Shaun Ross 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 disorderalbinism. Ross has worked with various fashion designers, magazines and campaigns, including Givenchy, Alexander McQueen, Vogue, GQ, Nylon 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's "Pretty Hurts", Lana Del Rey's short filmTropico, and Katy Perry's "E.T". Ross released his debut single "Symmetry", featuring Lizzo 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 at the Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival. In 2019, he performed at LA Pride. He performed his song "Good Vein" for the Recording Academy original performance series Press Play, and a cover of Cher's "Believe" for the Recording Academy's Reimagined series.
Early life
Ross is of African-American descent. Born in the Bronx, when he was growing up, Ross dealt with much discrimination for being a person with albinism. He was bullied frequently by his peers, called names such as "Powder", "Wite-Out", and "Casper". After training at the Alvin Ailey School for five years, Ross was discovered on YouTube 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. 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 Katy Perry's "E.T.", Beyoncé's "Party" and "Pretty Hurts", Gold Fields' "Dark Again", Issues' "Coma", two music videos from Steve Aoki's extended play "4OKI", as well as Lana Del Rey's short film Tropico and Leona Lewis' "Fire Under My Feet". He released his debut single "Symmetry", featuring Lizzo 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 What So Not at the Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival. In 2019, he performed at LA Pride. He later performed his song "Good Vein" for the Recording Academy original performance series Press Play, and a cover of Cher's "Believe" for the Recording Academy's Reimagined series.
