Latest news with #SamuelRoss
Vogue
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
SR_A Spring 2026 Menswear Collection
Samuel Ross appears to be experiencing a very English societal transition that is inflecting his work in new ways. Having cashed out of A-Cold-Wall, the brand with which he made his initial mark, he directed some of the fruits of his labor to moving into a big house in the country. The 1837 pile, situated in Northamptonshire, has grounds that run to three acres. On a chat this week Ross said: 'It's the ideal scenario in which to think, and contemplate, and have psychedelic outlashes of thought. And to make art, and to have that atelier component. As you know I've kind of had this vision since 2019 to build a future British Atelier based on modernity and craft, and in this collection it is moving beyond concept and into being.' Where A-C-W grew very much from the crowded horizon and tension of the metropolis, SR_A, after its elevated-nomad intro, seemed suddenly here to have been touched by the stillness and calm of the new surroundings that he and his family are now relishing. Or as he put it: 'it's this idea of dreaming about what social mobility can look like from a craft and from a class and clothing standpoint.' That new field of dreams prompted Ross to recruit a veteran tailor and his assistant to SR_A's Islington-based studio space. The result was some very handsome half silk-lined linen suiting. Outerwear, a Ross forte, was delivered in pre-petrochemical luxury materials: velvets, silks, linens. There was quite a lotus-eatery decadence to velvet trousers and coats edged with ostrich feathers. All of the pieces are made in the UK, following Ross's localist rubric, with the exception of the handmade-in-Morocco loafers. Tote bags were crafted in deer hide, or napa, with sections of cowhide. Said Ross: 'Most of my stories thus far have been about social restraint, dissonance, alienation, and grieving, almost. At this point, that's not where my mind is at. I'm far more interested in illuminating stories that offer social mobility to my generation and to my people. I think that's way more interesting.' This was a fascinating fashion expression of cultured artistic bohemianism made possible by Ross's streetwear-catalyzed, 21st century journey through England's most established cycle of social uplift.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
London Design Biennale 2025 — 7 Immersive Pavilions Reinterpreted as Lessons in Decor
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Is it just me, or has June in the British capital never felt busier? Between much-anticipated openings rethinking the role of museum collections, annual architecture festivals making the discipline as interactive as it's ever been, and more one-off design exhibitions to catch in London, this month is jam-packed with creative inspiration, starting from the latest iteration of the London Design Biennale. Inaugurated on June 5, the fifth edition of the acclaimed showcase, titled Surface Reflections, reunites over 40 countries from across the globe in a thought-provoking, cross-disciplinary presentation that, to quote its Artistic Director, Samuel Ross, strives to show "how design can be the great connector between industry, the political landscape, and meritocracy as a whole." "Surface Reflections is an invitation to introspectively look at what we all have to offer with our unique allegories, context, and histories," the British fashion designer said during the speech that marked the unveiling of the London Design Biennale 2025. "It's about that distinction of self, but it's also about the connective tissue that links us all together. We go through the same processes and matters of life, whether that be eternal, internal, or external, matters of deep introspection or respite." Comprising 40 pavilions centered around the production of either specific nations, collective research projects, international collaborations, or standalone creatives, with contributions straddling the fields of design, culture, science, and technology, this year's curatorial program is, "at its core, a contemplation of the times that we're in — a call for us to consider our common interests, sense of self, and humanity", Ross said. For us, it was an opportunity to learn directly from the designers who are shaping the future of the field about how their climate-friendly material innovations, reinvention of traditional craftsmanship techniques, and latest technological experimentation can weave their way into the home, too. Not just as meaningful decor additions, but as design principles that can inform the way we live moving forward — as my favorite projects from the London Design Biennale 2025 exemplify below. Taking over the cinematic Nelson Stair in Somerset House's West Wing, Paper Clouds: Materiality in Empty Space, Japan's participation in the London Design Biennale 2025, looks to the country's storied tradition of creating with Washi paper, derived from a blend of plant-fiber and wood pulps, to investigate its possible uses within the architecture and fashion space. A site-specific project by the University of Tokyo's SEKISUI HOUSE - KUMA LAB, curated by Clare Farrow, this whimsical, airy installation unfolds as a series of floating cloud-like structures that, hanging from the ceiling, captivate the viewer with their organically textural form. Amplified, like the sky projecting its color onto bodies of water, by the teardrop-shaped mirrors placed on the floor, it was activated by a stirring original piece of music, including live performances, by violinist and composer Midori Komachi, dressed for the occasion in a sculptural dress obtained from the same material. Pavilions like Paper Clouds: Materiality in Empty Space don't just look magical, as if offering a glimpse into another, delicately poetic world, but also demonstrate just how much more sustainable, and less detrimental to the environment, modern interior design, architecture, and couture can be when incorporating naturally sourced, ancient materials. A study in lightness, resilience, and the inner strength of Washi paper, the pavilion "is entirely recyclable and made with threads from traditional Japanese kimonos," curator Clare Farrow tells me. The music accompanying it captures the "actual sound that the medium makes when touching human skin". Played through visually unobtrusive, aesthetic speakers crafted from ancient stone by Mineral Sound, "it's a fusion of art forms that brings an experimental element to this 18th-century space," she adds. Multiple dimensions coexist in architect Haitham Al-Busafi's pavilion for Oman, Memory Grid; at a moment, the blue neons above me make the corridor at its heart into the perfect setting for a sci-fi. The next, I am reminded of the primordial importance ceramic vessels have had for humans and the world as a whole, as carriers of primary goods, but also of meaning, heritage, and culture, since the dawn of time, as I inspect the transparent vases trapped in the installation's checkered structure. Already 5,000 years ago, "ancient civilizations used them as containers for storing whatever they deemed most precious — water, food, oil," Al-Busafi tells me. His Memory Grid does the same, just with our never-ending flow of data; "what we share constantly on social networks, day after day". Rather than representing the data visually, he built the pavilion to immerse visitors in the modularity of a data center, the see-through body of each vase standing in for their incorporeality, their ephemeral essence, their fragility — and ours, in return. Created with actual vessels Al-Busafi 3D-scanned and used as molds, each fragment of Memory Grid, made from a hot plastic sheet, took its final shape through vacuum forming. Remembering how he once saw a fully intact ceramic vessel from around 300 BC while working at an archeological gallery in Oman, the designer asks: "should people still exist in 3,000 years' time, what would they find of us? Would there be anything left, or would things only exist in the digital realm?" My most immediate reaction to Oman's London Design Biennale 2025 pavilion was one: we shouldn't let go of traditional crafts, as those are the only ones with the potential to outlive us. Instead, we should allow them to take on new forms. Specifically, I was intrigued by Al-Busafi's 3D printer-assisted reinterpretation of pottery, and how, despite relying on different mediums than the original one, it still manages to convey ceramics' storied legacy and make it relevant to today's world. I'll be honest, you'll have to see URNA, the Malta pavilion and Golden Medal winner at the 2025 London Design Biennale, in person to get a sense of the poetry captured in this project. A spherical, fascinating reconstituted limestone installation seemingly floating above a dark podium, complete with a short film screening in the space and a series of BTS printed matter catalogues, the project has just been announced as the most outstanding overall contribution to this year's exhibition. Created by a collaborative team of architects, designers, curators, and creative directors, it "speculates on a radical future for the adoption of cremation in Malta," they explain, one that reinvents the handling of human remains "as a culturally significant process". The idea is to integrate their dust into spheres like the one spotlighted here, each of which would become part of an alternative kind of burial site — a powerfully suggestive, utopian, quarry-like place where memory, heritage, sustainability, eco Brutalism, and transformation collide. As thought-provoking as forward-thinking, the commission, which draws from both ancient civilizations' sepulture practices and a futuristic approach to design, wants us to rethink the notion of death and the rituals around it through a surreally beautiful proposal that will make our departed loved ones an integral part of our everyday life. Although the greatest lesson one can take from URNA has been outlined above, there is more to be said about the opportunity that resides in regenerative design, and even more when applied to the decor world. Human remains aside, plenty are the creatives already repurposing other organic materials, from fungi and raw plant fibers to wheat, into functional projects that strike the balance between aesthetics and sustainability, one for all Mexico City-based Fernando Laposse, who recently featured in our review of London's hot new Latin American foodie hotspot, FONDA. Another take-home comes from URNA's brutalist essence — a reminder of how Brutalism, an architectural genre that's recently returned to the fore — continues to be associated with parallel realities and a desire to craft better futures for all. Putting the vibrancy of SUR ANDINA, the Argentinian presentation at the London Design Biennale 2025, into words will be hard, but I'll give it a go anyway. Wrapped around the walls of a small room in the East Wing of the showcase's location, looking at this installation feels like staring straight into the sun, as a giant, back-lit, loom-like structure stands glowing before you. A folklore-inspired collaboration between textile designer Cindy Lilen and sound artist Iliana Díaz López, this multisensory pavilion, pairing woven textiles and furniture with entrancing field recording, choral singing, and light, strives to evoke "the call of Mother Nature, the living pulse of the land, and the Andean world," the duo tells me. Combining multiple ancestral weaving techniques with a futuristic sound system and a mystical take on decor, it renders the beauty and wonder that lies in the outdoors. I had never considered how much specific textiles can alterate the way we perceive light, but as designer Cindy Lilen tells me while welcoming visitors to her London Design Biennale debut, "every type of wool makes for a completely different effect," and the ones she worked with collided to an otherworldly one. Obtained from locally sourced, indigenous, and regenerative natural fibers from Argentina's mountainous region of the Andes, SUR ANDINA not only leads the way in sustainable textile design, but also exemplifies the potential this medium can have in relation to sculptural, accent lighting. Plus, who wouldn't want that illuminated ottoman? Among the collective, non-country pavilions gathered in the fifth edition of the London Design Biennale, Life Calling's Notes to Humanity caught my eye for its essential set-up and powerful mission. Entering its room, situated in Somerset House's West Wing, feels like stepping into an ethereal library, dotted with beautiful green Banker's lamps, pale wood furniture, and thriving vegetation that infiltrates each corner of the room — from patches of musk to lush ficuses and ferns. Framed and hung on the left-hand side wall of the pavilion is a series of messages left by people from all walks of life, each addressing the same dilemma: "what does it mean to preserve your humanity in the Digital Age?" Rather than rushing off to see the next installation, here, visitors are invited to take a moment to think, stop, and express their vision of a human-friendly, incoming future. Any avid Livingetc reader will glance at Notes to Humanity and think the same thing: biophilic interior design. And while that was, largely, my very reaction given the green thumb feel of the installation, the initiative goes one step further than simply encouraging people to create domestic spaces that can foster a better way of life by incorporating plants, wellness-aiding textures, and colors into our domestic design. It prompts us to bring what we have inside out — whatever those worries, hopes, and preoccupations might be — get closer to ourselves, and to each other, all while allowing nature in. Call it indoor-outdoor living, just a little more brainy? Wura, the Global South's contribution to the London Design Biennale 2025, sited at the very end of Somerset House's East Wing, enchants with its softly glowing quietness. Coming a couple of rooms after Saudi Arabia's tech-engineered, busy 'assembly line' exploration of water in the contemporary landscape, this golden-hued room instantly imbues you with a sense of calm. Created by lead artist and curator Danielle Alakija, Wura houses an inner lit standing sculpture framed by four square, wood-carved stools bearing handmade abstract motifs. The centerpiece, made from cowrie shells and gold chain — embodying the currencies of old Africa and today's one, respectively — speaks to the interlaced histories of trade, colonization, and cultural rebirth that have led the continent to the present day, and continue to inform its future. Translating to "precious" in Yoruba, the Wura pavilion captures the importance of acknowledging and reconciling with the past to move forward, without ever leaving our roots behind. Fashioned from shells, gold chain, and a cylindrical, wrought-iron structure, and hand-carved wood, the Global South's participation in the London Design Biennale 2025 is possibly the most interiors-worthy among the pavilions presented. While it's hard to abstract its message from its aesthetics, Alakija's work shows how traditional artisanal practices can be reinvented in a contemporary form that protects their history and resonance while making them even more resonant to the eye of today's viewers. Hong Kong's pavilion at the London Design Biennale 2025, Human-Centred Design: Visuospace, was one of the first ones I walked into during the event's press preview, and the one whose vision stuck with me the longest after leaving the building. A mesmerizing audiovisual installation at the intersection of art, design, and neuroscience, it will hypnotize you with its shape-shifting moving images, morphing from barely recognizable, abstract compositions into ultra-red renders of urban cityscapes and towering skyscrapers. Led by H.S. Choi, the project was developed by collecting emotional data from Hong Kong residents, monitoring the degree to which they felt happiness, sadness, anger, and frustration, the team behind it explains. The stats were then translated into an animated sequence that, assigning specific visual effects to each feeling experienced by the participants, maps the spectrum of Hong Kongese citizens' well-being into a neon-lit, captivating artwork. One of the most densely populated places on Earth, Hong Kong is known for its high-rise buildings, where residents live up to 200 meters above ground level. In Human-Centred Design: Visuospace, viewers are confronted with the way in which the spaces we inhabit shape our physical, mental, and emotional health through a spectacular audiovisual piece that digs into themes of identity, belonging, and alienation. Here, you won't just be able to discover how citizens living in lower-rise residential units compare to those housed in Hong Kong's tallest skyscrapers, but you'll also get to learn more about your own well-being, thanks to the opportunity of having your data collected via a headband on-site and shared with you within days. The London Design Biennale 2025 couldn't, in any way, have landed at a more exciting moment for London's cultural community. What am I hinting at? Well, well, well. In case you missed it, the V&A, one of the world's leading museums, has just revealed its years-in-the-making, Stratford outpost, the Victoria & Albert East Storehouse. We visited it first-hand on its opening day last week to test drive it for you, and its 250,000-artifact collection is well worth a deep dive. In other cultural news, Marina Tabassum's Serpentine Pavilion 2025 was inaugurated at the namesake Kensington Gardens gallery this Tuesday. A breathing, poetic installation with a tree at its heart, the large-scale enterprise captures how, by leaning into natural growth and transformation, "architecture can outlive time".
Forbes
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Samuel Ross and The Balvenie Reimagine Whisky Craft At Milan Design Week
The Balvenie commissions multidisciplinary artist Samuel Ross for "Transposition" at Milan Design Week 2025 Samuel Ross is, to my mind, among the most exciting contemporary creatives. His multidisciplinary practice spans fashion, industrial design, sculpture, installation art and graphic design. He's been awarded two doctorates, has artworks in the MoMA and V&A permanent collections, he's had solo exhibitions at White Cube and Friedman Benda, and created innovative wearable objects for the likes of LVMH, Apple and Nike. Ross is very much of this current generation of creatives who carry the weight of socioeconomic challenges and the richness of cultural complexity to inform their creative thinking. In his case, this means exploring themes of social architecture, materiality and cultural identity for an often evocative and sometimes surprising lens through which to view our world. He sits comfortably within a generation of creatives who move fluidly between disciplines, allowing one to explore the other, and for a certain freedom of expression. For this year's Milan Design Week and Fuorisalone (April 7 to April 13, 2025), Ross, alongside his atelier SR_A (Samuel Ross & Associates), teamed with The Balvenie to create 'Transposition'—a site-specific installation exploring the alchemy of whisky. Set within Historic Foundry in Isola, the work invited visitors into a sensory landscape of vertical rivers, interwoven sounds and shifting reflections, designed to provoke new ways of seeing and experiencing. "Transpositon" installation in the historic Foundry in Isola in Milan as part of Milan Design Week 2025 The Balvenie is a legacy brand founded in 1889 by William Grant in Dufftown, Scotland. The distillery still uses traditional whisky-making processes passed down through generations, and it remains one of the few Scotch producers to grow its own barley, maintain traditional floor maltings, as well as employ in-house coppersmiths and coopers. Ross came up with the concept behind 'Transposition' on visit to The Balvenie. Inspired by the dramatic landscape and the distillery's reverence for craft and innovation, he set out to challenge the romanticized tropes of whisky, instead connecting craft, the the natural and industrial worlds. The Historic Foundry's raw industrial atmosphere mirrors the installation's exploration of material and mindset. Copper frames reference The Balvenie's distillation process, brutalist forms nod to the distillery's architecture, and mist, light and sound call the slow, transformative maturation of The Balvenie Fifty Collection. As a final touch, Ross's signature yellow punctuating the space acts as a symbol of hope and innovation. I asked Ross about his creative thinking for 'Transposition,' and what drew him to collaborate with The Balvenie. Dr Samuel Ross MBE at his studio Samuel Ross: Balvenie's commitment to craft. Their respect for tradition, the approach to producing with intent. It mirrors my own philosophy in the arts. SR: My intent was to project the whisky-making process into an immersive installation. 'Transposition' features large copper structures with flowing water, these 'vertical rivers' speak to the ideas of perpetual movement, distillation and patience that are embedded in The Balvenie's methods. It's a reflective sensory artwork. The work invited visitors into a sensory landscape of vertical rivers, interwoven sounds and shifting reflections SR: Copper became a key material, not just for its industrial feel but for its relevance to distillation. All is in dialogue with their heritage, interpreted through a new way of reflecting the feeling of an atelier. SR: Slowing down, engaging more deeply with the passage of time. SR: They keep things open, fluid. Collaborations encourage the move between disciplines, design, architecture, fine art and to project methods from each. These intersections are where the most interesting ideas emerge. The choice of Milan's Historic Foundry as a setting is purposeful, its raw industrial atmosphere mirroring the installation's exploration of material and mindset. SR: Every material, every form, every spatial decision, it's all in service of a narrative. With 'Transposition' the story is one of transformation, of labour, of history. You want people to walk away with something they can feel, not just see. SR: Definitely, Milan is such a vital city when it comes to design. The space itself, a former foundry in the Isola District, brought another layer to the installation. Its industrial character felt completely in tune with the themes we were exploring. SR: A quiet awe to reflect on the relationship between tradition and expression. It is more so about the feeling, one that can exist only in a physical space. SR: It's not simply about preserving old techniques—it's about creating new contexts for them. Artists and designers have a crucial role in that. See my highlights from Milan Design Week 2025, what's happening at the 24th Triennale Milano starting in May here, and read my 2024 year in art. For more articles on art and design, visit my page here.
Forbes
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Balvenie Taps Into Art To Craft A New Audience For Scotch
Designer Samuel Ross debuted a new structural installation called 'Transposition" with Scotch maker ... More The Balvenie, the latest example of a liquor purveyor leaning into art for brand building. When designer Samuel Ross visited The Balvenie last year, the designer found himself submerged in Scottish landscapes filled with open lakes and rivers that all seemed to point directly at the distillery. 'And from that moment, I knew there'd be a factor and focus on water,' Ross tells me during an interview. The trip helped inspire a new immersive, structural installation called 'Transposition,' which debuted earlier this month at Milan Design Week. The artwork features three towers, incrementally rising by 15% in height from the smallest to to the tallest, and each churning through more than 50,000 liters of cascading water per hour. Ross used 1.5 tons of copper-painted steel to build the three vertical rivers, a nod to the copper stills used in the Scotch whisky-making process. Both The Balvenie and Ross say they wanted the piece to have its own identity and not be a to-on-the-nose branding activation. 'He was able to create something we thought was pretty amazing that had whisky making at its absolute heart,' Andrew Furley, global brand managing director of The Balvenie, tells me during a separate interview. A Balvenie whisky tasting, held in the distillery's home in Dufftown during Ross' visit, would also influence the British-Caribbean artist. 'The sweetness and the profile drew me initially,' says Ross, who personally prefers dark spirits like whisky and rum. 'My objective was to pull on the strands and the profiles of that tasting experience, and the level of depth and character in that process, and transform it into a physical sensory experience.' Liquor brands have long sought to work closely with artists and designers to broaden their appeal, a trend that began in the 1980s when Andy Warhol created a piece based on the silhouette of a bottle of Absolut vodka. These partnerships can give spirits makers vibrant new ways to engage with consumers and stand out on the shelf. Most artist-liquor tie ups tend to result in limited-edition bottle creations, including tequila maker Don Julio's creation with designer Willy Chavarría, Scotch brand Johnnie Walker's Lunar New Year design with visual artist James Jean, and a collaboration between brandy St-Rémy and French artist Lucas Beaufort. All of those partnerships debuted over the past two years. The artwork features three towers, which incrementally get higher by 15% from the smallest to the ... More tallest, and each churn through more than 50,000 liters of cascading water per hour. Furley says the artistic activation with Ross reflects a recent focus by The Balvenie to seek out opportunities to raise global awareness of a Scotch brand that isn't as well known as rivals like Johnnie Walker or Macallan. Past partnerships that point to The Balvenie's thinking include initially launching The Balvenie Fifty First Edition exclusively at the London luxury department store Harrods and a furniture collaboration with designer Bill Amberg. While luxury is a persistent theme through all those branding exercises, The Balvenie says it is also angling to become more than just a Scotch sold to collectors and industry insiders. 'The Balvenie has been a 'if you know, you know' brand; it's very well known by whisky connoisseurs and enthusiasts, but not by the more general audience,' says Furley. 'I think what we are trying to do is give ourselves a little more of a shop window to a broader audience who maybe don't know the brand as well as some of those connoisseurs.' Born in Brixton, an area of South London, Ross says he was primarily raised in the midlands in a part of England that was historically known for shoemaking. That helped inform his preference to work with raw materials when he studied graphic design and illustration at De Montfort University. Industrialism is a through line that consistently appears in his work, ranging from the luxury sportswear brand A-Cold-Wall that he founded in 2014 and work that sits in the permanent collections at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. 'Over the past ten years, I've just been chiseling out and refining that proposition,' says Ross. British-born designer Samuel Ross says he was raised in an industrial region and that industrialism ... More and raw materials are a through line that consistently appears in his work. Ross has designed wearable objects for luxury giant LVMH Group, athletic gear purveyor Nike and tech behemoth Apple. 'We're looking to learn from the best,' says Ross, of the partners he works with, which now includes The Balvenie. 'As a custodian of commercial products, and also expression in the arts, I want to understand and have a fair exchange with these parties," adds Ross. "To give them a new context, that's my role as an artist. But also, with a founder hat on, I want to learn how these maisons work and exchange ideas.' For 'Transposition,' Ross says he sought to sensorially represent the whisky-making process. Each of the three towers represents part of that process: the water, the fermentation process and finally the distilled liquid that goes into a barrel, where it extracts flavor from the wood. 'There's almost this perpetual rhythm of seeing the water and the liquid fall, and you've got the light temperature shifting slightly to give a different optic,' says Ross 'It's all about the senses.'
