Selyna Brillare is to Telfar Clemens what Audrey Hepburn was to Hubert de Givenchy – albeit with fluorescent nails, pastel wigs, and a carousel of interchangeable It bags. Born and raised in New York, Brillare’s life can be traced along the ridges of her social media footprint. On Instagram, she’s Selyna the pretty socialite, reposting her modelling work for Christian Cowan, Homage Year, and Smashbox Cosmetics to more than 650k followers. On TikTok, she’s Selyna the comedian, delivering embattled “dump him” mantras to an audience that trades in “slay” and “purr”. On YouTube, she’s Selyna the reality star, going on deli runs, hosting club nights, and getting into petty arguments with her mum.
Brillare’s ability to glide over the internet’s planes – being funny and turning a look while documenting her transition – eventually landed her a spot on Teflar TV. Having hawked handbags and assless jeans on the all-hours shopping channel for a while, she was soon picked up by Rosalía, who cast Brillare as a shot-quaffing party girl in her music video for “CANDY”. Though she might bristle at the term “content creator”, Brillare’s career is amorphous in a way that only an online personality’s can be. It means she’s now turned her hand to making music, a pivot she made, as she explained on Tia Talk’s NYC podcast, “just because.” Feeding raps through trap beats, Green Day-style guitars, and Xanned-out SoundCloud affectations, her music has that same chameleonic quality that first made her an online star.
Text Daniel Rodgers
Images courtesy Polyester zine
