Colm Dillane is ready to reclaim his crown as fashion’s greatest showman. After ditching theatrics in favor of a regular runway show last season, the KidSuper founder and creative director was back in his favorite element: the stage.
Dillane hooked up with Cirque du Soleil for the show held at the Trianon, a 19th-century concert hall in the Montmartre district of Paris, marking the circus company’s first foray into fashion. A hair suspension artist, a German wheel act, trapeze artists and a stilt walker featured in the dazzling spectacle, titled “It’s All Up in the Air.”
The designer felt ready to experiment again after the mixed reviews that greeted his long-winded autobiographical play at the Théâtre de l’Odéon a year ago — though Dillane stood by that effort.
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“I thought it was a pretty cool creative attempt and I was proud of it, and it was so f–king difficult,” he told WWD as he put the finishing touches to his soundtrack backstage.
Still, tapping into the global popularity of Cirque du Soleil was a no-brainer. “It is a crowd pleaser,” Dillane conceded, though he felt the puppetry theme of the coed show also tied in with previous outings that explored the themes of autonomy and interconnectedness.
Here, models’ arms were tied to giant papier maché hands that guided them around the stage. Dillane recycled a number of old ideas, including the suits printed with images of wooden puppets worn by the Cirque performers and Alton Mason, who opened the show by sliding across the stage like a disjointed marionette.
This season, renditions of Dillane’s paintings appeared on everything from a red circus master coat to patchwork leather jackets, reflecting the growing sophistication of the brand.
“I’m getting to a level where not only can I spend more money on sampling and finding new manufacturing, but also I’ve got a customer base that’s willing to spend more money,” Dillane said. “When I started, everyone around me was buying $15 T-shirts. If I came out with a $1,000 jacket, they’d be like, ‘What?’”
With performers like Jared Leto, Westside Gunn, Ty Dolla $ign and French Montana in the audience, he can certainly afford to present more grown-up fare, including suits in painterly camouflage patterns and conceptual pieces like a dress made of clown ruffle collars.
KidSuper is also releasing a special capsule of co-branded products with Cirque du Soleil. Melanie Summers, head of licensing at the entertainment company, said it was part of its efforts to diversify as it marks its 40th anniversary.
“We love Paris but we’ve never shown up in this way before, so we’re excited to be here in a completely different format,” she said. “We are looking for different ways to tell our story, and so we’re looking for different brands to collaborate with, different mediums to stretch into.”
Known for his DIY approach, Dillane took his bow with a cartwheel, though he was happy to leave the more dangerous tricks to the pros. “Five years ago, I would have been on that rope, and now I have the number one acrobats in the world,” he said.
