Samuel Ross is back in the fashion game. His intention is to rewrite its rules. But first here’s the recap.
It’s just over six months since Ross announced the outright sale of his first brand, A-Cold-Wall, to his longtime partner and incubator Tomorrow Ltd. As Virgil Abloh’s first-ever intern, this laser-focused young Brit had during a decade built both a business and a reputation for rigorously industrial abstract streetwear. Naturally, by the time he executed that successful exit from A-Cold-Wall earlier this year, he had already laid out his next play.
This look book represents that play’s first hand. SR_A stands for Samuel Ross Atelier. SR_A was founded five years ago, but until now—while A-Cold-Wall was still on his desk—it studiously steered clear of clothing. Instead, Ross’s own-name entity has developed rolling, multiyear partnerships with companies including LVMH (Hublot), Apple (Beats), and Nike, as well as acted as a home for his sculptural furniture design (which has been shown at venues including White Cube). As Yi Ng, cofounder and CEO of SR_A, said: “We want to offer a perspective on the generational shift in value, mediating between modernity and heritage for the post-streetwear consumer.”
Post-streetwear, eh? In 2019, the year SR_A was founded, Abloh predicted: “[Streetwear is] gonna die, you know? Like, it’s time will be up. In my mind, how many more T-shirts can we own, how many more hoodies, how many sneakers?”
Which leads to a question to which this collection frames an answer, the result of 18 months of development by Ross. He said: “The whole proposition of the Atelier line is that it’s small quantities and the outerwear is made to order. This is down to production time and to ensure the intricate details are kept in the garment. We are pursuing a new model that is focused equally on brand, craft, and ateliers.” Both the luxury-ification of streetwear and the rise of mass-tige over the last decade have, added Ross, “been very successful experiments. But they have also eroded the appreciation for craft and the principles of luxury of a generation.”
These clothes are for those who have matured beyond streetwear’s more childish things—and who no longer relish sitting on 50 printed Gildan hoodies—but whose core essential aesthetic remains true. Every London-cut, Italian-veg-tanned-leather tab on every sashiko-stitched garment in every painstakingly considered weight of terry is hand signed. Every price is just as carefully balanced in order to deliver an equitable split of profit to the UK-based ateliers and artisans with whom Ross is partnering.
“There’s a strength in outerwear in exploring ways to retreat then move it forward without wanting it to be a peacock display. It can be more about discretion.” This was Ross’s thematic take on a suite of jackets that paired a distinctly swoopy ceremonial silhouette with post-military details and overwhelmingly organic fabrics—the translucent nylon in a poncho apart—upon which the focus was less color than patina.
Ross’s plan is to grow this line extremely gradually: new collections annually and watering them every few months with new editorial projects, showcases, and collaborative actions in other corners of culture. “It’s about the sense of intimacy, true luxury, and real depth post-streetwear,” he said. As an evolution from private-equity-ravaged streetwear territory, Ross’s strategy seems hopeful. Yet what it arguably lacks, thanks to the strictly limited nature of its handmade-luxury ethos, is the potential to speak to a larger, younger audience. To that Ross replied: “This line is about the atelier. But access is also very much in our minds, and that will naturally come forward. What we want to propose is a model where one aspect does not cannibalize the other. How we keep those two levers powerfully in their own lane is something we’re still working on.”
