Memorable, playful, iconic: three words that describe both UGG and streetwear brand KidSuper. Now, an exclusive new collection features a little bit of both, with KidSuper's “After School Philosophy” pastel artwork printed on a pair of UGG's Tasman Sport shoes.
UGG celebrated the launch of the new collaboration with the opening of its latest Feel House installation in Palm Springs at Villa Royale during weekend one of Coachella. The party hosted a number of celebrity guests —including musician Coi Leray, model and actress Camila Morrone, and rapper A$AP Nast — and featured a number of activations such as UGG customization by Jordan Hart and aura readings by Halo Auragraphic to celebrate a collection that's as eclectic as this setting.
KidSuper founder Colm Dillane has always been drawn to UGG for its iconic silhouettes but was curious to imagine how he might make them his own. It's a poignant question for the frequent collaborator, who most recently co-designed Louis Vuitton's Fall/Winter 2023 menswear collection. “I love brands that build silhouettes that can stand the test of time," Dillane tells Teen Vogue. He then brings an “extravagance” in the form of beautiful, eye-catching artwork.
At Coachella, Teen Vogue talked to Dillane about the new collaboration with UGG, his advice for young designers, and how he moves past rejection to keep making the art he loves.
Teen Vogue: How did this collaboration come about? What drew you to UGG?
Colm Dillane: Well, I had always been trying to work on something with UGG. They have such iconic silhouettes, and they've done collabs before, so you're thinking, "How can I make it special? How can I make it different?" This project came up of doing something during Coachella, and I'd never been to Coachella. So it was my first time, and I always thought it'd be cool. I was like, "I'll go to Coachella either when I have faked myself so much as a musical artist that I'm on the poster, or we do a cool in-house collaboration and event." So, unfortunately, I didn't make the poster, but we're here.
TV: Sad. What kind of music would you perform?
CD: You can be a DJ, right, on it? That seems the easiest.
TV: You could be like Idris Elba.
CD: Exactly. If I was the sexiest man alive and potentially 007, that's a shoo-in. But I'm still working towards the sexiest man alive, and then I'll DJ.
TV: What kind of story were you thinking about as you were picking the print on the shoes?
CD: I do a lot of different paintings, but this one feels very vibrant. It's abstract as a print, but then if you see the painting as a whole, it's not as abstract, which is great for artwork on clothes. I think if there's one thing I've gotten good at, it's converting art into clothing. There is a kind of secret to it where you don't do too too much. I'm good at also manipulating my artwork to fit different silhouettes and clothing and items, which who knew it would become my thing? It's also a very difficult thing to get known for, because every season, not only do I have to design a whole collection, but I also have to paint a whole collection. When you look at many other brands, they're often not doing whole painting shows for their clothing.
TV: Thinking back to your early career, you were screen-printing t-shirts in high school. What do you wish you knew then as a person just kind of starting out?
CD: It's funny that you say that, because I just was sitting with my friends and being like, "I wish I..." I wish I had worked for a company. I know it's weird to say because everyone's like, "Oh, it's so cool, you're independent and f*ck the man. You never worked for a corporate thing, and you did it your own way." All of that's true, but it's an uphill battle. And now that I'm getting into a more... I'm not getting corporate at all, but it's becoming a bigger business; you require more people, more infrastructure, more everything. I literally don't know the roles a company needs. I don't know the positions. I don't even know what HR is, and now I'm dealing with emotions and their personal [lives]... I'm sitting there, I'm like, "I don't think I'm supposed to be the person who deals with this. Who deals with this at companies?" They're like, "Colm, that's HR." I'm like, “F*ck, that's what HR does. I need HR.”
There's a reason corporate America exists. It might not be that it sucks, it might actually be a very efficient way to run a million people. It's also the same way as the education system. You're like, "Oh, it doesn't work for everyone." It's like, "No, but it does hit everyone." Right? Is it the best way to teach one person? No, but it might be the best way to teach a million people differently. Who knows? My main point is I'm going through a lot of firsts that I maybe didn't need to if I had had some work experience or mentorship or something like that.
TV: Right.
CD: But I think it's a good thing for young people to hear because a lot of young people are like, "I never want to work for anyone. My whole thing is I'm my own boss, blah, blah, blah," which is the most annoying thing to say. But also, it actually hurts you. I was never that person. I just literally was so much of an outsider that no one offered me jobs. I applied to work at American Apparel and got rejected, which I think I'm the only person ever to not got the American Apparel job because they were hiring anyone and everyone.
TV: Related to this, what's your advice for young people who don't have family connections, don't have money, don't have a platform, but want to do this?
CD: Hey, probably work for someone who's doing it is a good example. If you're trying to do your own brand, I became best friends with these two women that ran a screen-printing shop. I would never leave. I would always ask for internships and stuff and they'd be like, "You're 16 or 15, we can't give you a job." And then, after they trusted me, I remember one time they gave me the key to the screen printing shop so I could go in after hours. One time I left the f*cking dryer on, which basically can burn down the whole building. I was so embarrassed. I was like, "Oh my god, they're just going to kill me." They're very forgiving people. But that's another thing about learning from people. I was hungry to watch and learn from anyone.
TV: Something I like about your work is when you incorporate rejection into your pieces. How do you kind of move through the feeling in the moment to get to making it useful?
CD: People often think that the rejection really, really hurts me, and it's me being like, "F*ck you, guys, this is how I turn it on it." I genuinely... not like it, but I consider it documentation of my attempts. This is why I'm often promoting it and why I use it because it's just to remind me like, "Okay, I tried here. I tried here. I tried here. This is going to be really cool when I get accepted or when it does work out in two years, three years." But I can't stress enough, I feel no sadness.
I truly was such an outsider and so grateful to be doing the thing that I was doing because I felt like it didn't really feel as possible when you're young, so that rejection to me was like, "Oh my god, they're looking at me." You have to review something to say no. I'm like, "Holy sh*t, I'm in front of them." I thought I was obviously good and talented and amazing, but I really never thought I deserved anything. A lot of those rejections came from Paris Fashion Week and these things that in my mind never were going to accept me. Then when on the flip side, you become accepted, you start winning awards, you get Emerging Designer of the Year awards, you get Karl Lagerfeld awards, those felt like putting a flag on a mountain. Again, it's all about just documenting the story.
TV: That seems like a helpful way to look at it.
CD: I don't even know if I'm supposed to talk about this. But not getting the Louis Vuitton full job, people could see as rejection as well, because my name was in the possibilities. But I was so honored and proud that I had gotten the LV show that I never thought I would get. So yes, you feel a little bit like, "Damn, I could have blah, blah, blah." But then on the flip side, you're like, “Oh sh*t, I can do this? Okay, what am I going to do in five years?” That's a f*cking flag in the mountain that I can always look, be like, "I did this." Because, I mean, I'm the first-ever guest designer for Louis Vuitton. Not a bad thing to say.
TV: Right, tell your 15-year-old self that.
CD: My mom was funny, though, because when all that happened, she's like, "Hey, Colm, how are you doing?" I'm like, "Yeah, I'm fine." She's like, "Are you joking or serious?" Because she was super upset. It was funny to hear them be like, "You must be so heartbroken." I'm like, "Mom, did you expect me to be in this position? I think we've got to step back and be pretty shocked that we're here." Again, also I'm pretty young. The average age for a creative director role is around 40. I'm 30. I've got time.
