WHOOP x SR_A: Samuel Ross on Reimagining Performance

What It Covers

Designer Samuel Ross discusses his journey from working with Virgil Abloh at Off-White to founding SR_A, collaborating with brands like Nike, Apple, LVMH, and WHOOP. He shares how flow state, physical training, and proximity to nature fuel creativity, and reveals his design philosophy balancing luxury with democratic access to innovative products.

Key Questions Answered

• •Flow State Through Intensity: Ross discovered flow state working with Virgil Abloh at Off-White, where the team maintained continuous urgency and critique that enabled bedroom businesses to scale from zero to twenty million independently within nine hundred days. This pace became the standard that drove the entire sportswear and streetwear acceleration of that period, teaching him flow state is like breathing when properly cultivated.
• •Training Regimen for Creative Performance: Ross maintains three to four days weekly of isolated weights, kettlebells, and calisthenics, plus fifteen to sixteen kilometers of running split across three sessions. He trains independently in private studios rather than gyms, treating physical difficulty as meditation and a tool for decision-making. Morning runs through rural wilderness during sunrise and sunset provide the physical grounding needed for major business decisions.
• •Ego Death as Career Foundation: Success in early career roles requires complete ego death and sacrificial commitment to a cause bigger than yourself. Ross focused entirely on executing Virgil Abloh's vision at Off-White and Kanye West's Donda, treating it as training ground for running his own startup. This meant physically moving goods, creating artwork, and doing whatever necessary to establish the broader vision before launching his own company.
• •Success Redefined Through Provision: Ross evolved his definition of success from tangible provision for family to creating opportunities for others through grant programs with King's Foundation, Serpentine, Saatchi Gallery, and Royal College of Art. His company allocates a portion of annual profits to independent artists, designers, and engineers, providing both funding and network access. Success ultimately means having peace, thinking time, and excitement about both going to work and coming home.
• •Partnership Selection Criteria: Ross evaluates potential collaborations based on the founder's hero journey and willingness to take risks rather than brand size or prestige. He seeks trailblazers and artisans who demonstrate deep domain expertise and emotional investment in their work, from LVMH and Apple to Zara's Inditex Group. The focus remains on people who believe in optimistic, radical futures and are willing to pour life stories into their brands.