Samuel Ross moves through the world like an architect who learned to dress the structures he builds. He’s the designer-artist who translated the vocabulary of concrete, scaffolding and social space into garments that read like “social architecture for the body.” But Ross’s story isn’t just about sharp silhouettes and well-timed drops, it’s about how a Black creative from Brixton folded mentorship, community investment, and strategic risk into a practice that now spans fashion, furniture, philanthropic grants and industrial design.

Below, we trace his upbringing, the formative mentorship with Virgil Abloh, the tensions and wins of building (and exiting) a cult label, and the lessons his latest ventures offer other Black creatives.

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From Brixton to Design School

Samuel Ross was born in Brixton in 1991 to Caribbean parents, part of the Windrush generation. His upbringing stretched between South London’s working-class streets and the quieter suburbs of Northamptonshire, where the textures of concrete estates and social housing left their mark on his imagination.

These environments; rough, raw, and communal would later echo in his work.

At De Montfort University, Ross studied graphic design, graduating with first-class honours. It was there he began fusing the rigor of design principles with a curiosity that stretched across disciplines from typography to furniture to garments.

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The Virgil Abloh Chapter

Ross’s trajectory changed dramatically when he connected with Virgil Abloh. Abloh, then building Off-White, brought Ross on as his first design assistant.

Working under Abloh wasn’t just an internship; it was an apprenticeship in scale. Abloh showed Ross how to build a brand that could live in multiple worlds at once: Art, fashion, music, and architecture. For Ross, the mentorship was about more than aesthetics. It was about ambition: how a Black creative could push into institutions that once felt impenetrable.

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Building A-COLD-WALL*

By 2014, Ross launched his own label: A-COLD-WALL*. The brand quickly stood out for its sharp mix of utilitarian silhouettes, industrial materials, and commentary on class and community. He described it as a “material study for social architecture,” a phrase that captured its essence garments inspired by scaffolding, concrete, and workwear.

The label drew collaborations with Nike, Converse, and Diesel, and its pieces entered museum collections. It was celebrated as one of the new vanguards of British fashion, reshaping what luxury streetwear could mean.

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But growth came with challenges. Scaling production, meeting retail demands, and navigating the weight of representation as one of the few Black British designers in high fashion was demanding. In 2024, Ross made a decisive move: selling his majority stake in A-COLD-WALL* to Tomorrow Ltd. It was less an ending than a pivot freeing him to pursue new forms of design.

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SR_A: A New Language of Design

Post-A-COLD-WALL*, Ross launched **SR_A (Samuel Ross & Associates)** a studio dedicated to industrial design, art, and garment engineering. Here, clothing sits alongside furniture, objects, and installations, all marked by his brutalist, material-driven language.

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SR_A’s projects include collaborations with Hublot and public art commissions. But perhaps the most notable is SR_A Engineered by Zara, unveiled in 2025. This partnership took Ross’s precise design ethos into a mass-market setting, sparking conversations about accessibility and scale. Could industrial craft meet the high street without compromise? Ross seemed intent on proving it could.

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Giving Back: Black British Artist Grants

Even as Ross built his own empire, he invested in others. In 2020, he launched emergency grants for Black-owned businesses and later established the Black British Artist Grants, offering funding and visibility to emerging creatives. These initiatives weren’t symbolic. They were structured pipelines bursaries tied to institutional partnerships with schools like the Royal College of Art. Designed to ensure Black talent had both opportunity and recognition.

Ross has said these efforts are as important as his own studio practice: “It’s about creating infrastructure, not just influence.”

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The Present and Beyond

Today, Ross continues to expand SR_A while funding and mentoring new talent. His arc, from Brixton to Milan, from assistant to mentor is a reminder that design isn’t only about objects. It’s about shaping pathways.

For the next generation of Black creatives, his story is proof that the road may be uneven, but it can be paved with intention, strategy, and community care.

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Lessons for Black Creatives

Ross’s journey holds powerful lessons for emerging Black creatives:

1. Expand your toolkit. Ross’s background in graphic design allowed him to cross boundaries into fashion, furniture, and product design.
2. Seek tactical mentorship. His relationship with Abloh wasn’t abstract; it was daily, practical, and transformative.
3. Invest in others. By creating grants and partnerships, Ross shows that legacy is built by lifting others.
4. Exit on your terms. His decision to sell A-COLD-WALL* illustrates that stepping away can be as visionary as starting up.
5. Balance craft and reach. The Zara collaboration proves that accessibility doesn’t mean abandoning identity.

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