model selena forrest on riding quads and listening to aaliyah

Here are the 10 things you need to know about the Louisiana-born, California-based Proenza Schouler fave.

Nov 10 2016, 2:35pm

Photography Alasdair McLellan, Styling Benjamin Bruno

Born and bred in Louisiana, Selena Forrest spent her formative years doing things that most kids do, like hanging out with all the other tomboys and rolling around in mud. After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Selena and her family fled to California, where the 16-year-old beauty currently lives today. It was on a beach in Cali that she was first discovered. She'd been stopped by a security guard for smuggling alcohol in her cooler when a woman came running up to her asking whether she'd ever considered modeling. And the rest, as they say, is history. Well, her break came after she finally got her braces off (she took a pair of pliers to her teeth). Since then, Selena has walked catwalks for Loewe and Louis Vuitton, bagged campaigns for DKNY and Proenza Schouler, and even found time to grace the cover of i-D's The Futurewise Issue — all in the space of a year. She's the model of the moment, so here are 10 things you need to know about her.

Photography Matt Jones

1. Growing up, modeling was never really in the cards for Selena.
"I never thought to be a model, but everyone always told me to."

2. In fact, she used to be a bit of a rebel.
"I ditched school during second grade. I got caught and never ditched again, lol."

3. That was until she got scouted.
"I was discovered in the beginning of 2015 at Huntington Beach in California with some family while getting stopped by a security guard to check our cooler."

4. Had she not been scouted, she'd have probably ended up with a career in the medical field.
"If I wasn't a model I'd be a registered nurse or nurse practitioner."

5. Now that she is a model, however, her fave designers are the boys behind Proenza Schouler.
"I've spent so much time with Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez over the past year; I've be able to see their clothes and collections grow and evolve so much. I really like their work ethic — it's not rushed and last minute it's more chill and 'let's take our time to get the best results.'"

6. When she's not working the runway, you can find her:
"Riding quads."

7. Her ultimate girl band would consist of:
"Aaliyah, Zendaya, and NAO."

8. Over the years, she's received some sage advice from her uncle.
"He told me to never be incompetent so you can look back five years from now at all the stuff you accomplished instead of looking back five years from now at all the time you wasted."

9. She's also got some pretty wise words when it comes to the meaning of beauty.
"Beauty is something that can't be faked, natural."

10. If she could change one thing in the world, it would be:
"Hunger and poverty because I know how it feels to go without."


Text Tish Weinstock
Selena Forrest is with NEXT Models