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For the Americo-Liberian politician, see Samuel Alfred Ross. For the American racing driver, see Sam Ross.

Samuel Ross MBE (born 1991) is a British fashion designer, creative director, and artist.[3][4] He is known for founding the fashion label A-COLD-WALL*, Industrial Design studio SR_A SR_A, and the Black British Artists Grants Programme [d].[5][6][7][8] Since founding these organisations, Ross has collaborated with companies such as Apple, Kohler, LVMH, Nike, and William Grant & Sons.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Ross’s output is often characterised as “social architecture for the body”, captured through abstraction, brutalism, and deconstruction.[buzzword][citation needed]

Early life and education

Ross was born in the Brixton neighbourhood of London, United Kingdom to second generation Windrush parents of Caribbean descent.[4] Shortly after his birth he moved to Northamptonshire, United Kingdom.[17] He attended and graduated from De Montfort University, Leicester where he received first class honours for a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design and Illustration and was awarded the FSG design award in 2012.[18][19]

Career

After graduating from university, Ross worked as a graphic and product designer for various commercial and industrial companies.[17]

He went on to intern for, and was subsequently hired by Virgil Abloh, who became Ross’s mentor.[20] In 2012 Ross became Abloh’s first design assistant.[21] During his time working for Abloh, Ross also designed for Kanye West‘s creative content company Donda and related companies.[22][23]

In 2014 Ross independently founded A-COLD-WALL*, a fashion label, self-described as a “material study for social architecture.”[24][25] The company was acquired by Tomorrow Ltd. in 2024.[26][27]

In 2019 Ross and his business partner Yi Ng [d] founded SR_A SR_A.[28] Ross launched SR_A (Samuel Ross & Associates) at the Hublot Prize exhibition in the Serpentine Gallery in 2019.[29] SR_A is a studio operating within the fields of artisan-driven, industrial beautification of precious garments, objects and space.[30]

In 2020 Ross established the Black British Artist Grants programme.[31] Each year the scheme offers 10 bursaries of £2,500 to selected applicants from a range of art and design disciplines.[32][33] Past recipients of the award include designer Mac Collins, designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello [d],[34] photographer Ronan Mckenzie, and architect Dominique Petit-Frère [d].[35][36] The programme has independently provided 50 artists with funding, connecting the next generation of talent to global institutions.[citation needed] The programme advisory board is composed of the following: The Kings Foundation,[37] The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A),[38] The British Fashion Council,[39] The Royal College of Art,[40] The Design Museum [41] and The University of Westminster.[42] Ross summarises the endeavour as “holistic design for change”.[citation needed]

In 2022 the V&A held an exhibition titled Fashion design: Samuel Ross / A-COLD-WALL*, and in 2023 Ross exhibited his paintings and sculptures in a solo show titled Land at the White Cube gallery in London,[43][44] as well as Coarse, and exhibition of sculptural pieces that was his second solo show at the Freidman Benda gallery in New York.[45] His work was also included in the exhibition Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design at Chatsworth at Chatsworth House, and The New Transcendence at Friedman Benda Gallery, NY (both curated by Glenn Adamson).[46][47][48][49][50] Examples of Ross’s work are held in the Metropolitan Museum,[51] Denver Art Museum,[52] Dallas Museum of Art,[53] Museum of Fine Arts, SCAD Museum of Art, National Museum of Scotland, as well as the Design Museum and V&A in London.[54]

In 2023, Ross was hired by Apple for the newly created role of “Principal Design Consultant for Beats“.[55][56]

In 2024 he designed a smart toilet and taps for Kohler.[57][58][59][60]

Ross was the artistic director of the 2025 London Design Biennale.[61][62][63][64]

Design by Category

Technology

  • WHOOP LLC[65]
  • Apple c/o Beats by Dre LLC[66]

Horology

Fragrance

  • Acqua di Parma (LVMH)

Eyewear

  • Oakley (Luxottica SRL)

Bathroom

  • Kohler LLC

Public sculpture & furniture

  • City of London Financial District
  • Miami Design District

Footwear

  • Timberland LLC
  • Dr. Martens Ltd

Sportswear

  • Nike LLC
  • Converse LLC

Liqueur

  • The Balvenie
  • Absolut Vodka

Automobile

  • RIDECAKE — EV motorbike

Permanent, temporary architecture & installation

  • Hublot Watch Manufacture, Geneva, Switzerland — Completion: 2027–2028
  • Miami Design District — Permanent installation, twenty steel benches (2024)
  • City of London — Sculpture in the City — Large-scale installation (2024)
  • Milan Design Week — TRANSPOSITION — Large-scale installation (2025)
  • Milan Design Week — TERMINAL 02 — Large-scale installation (2024)
  • Design Miami — TERMINAL 01 — Large-scale installation (2023)
  • Milan Fashion Week — SS20 — Runway (2020)
  • London Fashion Week — AW19 — Runway (2019)

Honours and awards

Ross is the recipient of the 2018 British Fashion Award for Emerging Menswear Designer,[68] the 2019 Hublot Design Prize,[69] Forbes 30 under 30 Europe,[70] the 2020 GQ USA Fashion Award[71] and the 2020 People of the Year British Fashion Award for his philanthropic endeavours.[72] He received an honorary doctorate from The University of Westminster in 2021.[1] Ross is a recipient of a 2021 British Fashion Award, within the category ‘Leaders of Change’.[73] Ross was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to fashion.[2] In 2025, Ross was awarded an honorary doctorate by De Montfort University.[74]

  • 2012 FSG design award
  • 2017 British Fashion Council (BFC) Newgen Award
  • 2018 British Fashion Award, Emerging Talent
  • 2018 LVMH Prize (finalist)
  • 2018 Andam Grand Prize (nominated)
  • 2018 BFC Newgen 2018/2019
  • 2019 Hublot LVMH Design Prize
  • 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30
  • 2019 BFC GQ Fashion Fund Award
  • 2019 BFC Newgen
  • 2020 British Fashion Award, Person of the Year (philanthropy)
  • 2020 GQ USA Fashion Award
  • 2020 International Woolmark Prize 2020 (finalist)
  • 2021 British Fashion Award, Leader of Change Award
  • 2021 Honorary PhD (Doctor Honoris Causa) conferred by the University of Westminster[1]
  • 2022 London Chamber Of Commerce, Outstanding Contribution To Fashion
  • 2022 Soho House Award, Established Change-maker Award
  • 2023 Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to fashion[2]
  • 2024 Best Contemporary Design Object, DESIGN MIAMI.BASEL[75]
  • 2025 Elle Deco International Design Award (EDIDA)[76][77]
  • 2025 Elle Deco Japan – Young Design Talent Award
  • 2025 Honorary Doctor of Design (Hon DDes), De Montfort University


References

  1. ^ a b c “University of Westminster awards fashion designer Samuel Ross with Honorary Doctorate degree”. University of Westminster. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b c “No. 64269”. The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N24.
  3. ^ “Dr. Samuel Ross MBE”. London Design Festival. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  4. ^ a b “Samuel Ross – Continuous study of fashion design, installation art, sculpture & living space”. www.samuel-ross.com. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  5. ^ “A-COLD-WALL* Official Online Flagship”. A-COLD-WALL*. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  6. ^ “SR_A SR_A Boutique”. sr-a.com. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  7. ^ “SR_A SR_A BLACK BRITISH ARTIST GRANTS”. community.samuel-ross.com. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  8. ^ Gonzalez, Elaine (15 August 2024). “Artnoir, Sotheby’s and SR_A’s Black British Artist Grant Program Announce UK Edition of the Jar of Love Fund 2024”. Sugarcane Magazine ™| Black Art Magazine. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  9. ^ “Apple’s powerhouse headphone brand Beats has a new designer. See his first big product”. Fast Company Middle East | The future of tech, business and innovation. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  10. ^ “Hublot and designer Samuel Ross present Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A, in a 50-piece limited edition”. LVMH. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  11. ^ “Architectural Association creates terracotta floor show for Samuel Ross’ Nike capsule collection”. Dezeen. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  12. ^ “Samuel Ross and Virgil Abloh on the power of mentorship”. British GQ. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  13. ^ “Samuel Ross Searches for a New “Bleeding Edge and High Risk” Watchmaking Aesthetic”. HYPEBEAST. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  14. ^ “Samuel Ross and The Balvenie Have Announced a Partnership for Milan Design Week”. Hypebeast. 18 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  15. ^ Zhang, Tianwei (18 March 2025). “Samuel Ross to Debut Sculptural Installation With The Balvenie at Milan Design Week”. WWD. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  16. ^ Tsimpou, Thomai (8 April 2025). “samuel ross on TRANSPOSITION, his ‘vertical river’ installation for the balvenie in milan”. Designboom. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  17. ^ a b “Samuel Ross, Designer Of A-Cold-Wall*, Talks Streetwear And Breaking Down Social Barriers”. British Vogue. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  18. ^ “Samuel Ross unveils his material instinct for Hublot”. Esquire SG. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  19. ^ “Samuel Ross | BoF 500 | The People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry”. www.businessoffashion.com. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  20. ^ Broeke, Teo van den (10 June 2019). “Samuel Ross and Virgil Abloh on the power of mentorship”. British GQ. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  21. ^ Dazed (1 November 2022). “‘I’m obsessed with scaring myself’: meet Samuel Ross’s fashion prodigies”. Dazed. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  22. ^ “Samuel Ross Makes Sense Of Streetwear In High Fashion”. T Singapore. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  23. ^ Ferrier, Morwenna (13 June 2018). “A-Cold-Wall*’s Samuel Ross: ‘Streetwear used to be a class thing’“. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  24. ^ “A-Cold-Wall Spring 2023 Menswear Collection”. Vogue. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  25. ^ “A-COLD-WALL”. LVMH PRIZE. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  26. ^ Leitch, Luke (20 February 2024). “Tomorrow comes for Samuel Ross”. Vogue Business. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  27. ^ “Tomorrow Ltd Acquires Samuel Ross’ A-Cold-Wall”. The Business of Fashion. 21 February 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  28. ^ Monisse, Nic (26 March 2026). “Samuel Ross and Yi Ng’s vision for SR_A and the future of luxury”. Monocle magazine. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
  29. ^ “Samuel Ross Introduces New Design Venture Sr_A”. HYPEBEAST. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  30. ^ “Conversations: Samuel Ross of A-Cold-Wall*”. Roden Gray. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  31. ^ “SR_A SR_A BLACK BRITISH ARTIST GRANTS”. community.samuel-ross.com. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  32. ^ “Applications open for the Samuel Ross Black British Artist Grant Programme 2022”. Royal College of Art. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  33. ^ “Samuel Ross’ Black British Artist Grant Programme Launches for 2022”. Hypebeast. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  34. ^ Owoh, Ugonna-Ora (20 December 2022). “Nifemi Marcus-Bello is the Nigerian designer shaping Africa’s designscape”. Wallpaper*. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  35. ^ Hughes, Stella (17 August 2022). “HERE’S HOW TO ENTER SAMUEL ROSS’ BLACK BRITISH ARTIST GRANT PROGRAMME”. CULTED. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  36. ^ Moss, Jack (17 August 2022). “Samuel Ross announces fourth chapter of Black British Artist Grant Programme”. Wallpaper*. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  37. ^ “The King’s Foundation”. www.kings-foundation.org. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  38. ^ “Fashion design: Samuel Ross / A-COLD-WALL* · V&A”. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  39. ^ “British Fashion Council – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging”. www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  40. ^ “Applications open for the Samuel Ross Black British Artist Grant Programme 2023”. RCA Website. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  41. ^ Jack Moss (17 August 2022). “Samuel Ross announces fourth chapter of Black British Artist Grant Programme”. Wallpaper*. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  42. ^ “Andrew Groves will be on the Advisory Board for the Samuel Ross Black British Artist Grant Programme – 2022”. University of Westminster. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  43. ^ Elisha, Tawe (6 April 2023). “Samuel Ross at White Cube: Land, abstraction and the Black interior”. Wallpaper*. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  44. ^ “Samuel Ross – master of the multidisciplinary space”. Financial Times. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  45. ^ Sayej, Nadja (24 May 2023). “Samuel Ross’ New Exhibition ‘COARSE’ Is Anything But”. Observer. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  46. ^ “Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design at Chatsworth”. www.chatsworth.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  47. ^ Bertoli, Rosa (17 March 2023). “Chatsworth House design exhibition explores contemporary design themes in an eclectic setting”. Wallpaper*. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  48. ^ Madlener, Adrian (17 March 2023). “How Can You Make an English Manor Filled With Old Masters Feel Contemporary? At Chatsworth House, the Answer Is Cutting-Edge Design”. Artnet News. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  49. ^ “Friedman Benda NY considers design as motifs of ‘The New Transcendence’“. www.stirpad.com. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  50. ^ Barandy, Kat (13 January 2024). “the new transcendence: friedman benda highlights artists from andrea branzi to samuel ross”. designboom architecture & design magazine. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  51. ^ “Samuel Ross – “ANAESTHESIA I” desk”. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  52. ^ “Denver Art Museum Acquires Work by Samuel Ross – Friedman Benda”. www.friedmanbenda.com. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  53. ^ “Dallas Museum of Art Acquires Work by Samuel Ross – Friedman Benda”. www.friedmanbenda.com. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  54. ^ Prempeh, Charlene (4 May 2023). “Dalla moda al product design,alla pittura: l’ascesa multitasking di Samuel Ross”. Il Sole 24 ORE (in Italian). Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  55. ^ Ilchi, Layla (20 June 2023). “Beats Taps A-Cold-Wall’s Samuel Ross as Principal Design Consultant”. WWD. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  56. ^ “Samuel Ross Appointed as Beats Principal Design Consultant”. Hypebeast. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  57. ^ Madlener, Adrian (29 February 2024). “Smart toilet by Samuel Ross for Kohler flushes out the inefficiencies of conventional designs”. Wallpaper*. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  58. ^ “Samuel Ross designs textured toilet that is “closer to a sculpture”“. Dezeen. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  59. ^ Sharma, Anushka (15 April 2024). “Kohler x SR_A unveil limited-edition smart toilet ‘Formation 02’ and installation for MDW”. StirWorld. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  60. ^ Madlener, Adrian (20 September 2023). “First look at Samuel Ross’ revolutionary faucet for Kohler”. Wallpaper*. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  61. ^ “Samuel Ross appointed artistic director of London Design Biennale 2025”. Dezeen. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  62. ^ Bertoli, Rosa (13 March 2024). “Samuel Ross announced as artistic director of London Design Biennale 2025”. Wallpaper*. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  63. ^ “London Design Biennale”. ldb-website. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  64. ^ Features, Francesca Perry published in (9 June 2025). “‘Designers are far more than just producers of commercial goods’: Samuel Ross on the London Design Biennale”. Wallpaper*. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  65. ^ Cote, Karla (5 February 2026). “WHOOP Announces Creative Partnership With Designer Samuel Ross for Multi-Year ‘Project Terrain’ Collaboration”. Variety. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  66. ^ “Could Beats’ big, new hire change the way Apple approaches design? (exclusive)”. Fast Company. 20 June 2023. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  67. ^ “Introducing: Hublot Launches Its Fourth Collaboration With Samuel Ross With The Big Bang Unico SR_A”. Hodinkee. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  68. ^ “Samuel Ross is part of the BoF 500”. The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  69. ^ Magazine, Wallpaper* (27 September 2019). “A-Cold-Wall’s Samuel Ross lifts the 2019 Hublot Design Prize”. Wallpaper*. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  70. ^ “Samuel Ross”. Forbes. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  71. ^ Ma, Fiona (10 June 2019). “A-Cold-Wall’s Samuel Ross Wins the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund Award”. WWD. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  72. ^ “British Fashion Council – The Fashion Awards 2020 Honourees Announced”. www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  73. ^ “All the Winners from Britain’s The Fashion Awards”. Vogue. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  74. ^ “How visit to DMU with his dad sparked meteoric career for young designer”. De Montfort University. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  75. ^ “Best Contemporary Design Object: Fire Opens Stone Bench by Samuel Ross, presented by Friedman Benda”. Design Miami. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  76. ^ “Dr. Samuel Ross MBE”. www.edida-awards.com. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  77. ^ “Samuel Ross MBE tells the story of his most treasured possession”. ELLE Decoration. 16 April 2025. Retrieved 10 May 2025.