A-COLD-WALL*'s Samuel Ross Wants to Make A "Smart Sneaker" That Will "Age Beautifully"

Having already earned the honor of the youngest designer to ever hold a window at Barneys, A-COLD-WALL*’s Samuel Ross has already made quite a mark on contemporary fashion. As a new interview with SSENSE reveals, the 25-year-old has some pretty lofty ideas and plans for his future in the industry. Speaking to Tiffany Godoy, Ross opens up about his thoughts on the British class system, gentrification, experimenting in fashion, identity and his new collaboration with Nike. Most notably, Samuel Ross had the following to say in regards to his purpose and underlying mission:

My job is to express a lot of information that’s been misconstrued, or misunderstood, or that people don’t know really exists. I’m almost re-introducing and celebrating a new phase of British culture that people just didn’t know existed. I feel like it’s my job to present these new ideas and push more radical ideas and extremes. A kid who has no education, if he was to push a similar idea, it might get shut down because he hasn’t gone through the process of what it takes to go through an idea, whereas I have. So, it’s my job to make sure that the purest form of what I know is expressed and represented appropriately. My job is really not to make people necessarily feel comfortable but to present a new way and a new idea of doing things. To push things forward, you know?

With regards to his new collection, the A-COLD-WALL* also revealed his personal highlights:

In the presentation, I’ll be debuting my Nike collab, an Air Force 1 High which I’ve completely deconstructed. A lot of people are having their own takes on Nike shoes right now, which is great, but my job once again as a designer is to slow down time a bit. I don’t want it to be of the moment or trendy. I want it to be something that will age beautifully. It’s almost like synthesizing conversations that I’ve had about what I feel I can bring to the table for them in terms of a smart sneaker. And by smart I mean something that’s not just commercially viable, but something that people really want.

You can check out Samuel Ross’ entire SSENSE feature here. For more, take a look at our report on A-COLD-WALL*’s backstage happenings.