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On Roebling Street in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighbourhood, KidSuper founder Colm Dillane is building a complex that he believes will propel his scrappy fashion brand to new heights. The 10,000-square-foot retail space and creative centre is “going to be a physical manifestation of our success”, says Dillane, a sprawling multi-use site that matches the designer and 2021 LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize winner’s ambitions.
According to plans shared with Vogue Business, the development will act as the private design studios and office space for the KidSuper brand, as well as Dillane’s painting studio and apartment. Much of it will also be publicly accessible, including a multi-brand retail store, cafe, gallery space and performance space. There will also be a recording studio and, on the roof, a soccer pitch. Dillane has taken a five-to-15 year lease on the building, and its first stage is likely to open by the end of the year if all goes to plan.
Behind the Williamsburg property is a broader plan for brand development, in three pillars. The first is to build KidSuper’s fashion output and broaden its category offer — KidSuper currently specialises in art-inflected, pastel-hued menswear and will soon introduce categories including women’s footwear — while keeping the products affordable. “I don’t want three people wearing my jacket. I want 400 people wearing my jacket and coming up to me and that jacket acting as a catalyst for meeting people.” Following previous fashion film and music video projects, Dillane also plans to develop a media production company. The third pillar is to lean into functional sportswear: KidSuper recently wrangled a deal to be featured on the strip of English League 1 football team Barnsley FC and is currently in negotiation with a major national sporting association, the designer disclosed.
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