Call it the LV Effect.

Although Colm Dillane had managed to construct a profitable underground business along with his colourful KidSuper collection of art-inspired streetwear, it wasn’t until he was tapped as guest designer for Louis Vuitton’s fall 2023 collection that he really broke through.

Dillane was within the running to succeed the late Virgil Abloh as the luxurious brand’s men’s designer and the show in February was seen as an audition of sorts. But when Dillane’s muse and chief cheerleader, Michael Burke, exited the Vuitton brand after a decade, its latest chief executive officer Pietro Beccari went in one other direction and opted to bring Pharrell Williams on board as an alternative.

While he could also be dissatisfied to not have snagged some of the prestigious jobs in fashion, Dillane has been busier than ever since he returned from Paris.

For the reason that guest designer gig, he has created collaborations with everyone from Sir Elton John and Stuart Weitzman — the latter of which featured a movie starring Mariska Hargitay — to Ugg, Suicoke, the NBA and Superplastic. Coming soon might be collabs with Puma and Canada Goose.

Two days after the Vuitton show, Dillane held his own KidSuper event in Paris — his second on the official calendar — where he presented the autumn line as a part of a stand-up comedy show hosted by Tyra Banks. Some 1,500 guests attended and the scene outside was pure bedlam, with individuals who had never given him the time of day before clamoring for tickets.

Closer to home, he’s putting the ending touches on his 10,000-square-foot studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which may even function a gallery, recording studio and retail store.

And he’s eagerly seeking to expand his team to maintain up with the demand. A recent Instagram job posting said KidSuper Enterprises is hiring for “senior design roles,” searching for applicants with “years of experience” who “understand the brand, can take a joke” and find out about obscure art and fashion history “to encourage Colm.”

Not your typical job posting, but then Dillane is just not your typical clothier.

“I all the time considered myself on the surface of fashion attempting to break in after which, I’m essentially the most within fashion you possibly can possibly be,” he said of his guest designer gig at Vuitton.

At first glance it’s easy to dismiss Dillane as just one other under-the-radar designer who will ultimately crash and burn under the load of his own creative juices. In his younger days, the 31-year-old would famously post naked pictures of himself on Instagram, show up late for appointments and not sleep all night working, grabbing a catnap on soiled, threadbare couches surrounded by his artwork and his collection in progress.

But beneath the surface, Dillane is whip smart and knows when he must straighten up and fly right, including when he’s coping with big corporations akin to Converse, an early investor, in addition to longtime supporter Jagermeister.

And over the past few years, he’s matured, each as an individual and a designer, which stands out as the reason he caught the eye of Vuitton. Even before the guest designer opportunity, he was a joint winner of LVMH’s Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize in 2021.

“I began making T-shirts at 14 and earning money at 16,” he said during a recent visit to his Williamsburg studio. “But I’ve never had an actual job. And now I’m determining be a businessman. I began as an artist so being business-minded is the toughest thing for me.” He declined to offer a volume figure for the business.

He considers himself the “fun, creative guy,” so it’s hard for him to tackle the role of “everyone’s boss.”

He recently hired a director of e-commerce who had worked previously for a bigger brand and the very first thing that person did was ask Dillane to jot down down the corporate’s structure.

“I noticed I used to be doing 75 people’s jobs and I probably suck at doing half of those,” he admitted. “Everyone assumes KidSuper has more structure and folks than it actually does.”

Living proof: when Vuitton wanted an address to which to send his pay for the guest designer role, “I didn’t have a business checking account and so they wouldn’t send it to a private account. So I created Made in My Basement LLC. I bet LV loved sending money to that,” he said with amusing, adding, “I would like to construct structure.”

Without delay KidSuper has five employees — a production manager, content manager, art studio manager, logistics manager and the director of e-commerce. And he’s also brought on an adviser/consulting chief operating officer on board. Many of the additions have joined the business over the past three months, and Dillane is struggling to learn delegate. “It’s not like I’m a control freak but I’m a harsh critic,” he said. “And plenty of people don’t know or understand how hard I’ve worked to get here.”

While his business could also be experiencing growing pains, what Dillane is adept at is coming up with really creative ideas. His past shows for KidSuper have included art auctions, a Stop Motion film, virtual doll fashion shows and other experiential-style showcases.

But it surely was an eye fixed opener to work with an organization like Vuitton with its army of employees.

“Once I was at LV, it was very much a creative director role where I had a complete team. And that was incredibly easy.” But he was surprised that the run-up to the show wasn’t as structured as he had expected. “They’re as last minute as we’re, which is form of interesting because you’re thinking that for those who go into the largest brand ever, it’s going to be perfect. But they’re changing things last minute, too.”

He also learned lots from the Vuitton design team. “I actually enjoyed chatting with the opposite creatives because I had never worked at a job or seen a creative director work before,” he said.

But there he was, thrust right into a situation with 70 of essentially the most esteemed designers on the planet, he said. “I discovered they’re not all that different. And so they were very impressed that I could do the whole lot. I used to be on Photoshop and Illustrator, working on the tech packs, doing the colours. It was super fun.”

It also surprised him how accepting they were of his role. He had expected that a number of of the designers would step as much as apply to take Abloh’s place, but as an alternative they were open to working with him and embracing his ideas of infuse the KidSuper aesthetic into Louis Vuitton’s universe.

“I had the utmost freedom,” he recalled, adding that the opposite thing he liked was that after the Louis Vuitton stamp was placed on something, it made the items “way more respected and well-received. With the letter bag I did, if it had just said KidSuper, everyone could be like, ‘That’s cool, great.’ But put an LV on it and it’s essentially the most good idea of all time. It’s just the tag, but the facility of the LV brand means a tenfold difference.”

Although he admits he was super nervous about working with such a storied French luxury brand, Dillane credits Burke with paving the best way for him to succeed. “Michael Burke’s vision is amazing and he’s awesome as a human,” Dillane said. “He has an unbelievable humorousness, he’s really quick and witty and mischievous. He likes to do the unexpected. But unfortunately, he left.”

Nonetheless, Burke’s influence — and the experience of working for Vuitton — stays.

Dillane said over the past few months he’s felt lots more pressure than he ever has before. “Day by day I actually have a gathering every hour,” he said. “I don’t get time to design anymore but I’m also getting opportunities I’d have killed for five years ago.”

He joked that anyone who approaches him about working with them now needs so as to add a zero to the tip of their offer.

But in all seriousness, it has also marked a sea change in his attitude and his business. “What it really did was change the angle of what Colm may very well be,” he said, referring to himself within the third person. “Before, I used to be just doing these ‘things,’ but didn’t have structure — and nobody knew what I used to be doing. Now, if any brand is on the lookout for a creative director, and so they have 10 names on the board, I actually have to be considered one of them — which is crazy to take into consideration.”

Dillane’s name has come as much as succeed Jeremy Scott at Moschino, for instance, and although he’s yet to receive a phone call, he’d be open to a discussion.  

On the business end, the brand continues to be 60 percent direct-to-consumer, but is “definitely selling more” as retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, H Lorenzo, Ssense, Selfridges, Luisa Via Roma, Dover Street Market and others have added the road, Dillane said. But now that he’s having some industrial success, he’s also needed to tweak his line to appeal to a wider audience.

“I used to be making these crazy, loud, colourful clothes, but now I’m saying: ‘Do I actually have an actual collection? What’s the core stuff that’s easy to sell?’ It’s boring but real, and I actually don’t have any alternative. You’ve got to modify from the creative guy to the business guy. I actually have to grow up a bit bit.”

Along with his fashion collection, Dillane is constant to explore his other passions: art and film. He was signed by a talent agency, WME, after it saw his short movies for his collection, and he’s now brainstorming a few KidSuper series and pitching potential movies and TV shows.

To be able to keep so many balls within the air, Dillane needs to rent some design help — and quickly. “It’s hard to search out people and I hate everyone, but I would like help ASAP,” he said. “And I would like someone who’s a greater designer than I’m.”

He pointed to Jacquemus and its designer Simon Porte Jacquemus as a brand he admires and would love to emulate. “I don’t know him in any respect, but he’s the most effective brand in our generation,” Dillane said. “Not only is he creative and folks like him, but he has very salable product. But it surely still feels really like elevated, and it appears to be making plenty of money.”

Dillane also admires Mike Amiri and said the 2 have been chatting about the most effective path to take to make a mark in fashion. “But getting from where I’m to where he’s is just not going to occur overnight,” he admitted.

To be able to maintain the momentum and construct his business, Dillane knows he’s going to should work out a approach to juggle all of it. “I’m saying yes to the whole lot,” he said. “I actually have five collaborations, my very own collection, I’m performing some video and TV stuff, I met with three theater writers, I’m trying to arrange this company, I’m attempting to hire people — no other creative director is doing this.”

The answer sounds easy on paper however it is hard to execute. “You’ve got to be multifaceted but in addition have good people around you.”

And a minimum of as of now, the business stays self-funded and Dillane has not taken any form of external funding. “I would like financial spot sponsorship from brands,” he said. “If you happen to want me in your campaign, give me $5 million.”