Colm Dillane Talks the Future of KidSuper Shoes, Previews Paris Show & His New Meta Campaign
After two much-talked-about runway shows in Paris in January, KidSuper founder and designer Colm Dillane is showing no signs of slowing down.
On Tuesday night, Dillane, along with rapper Coi Leray, hosted an event with Instagram parent company Meta at his soon-to-be-opened Brooklyn studio to unveil the tech company’s new multiyear brand campaign.
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Dubbed “It’s Your World,” Dillane and Leray are two of the main stars of the campaign and appear alongside wearable artist Katya Lee and former L.A. Spark Te’a Cooper.
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For the event, KidSuper’s partially opened Williamsburg studio was transformed into a mixed-reality playground, which allowed guests to immerse themselves in Meta’s products, including a life-sized WhatsApp privacy bubble for 1:1 interviews, creative Reels installations such as a green-screen catwalk, an IRL Facebook Marketplace with vintage treasures from local vendors, plus more.
The main event of the evening came as Dillane previewed a look from his upcoming spring ’24 collection, which will be shown in Paris later this month. The look, which was inspired by Utah Jazz point guard Jordan Clarkson, features a suit and matching sneakers with basketball net details.
In an interview with FN at the event, Dillane noted he teamed up with 3D artist Joey Khamis on the design of the look’s sneakers. “I love that the suit and sneakers have a literal basketball net covering them,” Dillane told FN. “It’s an on-the-nose design, but it looks pretty cool.”
But this isn’t Dillane’s first foray into footwear collaborations. At Coachella in April, Dillane debuted a collection with Ugg based on its signature Tasman Sport shoe. In February, KidSuper launched a six-piece capsule with Stuart Weitzman that included a sandal, pump, loafer, two booties and a scarf. And he has ongoing footwear collaborations with Suicoke, Zellerfeld and Cocker Shoes.
Asked about the future of his own in-house footwear line, Dillane told FN this week that he would love to develop the signature KidSuper range of shoes. In the past, he has launched KidSuper-labeled shoes, but has yet to produce a full footwear collection. “I want to get to a point where KidSuper has a signature silhouette, an iconic sneaker that we’re redoing constantly,” Dillane said. “It would be an amazing thing and something I’m thinking about.”
As for what else is new with the company, Dillane said he continues to gradually open his long-planned, 10,000-square-foot space in Brooklyn. When finished, the building will include a storefront, a gallery, recording studios, an art studio, a bar and a soccer field on the roof.
“We opened the gallery side, which was easy because it’s white walls,” Dillane said. “And we actually did a gallery show two weekends ago for one of my friends. So it’s starting to come together. The building is crazily big, unexpectedly big. And I’d always dreamed of this space. So every time I walk in, I feel like I’m trespassing.”
The designer also mentioned that fans can expect to see an “ambitious” show this month in Paris. Dillane, who is known for his out-of-the-box fashion shows (most recently he hosted a comedy show emceed by Tyra Banks), said this season’s theme is “how to find an idea” and will be ambitious in terms of the difficulty that goes into the show.
“It’s like every six months I have this unbelievable challenge that I always have to overcome, and it’s kind of self-inflicted, right? But it inspires and pushes me to do a lot of cool stuff, which I really appreciate,” Dillane said.
As for his tie-up with Meta, Dillane said it just makes sense as he’s relied on social media for years. “I’m a big Facebook user, which is quite funny because my age group is not,” Dillane admitted. “But I really use it to stay connected because I moved a ton as a kid, and my only sense of connectivity was social media.”
Of his portion of the new Meta campaign, Dillane said, “I think the whole commercial and everything is way better than I imagined. I think they nailed it. And I’m super excited because the commercial will debut during the NBA Finals premiere, so that’s fucking awesome. That’s probably what I’m most excited about, just to be watching the game and then seeing my face.”
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