Is KidSuper’s Colm Dillane Being Tapped To Succeed Virgil Abloh?
Photo Credit: Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan for Getty Images
KidSuper’s Colm Dillane is co-designing Louis Vuitton’s upcoming menswear presentation debuting on January 19.
Days ahead of Louis Vuitton’s menswear show at Paris Fashion Week, the French house announces KidSuper’s Colm Dillane has co-designed pieces for the collection.
Based in Brooklyn, Dillane has been garnering a supportive fanbase for years due to his colorful and sometimes kitschy designs. From his Kissing Puffer jackets to his recent collaboration with Suicoke, Dillane has a playful eye that has allowed him to stand out amongst the sea of American designers who rarely take risks. It’s been rumored that he’s been hunkering down in Louis Vuitton’s studio for months.
In terms of succession, KidSuper’s appointment as a guest designer makes sense given the fact that Virgil Abloh was previously the head of Louis Vuitton menswear prior to his untimely death in 2021. At the moment, there’s no word on if Dillane will be appointed to a larger role at the Parisian house – other names that have been mentioned as possible successors include Martine Rose, Samuel Ross of A-Cold-Wall, and Grace Wales Bonner, reports the New York Times. Abloh’s sense of curiosity bled into his designs, Dillane has that in common with the late designer.
Whoever is set to take the reigns has a large void to fill given the infectious energy that followed Abloh throughout his career, especially during his time at Louis Vuitton. Dillane’s appointment as guest designer sends a message that Louis Vuitton is aiming to continue pushing the boundaries of high fashion. It also says something that Dillane garnered acclaim in Brooklyn before he was noticed by the global fashion community – his street to high fashion story is admirable. He’s come a long way from selling T-shirts at his high school Brooklyn Tech. Abloh’s insanely good collaborations with Nike and countless other brands including Ikea provide a through line to Colm who has launched collaborations with brands like Puma, Modelo, and Jagermeister to name a few. In 2021, the Brooklyn designer caught the attention of the judges of the prestigious LVMH Prize and received the Karl Lagerfeld runner-up prize. Just last year he was nominated by the CFDA for Emerging Designer of The Year, though he didn’t win, the nomination still made some noise.
Louis Vuitton seems to be placing their bets on Brooklyn’s Colm Dillane for their highly anticipated show which will debut on January 19, this points to Dillane making the shortlist of Virgil Abloh’s successors. Alongside Dillane, a team of talents have been assembled to put together the magnificent presentation at PFW – filmmakers Olivier and Michael Gondry who have worked with Daft Punk, stylist Ibrahim Kamara and production designer Lina Kutsovskaya.
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