On a brisk Wednesday evening in New York City, the intersection of contemporary art, high fashion, and luxury watchmaking was on full display as ARTnews and Hublot co-hosted an exclusive, intimate dinner. The gathering took place inside the sprawling New York headquarters of multidisciplinary artist and fashion designer Colm Dillane, widely known by his creative moniker, KidSuper.
The evening brought together a dynamic mix of prominent figures from the art, fashion, culture, and business worlds to celebrate Dillane’s expansive creative practice and his unique journey as an outsider who successfully broke through traditional industry barriers. Guests walked into a space that serves not merely as a workplace, but as a physical manifestation of Dillane’s limitless imagination—a 10,000-square-foot creative compound designed to foster community, experimentation, and artistic freedom.
Among the notable attendees gathered for the evening were Carla Shen, a collector and trustee of the Brooklyn Museum; Franck Suznjevic, president of Hublot Americas; and Sarah Douglas, editor-in-chief of ARTnews and Art in America. The guest list further reflected the cross-disciplinary nature of Dillane’s career, featuring Time to Drive festival founder Perri Dash; fashion designer Mobolaji Dawodu; art collector Viljon Caka; Gazelli Art House senior director Haley Shaw; filmmaker Saam Farahmand; collector and commentator Jeff Magid; gallerist Adam Cohen; artist Jonathan Gardenhire; curator Anwarii Musa; and real estate developer Ben Levine.
Culinary duties for the evening were handled by PJ Monte of Monte’s Fine Foods—fondly known to many as the "Sauce Boss"—who provided a dinner that set a warm, welcoming tone for the creative luminaries in attendance.
The centerpiece of the evening was a candid, engaging conversation between Dillane and ARTnews editor-in-chief Sarah Douglas. Sitting before a room of peers and collectors, Dillane opened up about the early days of his career, reflecting on how he initially found the established art world to be somewhat opaque and difficult to access. He drew a parallel between his current standing in the art community and the initial reception he faced when trying to break into the rigid structure of the international fashion industry.
Recalling his early struggles in fashion, Dillane shared the persistence required to gain recognition from institutional gatekeepers. "I was really an outsider [there] as well," he told the crowd during his conversation with Douglas. "I got rejected three times from the official calendar [at Paris Fashion Week]… [T]hey finally said yes. Once I broke into fashion, I realized that behind this wall there’s really interesting people who care about new ideas."
That theme of persistence and boundary-pushing resonated deeply with the crowd, many of whom have watched Dillane fluidly transition between designing clothing, producing public art installations, curating exhibitions, and engaging in various forms of performance and digital media. Rather than boxing himself into a single category, Dillane has consistently treated his career as an open-ended experiment, a philosophy that was immediately apparent to everyone who attended the Wednesday night dinner.
Before and after the meal, Dillane personally led attendees on an extensive tour of his massive 10,000-square-foot New York headquarters. The building is a testament to his multifaceted vision, housing a diverse array of specialized workspaces under one roof. Among its most striking features is a Hublot-sponsored rooftop soccer pitch—a nod to Dillane’s lifelong passion for the sport, which frequently influences his artistic and fashion projects. In addition to the rooftop athletic space, the headquarters includes a fully equipped art studio, a dedicated podcast studio, a retail storefront, and numerous flexible areas designed to support all kinds of collaborative and individual creative work.
"When everyone got here, I couldn’t wait to tour them around the building," Dillane told his guests with palpable enthusiasm as they navigated the multi-level facility. Standing in the heart of his compound, he reflected on the significance of the physical space to his overall career trajectory, calling it his masterwork. "This is my greatest work, and I think it encapsulates [my] whole practice."
Dillane elaborated on how his various creative pursuits—spanning fashion, fine art, film, and community-driven events—are not separate endeavors, but rather different expressions of the same underlying philosophy. "For me, all of these different mediums were pushing towards the same spirit…," he explained. "There’s a mischievousness to it… There’s bringing people together. I want to capture the feeling that I feel when I’m in New York, where anything feels possible."
That sense of limitless possibility permeated every corner of the headquarters throughout the night. As guests mingled among the art studios and creative installations, luxury Hublot timepieces catches the light, underscoring the synergy between Swiss watchmaking precision and Dillane’s spontaneous, vibrant artistic style. The partnership between ARTnews, Hublot, and KidSuper highlighted a shared appreciation for innovation, craftsmanship, and the breaking down of traditional silos within the cultural landscape.
For the attendees, the evening offered a rare and intimate glimpse into the inner workings of one of contemporary culture’s most restless minds. As the night wound down and conversations continued across the sprawling facility, the gathering served as a celebration not only of Colm Dillane’s past accomplishments, but of the ongoing evolution of the KidSuper universe—a place where art, fashion, sports, and community seamlessly converge under the banner of New York creativity.
