"I want it to be clear how hard I’ve worked, how little connections I once had, how many different skills I’ve had to learn – sewing, editing, painting and animation included. I know it’s unexpected, but maybe I’ve worked hard enough to deserve this."
This is what Colm Dillane, founder of streetwear brand and creative studio KidSuper, has to say to Esquire when we ask about the significance of his latest gig, the gig of a lifetime no less: co-creating the Louis Vuitton Autumn/Winter 2023 menswear collection alongside the label’s men’s studio. It's been one hell of a journey, and Dillane is relishing every second of it. "From making shirts in high school to this, the progress is crazy."
Still, there's no doubt that the 31-year-old New Yorker comprehends the Virgil Abloh-sized hole he’s been tasked to fill, if only temporarily, especially considering his link to the late designer (the former Men’s Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton was one of six fashion insiders who awarded the designer with the LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize just two years ago). But if Dillane’s recent works are anything to go by – from his theatrical SS23 PFW show to his playful contribution to the Louis Vuitton ‘200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries’ exhibition – the collection will aim to be just as curious, just as joyous and just as fantastical as Abloh’s eight runways for the luxury stalwart.
Besides, he’s in terrific company. Tomorrow's show, in which Dillane is ‘embedded’, is confirmed to feature a prelude film directed by Academy Award winner Michel Gondry and his brother Olivier. Scenography is being handled by Be Good Studios founder Lina Kutsovskaya, styling by Off-White’s Art and Image Director Ib Kamara. There'll even be an appearance from a yet-to-be-confirmed globally-recognised music star.
Whether or not 19 January marks the blue-sky thinker's sole contribution to LV remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: Dillane has secured his space in the high-fashion pantheon. In light of this, we’re here to properly acquaint you with the Willy Wonka-esque Brooklynite.
Born in New York City in 1991 to a Spanish mother (an artist-turned-teacher) and an Irish father (who worked as a fisherman), Colm Dillane is an East Sider through and through, despite spending spells of his childhood in Mexico and Beloit, Wisconsin. And it was upon his return to New York at age 13 that his sartorial sensibilities were awakened.
Whilst meandering through the city and attending Brooklyn Tech as a kid, Dillane swiftly became savvy to the value of style in the fashion capital, and the currency of cool. On that account, he and his closest school friends began to design their own screen-printed tees so that they may pull off ‘fits as fly as their peers, many of whom could afford to wear coveted streetwear marques like Bape and Supreme.
Mere months later, Dillane et al. noticed a demand for their creations and started to vend tees in their high school cafeteria. There were other interests; he spent a year in Brazil practising professional football before enrolling on a mathematics degree at New York University. Yet it didn’t take long for KidSuper – the multipurpose company he founded to inject some buoyancy into the streetwear scene, named after the moniker he’d elect for if he was to ever embark on a rap career, or obtain superpowers – to prevail.
KidSuper’s catalyst moment came when Dillane was evicted from his college dorm in his sophomore year for spray painting his bedroom walls and transforming it into a streetwear store. He reacted, as you do, by purchasing a retail space on Brooklyn’s Broadway avenue where could eat, sleep, work, and create; a turquoise-coloured shop he turned into his very own studio.
After graduating, Dillane channelled his energy into crafting artsy apparel, the majority of which echoed his whimsical and extroverted personality. Outerwear was adorned with original painted graphics; co-ords were gingered up by fatuous scribbles; patchwork trousers united clashing patterns. Quickly, the razzmatazz of his line earned a local cult following, one that counted the late rapper Mac Miller and his NYC entourage.
Then came Paris Fashion Week. In June 2019, the first KidSuper runway, ‘A Bull In A China Shop’ – a show starring his parents which honoured his mother’s Spanish roots – took place at the Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione during the PFW period, despite being declined by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. Undeterred by the snub, the designer blew up the rejection letter (as in, made it larger. There was no dynamite involved, though we wouldn't put it past him) and emblazoned the contents atop the sixth look in his collection.
That's going to attract attention. It also brought him the respect of industry heavyweights like Puma, the sportswear giant who speedily struck a deal with Dillane to secure a KidSuper x Puma sneaker and apparel collaboration, and LVMH, the global luxury goods corporation that awarded Dillane the 2021 Karl Lagerfeld Prize in company with Nensi Dojaka, Rui Zhou and Lukhanyo Mdingi, before inviting him to contribute to Louis Vuitton’s 200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries’ exhibition.
Seemingly, one hypey sportswear collab and one award from a big-bucks global conglomerate is the credit required to obtain an official mandate from the French fashion industry’s governing body. In June 2022, KidSuper made its debut on an IRL PFW schedule. The show – a spectacular auction-themed experience involving Kenan Thompson and Lucky Daye, attended by the likes of G-Eazy, Russ, Westside Gunn, Tyga and Mike Amiri.
This neatly brings us to the right now: a time where the iconoclastic disruptor is preparing to share his interpretation of one of the most prestigious brands on the planet, two days before KidSuper’s second on-schedule PFW show taking place at the Casino de Paris. From making shirts in high school to this. The progress is crazy.
