Top model Selena Forrest covers the April 2023 issue of WSJ Magazine, styled by Julia Sarr-Jamois in hot weather, fluid elegance. Photographer Angelo Pennetta [IG] captures Selena in hot-weather mode in Miami, where she has a home since 2021. “Work can be so fast-paced, and here I have a big backyard,” says Forrest. “I’m just soaking in the nature and the sunshine.”/ Hair by Mustafa Yanaz; makeup by Susie Sobol

The mood of Selena’s photoshoot is vastly different from her very sober neutrals ‘Coolest Staples’ fashion story in WSJ Magazine’s December/January 2018.19 issue.

Forrest was born in Louisiana but moved with her family to Southern California after Hurricane Katrina. She was scouted in Huntington Beach while still in high school. That part might sound glamorous, but in post-Katrina life, poverty was staring Selena and her family in the face.

A familiar descriptor about the model is her ability “to convey tough sincerity with tenderness”, an attitude particularly attractive to fashion’s top luxury brands. While Proenza Schouler founders Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez first picked her up for their spring 2016 show, Selena Forrest drew major industry figures to her.

At the top of the list is Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri, who has worked with her on many campaigns, runway and editorial projects.

Selena wears sophisticated elegance from Akris, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Dsquared2, Ferragamo, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy, Gucci, Missoni, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, Valentino and more.