THE RULES OF LUXURY HAVE CHANGED

Samuel Ross is emptying the traditional rules of luxury, replacing them with the ones that speak the language of our times. His brand, A COLD WALL is rather a dialogue between the product and the consumer that evolves over time. It is a discourse that rethinks the fashion business and serves to change the future.

As the designer recently announced, his next show will have open doors, building a bridge to the evolution of the textile industry so that the democratization, perhaps utopian, of the product can begin to become effective. A simple but powerful idea that will give those who love design and fashion, but cannot afford or are far from approaching this coveted world, accessibility to something that only happened in their imagination.

In addition, Ross has revealed that he will build the upcoming collection set design with sustainable materials, with the aim of raising awareness - for the most part - to all those 16-year-olds who will not go to school to attend - or at least try - the A COLD WALL parade, ensuring the conquest in social networks that will help the brand and its objectives be exposed to a level less explored by members of the fashion world.

“Fashion traditionally has talked down to consumers, so by opening up to the public, I’ll be chipping away at the perspective of how luxury fashion should operate"

There was a time when at the top of fashion was haute couture, at the centre were the big brands, and at the base was an enormous number of distributors of clothing for the masses. But this is no longer the case today.

The culture of subcultures has moved from the background to the centre of the world scene, and any designer who has understood it right now is the one who sets the rules. Samuel Ross has listened to the street, making a considerable niche in the industry, becoming one of the ambassadors of streetwear in the world.

The Internet boom has caused all major brands to reconsider their modus operandi, selling through e-commerce - such as Prada as a team with Highsnobiety - or mixing haute couture with popular fashion, such as Adidas integrating Yohji Yamamoto or Nike working along with Samuel Ross himself, who has revealed that  will use Nike Flyleather in his designs for sneakers to move forward, adding that he is eager to continue working with sustainable materials and also hopes to incorporate green elements into his scenery.

Since he began his career at age 25 - after selling counterfeits in his neighbourhood, hungry for consumerism and far from being the prototype of an artist leaving the centre of Saint Martins - in just four years, Ross has made a name for himself as a figure to watch on the international fashion scene, winning a British Fashion Council Fashion Award for the Emerging Male Apparel Designer in 2018, and earning a nomination for the LVMH and ANDAM awards of the same year. The brand has become a resounding success and counts with stock in notable platforms such as Ssense, Barneys New York or Dover Street Market. 

Samuel's work fluctuates between architecture, design and fashion. It is inspired by the working class from which it comes to develop its designs, the parades are performances and the garments are weapons loaded with a communicative sense for those who consume them.

Today, very few people still think that traditional marketing alone is capable of influencing consumers' purchasing decisions. They want to know what is behind a brand, what it can offer them in exchange for their money, how they can be part of the vision, what they can rely on. 

Luxury is no longer an outright arms race of skill between brands like Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Chanel - although authenticity and tradition still have much prestige for the world's luxury consumers - today, luxury has no law. Luxury is rebellion. Luxury is freedom.

Ross is aware of his power and responsibility as a cultural leader and does not hesitate to use fashion as a tool so that the ambitious and aspirational generation that reigns today develops under the guidelines of a message that goes in the direction of a transparent future where consciousness plays a key role in the history of our time.

  “There is further insight beyond the immediacy of just the clothes”