British Vogue - 09.2019

This fast food period proved particularly formative for Ross:

dressing in hi-vis to pick up litter on the roundabout opposite,

or being talked down to by the customers at the counter

introduced him to the realities of class. “Before that, it was

just normal to be on the estates or in hostels chilling with my

boys, but being at McDonald’s was my first step into wider

society and actually engaging with the world.”

That class division has fascinated him ever since, providing

a framework for his brand and galvanising his resolve. In

the five years since founding his company, he has established

himself as a darling of both the British streetwear scene

and the wider fashion industry for his ability to create

clothing at once eminently wearable and imbued with socio-

political significance. Rooted in the wardrobe of

“Growing up in Northampton, McDonald’s was a social hub:

that’s where you’d meet friends, hang out,” remembers Samuel

Ross, founder of A-Cold-Wall. “Before school, we’d grab

McDonald’s; after school, we’d grab McDonald’s; weekends,

we’d be at McDonald’s... For the working-class youth of the

town, that was its heartbeat.” Aged 16, and looking for a

means of funding his obsession with tracksuits and trainers,

applying for a job cooking Chicken McNuggets and

assembling Big Macs was, therefore, an easy decision to make.

“I’d take any shift I could get,” he says. “It was a real big thing

to get a job in Northampton. There weren’t many. You took

what you could get and were grateful for it.” > 328

SAMUEL ROSS^

McDonald’s employee

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SAFFRON WEARS BLOUSE, SKIRT, SHOES, EARRINGS AND NECKLACE. ALL BALENCIAGA

09-19-Well-FirstJob.indd 280 09/07/2019 10:21