Is KidSuper's Colm Dillane Being Tapped To Succeed Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton?

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 luxury  fashion 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 because of his colorful — and sometimes kitschy — designs. From his Kissing puffer jackets to his recent collaboration with Japanese sandle brand Suicoke, Dillane has a playful eye that has allowed him to stand out among the sea of American designers who rarely take risks. His appointment as guest designer sends a message that Louis Vuitton is aiming to continue pushing the boundaries of high fashion. 

Although Dillane is serving as a guest designer, there's no word on if Dillane will be appointed to a larger role at the Parisian house, specifically the role of Men's Artistic Director that was lead by Virgil Abloh prior to his untimely death in 2021. Other names that have been mentioned as possible successors include Martine Rose, Samuel Ross of A-Cold-Wall, and Grace Wales Bonner, according to the New York Times. Whoever is set to take the reigns has a large void to fill given Abloh's impact during his time at Louis Vuitton.

However, Dillane as a successor wouldn't be a stretch. Like Abloh, Dillane has a sense of curiosity that bleeds into his designs. He's also had notable collaborations with brands like Puma, Modelo, and Jagermeister, served as a finalist in the prestigious LVHM Prize, where he received the runner-up Karl Lagerfeld prize in 2021, and was nominated by the CFDA for Emerging Designer of The Year in 2022.

Dillane has come a long way from selling T-shirts at his high school Brooklyn Tech, as Louis Vuitton seems to be placing their bets on him for their highly anticipated show, which will debut on January 19. Alongside Dillane, a team of talents have been assembled to put together the magnificent presentation at PFW, including filmmakers Olivier and Michael Gondry (who have worked with Daft Punk), stylist Ibrahim Kamara, and production designer Lina Kutsovskaya.