Shaun Ross (born May 10, 1991) is an American model, recording artist, and actor. He is known for his work in the fashion world as the first professional male model with the congenital disorder

albinism Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

. Ross has worked with various fashion designers, magazines and campaigns, including

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de ...

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen CBE (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992, and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His achievements in fashion ...

, ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', '' GQ'', ''

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

'' and others. In 2018, he collaborated with designer Nina Athanasiou for the "In My Skin" clothing line to bring awareness to albinism. He has also appeared in several videos from music artists, including

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's "

Pretty Hurts "Pretty Hurts" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her eponymous fifth studio album (2013). It impacted mainstream radio in the United States on June 10, 2014, as the third single from the album. The song was written by Sia, Amm ...

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent ...

's short film '' Tropico'', and

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

's " E.T". Ross released his debut single "Symmetry", featuring

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After col ...

on background vocals, in November 2017. He released the single "Chrysalis" in August 2018, and opened for singer ionnalee in Los Angeles. He made his first music festival appearance performing with

What So Not What So Not is an electronic music project by Australian record producer Emoh Instead (stage name of Christopher John Emerson). What So Not has toured the world, playing in various festivals, including Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, ...

at the

Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival Life is Beautiful Music & Art Festival is an annual music, culinary, art, and learning festival held in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It debuted in 2013 as a three-day event. In 2019, it was one of the world's highest grossing festi ...

. In 2019, he performed at

LA Pride The LA Pride Festival & Parade, commonly known as LA Pride, is an annual LGBTQ Pride celebration in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest LGBTQ Pride events in the world, traditionally held on the second weekend of June, and produc ...

. He performed his song "Good Vein" for the

Recording Academy The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

original performance series Press Play, and a cover of

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

's "

Believe Believe may refer to: *Belief, a psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true, with or without proof for such proposition *Faith, a belief in something which has not been proven Arts, entertainment, and me ...

" for the Recording Academy's Reimagined series. In 2021, Ross released his first full-length LP on JEX Records, entitled "SHIFT". Its second single, "You Care" was featured in

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's "The Legend of the Underground", a documentary highlighting Nigerian legislation that discriminates against the LGBTQ community. In May 2021, Ross was the subject of a

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Style Section profile piece.

Early life

Ross is of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

descent. Born in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, when he was growing up, Ross dealt with much discrimination for being a person with albinism. He was

bullied Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imbal ...

frequently by his peers, called names such as "

Powder A powder is a dry, bulk solid composed of many very fine particles that may flow freely when shaken or tilted. Powders are a special sub-class of granular materials, although the terms ''powder'' and ''granular'' are sometimes used to distin ...

", "

Wite-Out Wite-Out is a registered trademark for a brand of correction fluid, originally created for use with photocopies, and manufactured by the BIC corporation. History Wite-Out dates to 1966, when Edwin Johan, an insurance-company clerk, sought to a ...

", and "

Casper Casper may refer to: People * Casper (given name) * Casper (surname) * Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque * Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426 * David ...

". This short piece covers Banks's meeting Ross which led up to the episode. The site is now defunct, and no video is available from it (or even images), though the episode can be found on YouTube and similar sites. Exact airdate uncertain. After training at the

Alvin Ailey Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Cente ...

School for five years, Ross was discovered on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and crossed over to the fashion industry in 2008 at 16 years old.

Career

At 16, he was represented by Djamee Models in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He was also signed by AMCK Models London. In 2018, he collaborated with designer Nina Athanasiou for the "In My Skin" clothing line to bring awareness to albinism. Ross has appeared in music videos, including

's "

E.T. ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dub ...

's "

Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

" and "

", Gold Fields' "Dark Again", Issues' "Coma", two music videos from

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki (, ; born November 30, 1977), best known as Steve Aoki, is an American DJ, record producer, music programmer, and record executive.

's extended play ''4OKI'' ("ILYSM" with Autoerotique and "Kids" with

Morten Morten is a common given name in Norway and Denmark. Approximately 22,138 have this name as a given name in Norway and about 52 people have it as a surname. Notable people with the name include: *Morten Abel, Norwegian singer *Morten Andersen, Dan ...

), as well as

's short film '' Tropico'',

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

' "

Fire Under My Feet "Fire Under My Feet" is a song by British singer and songwriter Leona Lewis from her fifth studio album, ''I Am'' (2015). It was released as the lead single from the album on 7 June 2015, by Island and Def Jam. An uptempo song with gospel influen ...

" and

Duke Dumont Adam George Dyment (born August 1981), better known by his stage name Duke Dumont, is an English DJ and record producer. He is best known for his hit singles "Need U (100%)" "I Got U", " Ocean Drive" and " Won't Look Back" which both reached n ...

's "Red Light Green Light". He released his debut single "Symmetry", featuring

on background vocals, in November 2017. In August 2018, he released the single "Chrysalis", and opened for singer ionnalee in Los Angeles. He made his first music festival appearance performing with Australian electronic artist

at the

. In 2019, he performed at

. He later performed his song "Good Vein" for the

original performance series Press Play, and a cover of

's "

" for the Recording Academy's Reimagined series.

Personal life

Ross participates in the underground ballroom scene in New York and Los Angeles, where he often vogues as a member of the famed

House of Xtravaganza Founded in 1982, the House of Xtravaganza is one of the most publicly recognized “houses” to emerge from the New York City underground ballroom scene and among the longest continuously active. House of Xtravaganza members and the collective gr ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Shaun 1991 births Living people African-American male models African-American models American male models Gay models American gay actors Male models from New York (state) New York (state) Democrats People from the Bronx People with albinism 21st-century African-American people LGBT African Americans American LGBT singers