{{Short description|American fashion model (born 1989)}} {{Use American English|date=June 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox model | name = Diandra Forrest | image = Diandra Forrest Chromat AW 2018 quarter length.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Forrest modeling for Chromat Autumn/Winter 2018 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1989|10|22}}<ref name="TEDx"/> | birth_place = The Bronx, New York, US | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | other_names = | citizenship = | alma_mater = | occupation = | years_active = | known_for = Model, actress, albinism activist | children = 2 | parents = | relatives = | height = 5 ft 11 in<ref name="Models.com">{{cite web |title=Diandra Forrest – Model |url=https://models.com/models/diandra-forrest |website=Models.com |access-date=May 24, 2025}}</ref> | hair_color = Blonde | eye_color = Green | agency = }}
'''Diandra Forrest''' (born October 22, 1989) is an African American fashion model and actress with albinism. She grew up in the Bronx, New York City, in a Black community where she was bullied for her white skin, until she moved to a private school to avoid it. After graduation, Forrest became the first female model with albinism signed to a major modelling agency,<ref name="Ebony"/><ref name="OHCHR"/> and the first to be featured in a national campaign for a major brand.<ref name="Allure 2017"/><ref name="Glamour 2017"/> She has starred in several short films and appeared in multiple widely released music videos. Forrest uses her prominence to advocate for people with albinism around the world.
== Early life == Forrest was born on October 22, 1989,<ref name="NYISE"/><ref name="TEDx"/> to African American parents, and grew up in the Black community of the Bronx, the northernmost borough of New York City.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |last1=Forbes |first1=Kate |title=Albino models setting the trend for Africa |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-20096144 |access-date=May 18, 2025 |work=BBC News |date=October 26, 2012}}</ref> She was one of five children, of whom only she and her younger brother have albinism.<ref name="OHCHR">{{cite web |title=Meet Diandra Forrest – People with albinism, by United Nations Human Rights |url=https://albinism.ohchr.org/story-diandra-forrest.html |website=albinism.ohchr.org |publisher=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |access-date=May 18, 2025 |language=en |date=March 20, 2015}}</ref> She lacks melanin, giving her white skin, blonde hair, and green eyes, with the classical African full lips and wide nose.<ref name="TEDx"/><ref name="Refinery29 2016"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kitchens |first1=Simone |title=Model Diandra Forrest Opens Up About Her Albinism and Being Comfortable in Her Own Skin |url=https://www.glamour.com/story/diandra-forrest-beauty |access-date=29 June 2025 |work=Glamour |date=9 March 2017}}</ref> She also has nystagmus, a condition where her eyes move back and forth.<ref name="Refinery29 2016">{{cite web |last1=Huntington |first1=Jacki |title=What It's Like To Be Born With Albinism |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/albino-model-diandra-forrest |website=Refinery29 |date=April 17, 2016 |access-date=May 18, 2025 |language=en}}</ref>
Forrest realized she had albinism at the age of nine.<ref name="OHCHR"/> She remembers being regularly made fun of for her pale skin and hair, by children and even adults, to the point of tears.<ref name="BBC"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Mulrow |first1=Jennifer |last2=Forrest |first2=Diandra |title=I Was Bullied For My Albinism — Now It's My Biggest Source Of Confidence |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/model-diandra-forrest-albinism-power-faces |website=Refinery29 |access-date=May 28, 2025 |language=en |date=November 14, 2019}}</ref> She changed schools many times until eventually enrolling in the New York Institute for Special Education, where her sixth-grade teacher, also an African American woman with albinism, encouraged her.<ref name="ABC 2009">{{cite news |title=Albinism: Caught Between Dark and Light |url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/overcoming-social-stigma-albinism/story?id=8551660 |access-date=May 23, 2025 |work=ABC News |date=October 1, 2009 |language=en}}</ref> With that added confidence, by the age of fourteen, she decided to become a model.<ref name="TEDx">{{cite web |title=Fashion model with albinism {{!}} Diandra Forrest {{!}} TEDxFultonStreet |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqcfWT0jM0Q |website=YouTube |publisher=TEDx Talks |access-date=May 18, 2025 |date=November 12, 2015}}</ref> She says she spoke with a modeling coach when she was fourteen or fifteen, but he told her that she would never be a model because she was too odd.<ref name="Refinery29 2017">{{cite web |last1=Underwood |first1=Khalea |title=This Is The First Model With Albinism To Front A Major Beauty Campaign |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2017/10/175864/diandra-forrest-wet-n-wild-campaign-interview |website=Refinery29 |access-date=May 18, 2025 |language=en |date=August 15, 2017}}</ref> Forrest graduated NYISE in 2007, and wrote in the class yearbook that in ten years she saw herself "walking the runway of a Victoria's Secret fashion show".<ref name="NYISE">{{cite web |title=Diandra Forrest |url=https://www.nyise.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=431313&type=d&pREC_ID=963969 |website=New York Institute for Special Education |access-date=May 18, 2025 |language=en}}</ref>
== Modeling == [[File:Diandra Forrest for Chromat AW 2019.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Forrest walks for Chromat Autumn/Winter 2019]]
Forrest was noticed by fashion photographer Shameer Khan while walking down 34th Street in New York, and signed with Elite Model Management a month later in February 2009.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Maher |first1=Sarah |title=Fashion's New Faces |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/fashions-new-faces/ |website=The Daily Beast |access-date=May 25, 2025 |language=en |date=February 16, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=K |first1=Aïssata |title=TMOTW: Diandra Forrest: "A precious diamond" |url=https://www.timodelle-magazine.com/tmotw-diandra-forrest-a-precious-diamond/ |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=Timodelle Magazine |date=April 30, 2009 |language=fr-FR}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=elite clips: INTRODUCING.........DIANDRA. |url=http://ryanelitemodel2.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/02/introducingdiandra.html |website=Elite Blog |publisher=Elite Model Management |access-date=May 26, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212162606/http://ryanelitemodel2.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/02/introducingdiandra.html |archive-date=February 12, 2009 |date=February 3, 2009}}</ref> She says her coach was wrong, the agency signed her immediately, and clients were interested.<ref name="Refinery29 2017"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Safronova |first1=Valeriya |last2=Nikas |first2=Joanna |last3=Osipova |first3=Natalia V. |title=What It's Truly Like to Be a Fashion Model |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/05/fashion/models-racism-sexual-harassment-body-issues-new-york-fashion-week.html |access-date=May 23, 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=September 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905062143/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/05/fashion/models-racism-sexual-harassment-body-issues-new-york-fashion-week.html |archive-date=September 5, 2017}}</ref> It was the first time a female model with albinism had signed with a major agency.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Devash |first1=Meirav |title=10 Alt Models Who Redefine Beauty |url=https://www.allure.com/gallery/most-popular-alternative-models |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=Allure |date=January 12, 2016}}</ref> In the summer of 2009, she left the United States for her first time, to model at Paris Fashion Week.<ref name="ABC 2009"/> In May 2015, Forrest was the face of designer Mimi Plange's fall collection.<ref>{{cite news |title=Model showcase's the Mimi Plange fall collection for 2015 {{!}} Pulse Nigeria |url=https://www.pulse.ng/articles/lifestyle/fashion/diandra-forrest-model-showcases-the-mimi-plange-fall-collection-for-2015-2024080914251760219 |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=Pulse Nigeria |date=May 3, 2015 |language=en}}</ref> That September, she shared the cover of ''Ebony'' magazine.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Obiuwevbi |first1=Jennifer |title=Ebony Magazine is Having A Black Model Moment! Features Winnie Harlow, Diandra Forrest & More in Sept. Issue |url=https://www.bellanaija.com/2015/08/ebony-magazine-is-having-a-black-model-moment-features-winner-harlow-diandra-forrest-more-in-sept-issue/ |access-date=May 18, 2025 |work=BellaNaija |date=August 24, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Ebony">{{cite journal |last1=Bobo |first1=Marielle |last2=Daniels |first2=Kasey |title=Made You Look: A powerful new crop of Black models |journal=Ebony |issue=September 2015 |pages=cover, 94–95, 100}}</ref> In May 2016, she told her story in advertising for Burt's Bees.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jardine |first1=Alexandra |title=Burt's Bees Celebrates Unique Beauties in Uplifting Campaign |url=https://adage.com/creativity/work/love-your-nature-diandra/47045/ |access-date=May 26, 2025 |work=Advertising Age |date=May 12, 2016 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Gianatasio |first1=David |title=Burt's Bees Tells Two Young Women's Remarkable Stories of Unique Beauty |url=https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/burts-bees-tells-two-young-womens-remarkable-stories-unique-beauty-171461/ |access-date=May 26, 2025 |work=AdWeek |date=May 13, 2016}}</ref>
In October 2017, Forrest became one of five atypical models to be featured in the Wet n Wild cosmetics "Breaking Beauty" campaign<ref>{{cite web |last1=Armstrong |first1=Harriet |title=Albino model breaks beauty barriers |url=https://style.nine.com.au/beauty/albino-model-beauty-campaign-diversity-makeup/dce26cf6-6d18-4a6f-a9d8-eac828c40f10 |website=Nine.com.au |access-date=May 25, 2025 |language=en-AU |date=October 11, 2017}}</ref> (along with Asian-American musician Michelle Zauner, Olympic weightlifter Briana Marquez, amputee activist Mama Cax, and Dutch transgender model Valentijn de Hingh).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Demopoulos |first1=Alaina |title=Wet n Wild Is Making History With an Albino Model in Its New Campaign |url=https://www.popsugar.com/beauty/wet-n-wild-campaign-albino-model-diandra-forrest-44136913 |website=Popsugar |access-date=May 23, 2025 |language=en |date=October 12, 2017}}</ref> This made her the first model with albinism to front a national campaign for a major beauty brand.<ref name="Glamour 2017">{{cite news |last1=Nussbaum |first1=Rachel |title=This Is the First Model With Albinism to Be the Face of a Major Beauty Brand |url=https://www.glamour.com/story/diandra-forrest-model-albinism |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=Glamour |date=October 11, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Allure 2017">{{cite news |last1=Fuller |first1=Gillian |title=Here's Why Wet n Wild's Inclusive New "Breaking Beauty" Campaign Is Such a Big Deal |url=https://www.allure.com/story/model-with-albinism-wet-n-wild-campaign |access-date=May 23, 2025 |work=Allure |date=October 10, 2017}}</ref> Forrest said that besides the groundbreaking aspect, she valued that the cosmetics brand made shades that worked on her skin.<ref name="Refinery29 2017" />
== Albinism advocacy == right|thumb|Forrest interviewed in 2015 Several years into her career, Forrest was shocked to learn about the persecution of people with albinism, far greater than the teasing and bullying she faced growing up.<ref name="BBC"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Stroud |first1=Court |title=Stand Out Strong: An Interview With Model And Albinism Activist Diandra Forrest |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/courtstroud/2019/06/19/stand-out-strong-an-interview-with-model-and-albinism-activist-diandra-forrest/ |website=Forbes |access-date=May 26, 2025 |language=en |date=June 19, 2019}}</ref> Throughout the world, the occurrence of albinism is close to 1 in 20,000 people, but in Tanzania, where the proportion is closer to 1 in 1400, and other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and East Africa, people with albinism are at risk of being killed or dismembered, their bodies used as magical charms.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ager |first1=Susan |title=For Them, Being Pale Can Bring Scorn, Threats, and Worse |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/albinism-health-genetics-society |access-date=May 23, 2025 |work=National Geographic |issue=June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226015332/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/albinism-health-genetics-society |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
In October 2012, Forrest attended Africa Fashion Week in Johannesburg, South Africa, partly to try to change the way albino people are viewed on that continent.<ref name="BBC" /><ref name="Refinery29 2016" /> In 2015 she was working with Assisting Children in Need, a group which opened a safe house for children with albinism in Tanzania.<ref name="Ebony" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Tanzania |url=https://www.assistingchildreninneed.org/projects/tanzania |website=Assisting Children in Need |access-date=May 24, 2025}}</ref><ref name="Refinery29 2016" />
In the summer of 2016, Forrest appeared in and directed a short film for the "Beyond My Skin" campaign, meant to celebrate albinism.<ref name="Refinery29 2017" /> It premiered on International Albinism Awareness Day, and profits went to the Salif Keïta Global Foundation for people with albinism.<ref>{{cite web |title=International Albinism Awareness Day Campaign |url=https://www.bencawiezell.com/new-gallery-1 |website=Ben Cawiezell |access-date=May 25, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title="Beyond My Skin" Campaign Short Film – Beauty For Freedom |url=https://beautyforfreedom.org/beyond-my-skin-campaign-short-film/ |website=Beauty for Freedom |access-date=May 25, 2025 |date=June 13, 2016}}</ref> In May 2019, following the murder of a child with albinism, Forrest flew to Mali to dance a benefit concert with Salif Keïta, a Malian musician who also has albinism.<ref name="OSF">{{cite web |title=People with Albinism Are Finding Their Voice |url=https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/we-are-tired-of-being-ignored/episode/mali-episode-one |website=Open Society Foundations |access-date=May 23, 2025 |language=en |date=May 29, 2019}}</ref> Coumba Makalou, Keïta's wife, who heads the foundation, said Forrest was an inspiration to many girls with albinism, and seeing her could be life changing.<ref name="OSF" /> In 2019, Forrest appeared as a spokesperson for NYDG ColorFull, a partnership between the New York Dermatology Foundation and the United Nations to support people with albinism.<ref name="MDEdge">{{cite web |last1=Oakes |first1=Karl |title=Albinism awareness goes global in dermatologists' nonprofit work {{!}} MDedge |url=https://www.mdedge.com/edermatologynews/article/214220/pigmentation-disorders/albinism-awareness-goes-global-dermatologists |website=MDEdge |access-date=May 26, 2025 |language=en |date=December 12, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=NYDG ColorFull |url=https://www.nydgcolorfull.org/ |publisher=NYDG Foundation |access-date=May 26, 2025}}</ref>
== Acting == In 2013, Forrest starred in the short film ''Sololoque'' by Ruben Sznajderman, which aired at the ASVOFF festival.<ref>{{cite web |title="SOLOLOQUE" BY RUBEN SZNAJDERMAN|url=https://ashadedviewonfashion.com/2013/09/23/sololoque-ruben-sznajderman/ |website=A Shaded View on Fashion |access-date=May 25, 2025 |date=September 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sznajderman |first1=Ruban |title=Sololoque (for Bijules) |url=https://vimeo.com/43452026 |website=Vimeo |access-date=May 25, 2025 |language=en |date=June 5, 2012}}</ref> The following year, Forrest starred in ''Afronauts'', a speculative science fiction short film by Nuotama Bodomo about a 1960s Zambian woman attempting to beat the US and USSR to the moon.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shields |first1=Derica |title=Frances Bodomo's 'Afronauts': What Became of the Zambian Space Program? {{!}} OkayAfrica |url=https://www.okayafrica.com/african-film-director-frances-bodomo-afronauts-zambia-space-race/ |website=OkayAfrica |access-date=May 25, 2025 |language=en |date=March 14, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title='Afronauts' – Ragtag Group Of Zambian Exiles Try To Beat America To The Moon (Fundraising) – Blavity |url=https://blavity.com/afronauts-ragtag-group-of-zambian-exiles-try-to-beat-america-to-the-moon-fundraising |website=Blavity News & Entertainment |access-date=May 25, 2025 |language=en |date=April 2, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sumba |first1=Eric Otieno |title=Afronauts are forever {{!}} The enduring cultural legacy of the 'Zambia Space Program' |url=https://griotmag.com/en/afronauts-zambia-space-program/ |website=GRIOT |access-date=May 23, 2025 |date=December 1, 2020}}</ref> In 2022, Forrest starred in ''War of Colors'', a short film by Emir Kumova about discrimination faced by African Americans with albinism.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Linsey |author1-link=Linsey Davis |title=Video 'War of Colors' documents fighting discrimination against albinism |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/video/war-colors-documents-fighting-discrimination-albinism-93079186 |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=ABC News |date=November 10, 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=WAR OF COLORS {{!}} Omeleto |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab8IUtHG1iA |website=YouTube |date=November 12, 2022 |access-date=May 25, 2025}}</ref>
In August 2010, Forrest appeared in the music video for Kanye West's song "Power", ending with her swinging at the singer with a sword.<ref>{{cite news |title=FRESH FACES: Meet Diandra Forrest, Albino Supermodel |url=https://hellobeautiful.com/1245405/fresh-faces-meet-diandra-forrest-albino-supermodel/ |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=Hello Beautiful – Fashion, Beauty, Lifestyle and Hair Care for Black Women |date=August 6, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=West |first=Kanye |authorlink=Kanye West |title=Kanye West – POWER |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L53gjP-TtGE |website=YouTube |access-date=May 25, 2025 |date=August 5, 2010}}</ref> In December 2013, Forrest appeared in two music videos for Beyoncé: in "Pretty Hurts" she plays a beauty contest competitor,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yotka |first1=Steff |title=Beyonce New Album |url=https://www.nylon.com/articles/beyonce-the-visual-album |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=Nylon |date=December 13, 2013 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Beyoncé |title=Beyoncé – Pretty Hurts (Video) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXXQLa-5n5w |website=YouTube |access-date=May 25, 2025 |date=April 24, 2014}}</ref> and in "XO" she rides along on a roller coaster.<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news|url=http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG10276534/Beyonce-enlists-Jourdan-Dunn-to-star-in-new-video.html|title=Beyonce enlists Jourdan Dunn to star in new video|work=The Daily Telegraph |first=Alice |last=Newbold |date=August 30, 2013 |access-date=December 17, 2013 |archive-date=December 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215100847/http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG10276534/Beyonce-enlists-Jourdan-Dunn-to-star-in-new-video.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, Forrest danced in the music video for "Pleasure Toy" by Bilal.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coleman II |first1=C. Vernon |title=Bilal Drops 'Pleasure Toy' Video Featuring Big K.R.I.T. |url=https://www.xxlmag.com/bilal-drops-pleasure-toy-video-featuring-big-k-r-i-t/ |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=XXL |date=November 26, 2016 |language=en}}</ref>
== Children == [[File:Diandra Forrest with son at Chromat SS20.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Forrest with son at Chromat Spring/Summer 2020]]
Forrest has a daughter, born 2015,<ref name="NYISE"/> and a son, born 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Forrest |first1=Diandra |title=Happy birthday baby boy |url=https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0q1mguduuLPNAr7eTRNgUU2JrwY4oHC1PT7jq14ByspKn3QU2hExUBRXAoEzybejDl&id=158923744172095 |website=Facebook |access-date=May 26, 2025 |date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> In February 2016, Forrest was the target of controversy when she walked the runway at a Gypsy Sport fashion show at New York Fashion Week.<ref name="Spedding">{{cite news |last1=Spedding |first1=Emma |title=Model Diandra Forrest hits back at those shocked she was breastfeeding on the New York Fashion Week catwalk |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/new-york-fashion-week/diandra-forrest-breastfeeding-new-york-fashion-week-catwalk/ |access-date=May 18, 2025 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=February 22, 2016}}</ref> She was holding her seven-week-old daughter close to her chest in a blanket, and some (including ''The Daily Beast'')<ref>{{cite web |last1=Teeman |first1=Tim |last2=McNearney |first2=Allison |last3=Crocker |first3=Lizzie |title=The 10 Things We Learned at Fashion Week |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-10-things-we-learned-at-new-york-fashion-week/ |website=The Daily Beast |access-date=May 24, 2025 |language=en |date=February 21, 2016}}</ref> assumed she was breastfeeding in public,<ref name="Brown">{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Maressa |title=The Truth About That "Breastfeeding" Runway Model |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/news/a54120/model-diandra-forrest-nyfw-baby-breastfeeding/ |access-date=May 18, 2025 |work=Cosmopolitan |date=February 23, 2016}}</ref> although she was not.<ref name="Spedding" /><ref name="Brown" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Mazziotta |first1=Juliet |title=Model Says She Wasn't Breastfeeding While Walking at NYFW |url=https://people.com/article/breastfeeding-model-nyfw |access-date=May 24, 2025 |work=People |date=February 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224095209/https://people.com/article/breastfeeding-model-nyfw |archive-date=February 24, 2016}}</ref> A year later, Forrest posted a photo of her actually breastfeeding her daughter during a fashion shoot, and called back to that moment.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Greenfield |first1=Beth |title=Model With Albinism Breastfeeds Daughter in Stunning New Fashion Shoot |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/albino-model-breastfeeds-daughter-in-stunning-new-fashion-shoot-224347768.html |website=Yahoo Life |access-date=May 18, 2025 |date=March 1, 2017}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Sister project auto}}
* {{Instagram}}<!-- This is as close to an official site as she has, multiple sources use it as her official site. -->
{{Portal bar|Biography|Fashion|New York City|United States|Women}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forrest, Diandra}} Category:1989 births Category:21st-century African-American actresses Category:21st-century American actresses Category:African-American female models Category:American women human rights activists Category:Female models from New York (state) Category:Living people Category:People from the Bronx Category:People with albinism