15 Things To Know About Diandra Forrest & Shaun Ross – The Age Of Beautiful Black Albino Models
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Black individuals have the burden of facing issues of discrimination for being too light-skinned, or too dark-skinned. But what happens when you don’t fit on either end of that spectrum, and are even more of a pariah in society? Shaun Ross and Diandra Forrest are African-American models both have albinism. One in 17,000 people has the condition, which is a genetic disorder characterized by loss of pigment in the hair, skin, and even eyes sometimes. People with albinism lack melanin, the substance which colors your skin and hair. These Albino models challenge beauty standards, along with diversifying the fashion world. They are inspiring role models to those who are different and have been bullied for it, all over the world.
Shaun
1. Shaun Ross is the first Afro-American male model born with Albinism, and started killing the game by entering the professional modeling world at just 16 years old. And he’s a New York native, born in the Bronx.
2. His mom gave birth to him on the highway on the way to the hospital.
3. He has been featured in photo-editorial campaigns in fashion publications including British GQ, Italian Vogue, i-D Magazine, Paper Magazine and Another Man. He has modeled for Alexander McQueen and Givenchy.
4. He also is a player in the underground ballroom scene in NYC, where he can be seen vogueing like a boss.
5. When he grew up, he was bullied, being called “Casper”, “white bread” ,”weird” and other offensive terms. But he refers to himself as a “confident outcast” always accepting himself and not letting the judgment of others get to him. He uses the social media tag #MySkinIWin to spread the message of self-love.
6. His idols are Janet and Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Beyonce, who he got to work with! He was in the Pretty Hurts video for Beyonce, playing a cruel beauty pageant coach. He’s also been in a Katy Perry video for E.T.
7. He admits that he used to wear sunglasses all the time because he thought it was cool to walk into clubs at night with sunglasses. But he admitted the real reason was because he was insecure and couldn’t look people straight in the eyes.