Samuel Ross creates a dynamic sculpture as Hublot’s latest brand ambassador
His career is intriguing and fascinating; his style is brutalist yet textured and balanced. And after winning the 2019 Hublot Design Prize, Samuel Ross has been appointed as watch brand Hublot’s latest ambassador.
“Samuel Ross is one of those people who immediately makes an impact,” said Ricardo Guadalupe, CEO of Hublot. “His creative approach is both aesthetic and functional, his design purposeful. He creates simple and striking objects. His career has been unique, his rise swift; his creations are not dependent on any particular field or media, with his creativity crossing all disciplines. We share the same attraction to materials, technique and innovation. As is the case for all of the brand’s friends and ambassadors, Samuel helps us define Hublot from a different angle. While the expression changes, the spirit behind it does not.”
Ross has a talent for capturing the zeitgeist and has gained a reputation as a wunderkind. A British fashion and industrial designer, he was discovered at age of 21 by Virgil Abloh, who invited him to join Off White and Donda. At the age of 25, he launched his menswear line A-Cold-Wall*, which added him to the Forbes 30 under 30 Europe list, won him the British Fashion Council (BFC)/GQ Fashion Fund Award in 2019 and got him nominated for an LVMH Award. He has collaborated with brands including Apple, Dr. Martins and Nike as well as designers Virgil Abloh, Hiroshi Fujiwara and Takashi Murakami. Ross has gained popularity in the world of fashion and the arts, having a multidisciplinary approach which he expresses by designing objects, furniture and installations.
Now part of the Hublot family, Ross has produced his first creation for Hublot: sculpture that sparked a creative collaboration. Its basic principles have also inspired an exhibition concept designed by Ross to mark Hublot’s 40th anniversary, including furniture and flagship store interiors.
Combining igneous rock (granite) as a reference to nature with metal crafted by man (steel), Ross’ sculpture explores and juxtaposes these materials in order to create a balance between the organic — that which can only be created over time — and the industrial, which is forged through innovation. It combines materials that have a history with those that will make history.
To depict this distortion of time where the past and the present meet, Ross chose to create an inclined polygon that makes the onlooker’s view of the object seem deformed. In a play on transparency, there are holes in the aluminum structure, and the finishes applied combine the traditional expertise of a mirror polish with technological mastery expressed by computer numerical control (CNC) milling. Designed to be handled, the sculpture has two mobile aluminum rods that can be playfully moved into one of the CNC indents created in the metal.
“Hublot symbolizes daring innovation, the fusion of time between tradition and innovation and the endless capacity to invent and reinvent materials,” said Ross. “Our collaboration reflects how we create and make decisions: quickly, efficiently and precisely. My sculpture tells the story of Hublot using simple, clean lines, with a monochrome palette of hues, a touch of vivid color and a play on oversized dimensions.”
