Woman Showing Up and Out in the Modeling World

February 20, 2018

Shaun Ross and Diandra Forest are two models that both hail from the Bronx. They are known for being the first male albino pro model and the first female albino model to be signed to a major modeling agency, respectively. 

Shaun began modeling at 16 years old. He has been featured in British GQ, Italian Vogue, Paper Magazine, Another Man, and i-D Magazine. He’s molded for Givenchy and Alexander McQueen. He’s also appeared in several music videos, including Beyonce’s “Party” and “Pretty Hurts”, Katy Perry’s “E.T.”, Leona Lewis’ “Fire Under My Feet”, and Lana Del Rey’s short film, “Tropico.” 

He also got into music recently, releasing his first single titled, “SYMMETRY” in 2017. 

As a child, Diandra was bullied so badly in school her parents pulled her out. They moved her to the New York Institute for Special Education and for the first time, she was surrounded by others with albinism. 

She has worked with the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, and MAC. She is humanitarian and works with Assisting Children in Need, an organization in Tanzania that aids in fighting discrimination in the country’s albino community.

As people who were made to feel as though they didn’t fit into a spectrum of neither black nor white, Shaun and Diandra have challenged beauty standards and diversified the fashion industry, opening doors for others with albinism.