Ever since Virgil Abloh's passing in November 2021, there has been a gaping hole in the menswear department at Louis Vuitton. While rumours of who will fill Abloh's very large shoes have circulated for most of 2022 (Martine Rose, Grace Wales Bonner, and Telfar Clemens are among those who have reportedly been considered) the luxury House has stayed very tight-lipped about his potential successor, even with the AW23 shows in February looming. As it turns out, they still have not made a decision, but have announced that Colm Dillane, founder and creative director of KidSuper, is set to collaborate with its men’s studio for the brand’s AW23 collection.
This is Louis Vuitton's first guest designer on the House's menswear collections since Abloh's death, with recent seasons going off of what Abloh had designed before his passing. Louis Vuitton has been sure to make it clear that Dillane will not be Abloh's permanent successor for the artistic director title, but that the upcoming shoe and collection will be created “with the participation of” the KidSuper founder on January 19 at Paris Fashion Week. “In other words, Colm is embedded into the men’s studio.” the brand continued to state.
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Who is Colm Dillane?
If you are not familiar with the KidSuper founder, Dillane is best known for his patchwork designs, graffiti scrawled fabrics, and colour blocked separates that have been seen on the likes of many hip-hop artists over the years, which ties into Abloh's (and in turn, Louis Vuitton's) memorable relationships with many of these stars, giving the brand's choice some context beyond Dillane's expert design skills.
His mission at KidSuper has been a life long one, starting out by selling printed t-shirts and other designs on the streets of Soho in New York City as a teenager. He officially launched the brand in 2018, and has had an impressive rise into the spotlight since, showing the brands SS23 collection at Paris Fashion Week this past October, and being nominated for CFDA’s American Emerging Designer of the Year at their 2022 awards ceremony. In Dillane's world, thing just keep getting better.
