Samuel Ross, MBE

  Powerlistee
  Arts, Fashion & Design

Samuel Ross continues to redefine the boundaries between fashion, industrial design and technology. This year he was appointed Global Creative Director for a multi-year collaboration with wearable technology company WHOOP, which was valued at US$10.1 billion following its latest funding round.

Through his award-winning design studio, SR_A, Samuel is also joining the business as an investor alongside Niall Horan and Cristiano Ronaldo, reflecting his growing influence well beyond the luxury fashion industry. Samuel first came to prominence as the founder of pioneering streetwear label A-Cold-Wall, established in 2014 after working with the late Virgil Abloh at Off-White and contributing to projects for Kanye West’s creative agency, DONDA.

Widely recognised as one of the brands that helped elevate streetwear into the luxury market, A-Cold-Wall won three British Fashion Awards before its acquisition by Frasers Group in 2024.

Since then, Samuel has expanded his creative practice through SR_A, collaborating with brands including Apple, Hublot, Kohler and Beats by Dre, where he became the company’s first principal design consultant. Last year he unveiled SR_A Engineered by Zara at Paris Fashion Week, a two-year collaboration bringing functional, design-led clothing to a wider audience. He also served as Artistic Director of the 2025 London Design Biennale.

Alongside his commercial work, Samuel has established an international reputation as an artist, exhibiting at White Cube and Friedman Benda. His work forms part of the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Dallas Museum of Art. Through the Black British Artist Grants Programme, launched in 2020, he continues to support emerging Black artists while reshaping the relationship between design, culture and technology and opening routes between creative disciplines and industries. He was appointed MBE in 2023 for services to fashion.

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