KidSuper’s Mercedes-Benz CLA Is Designed to Reach the Stars
Paris’ world-famous Louvre Museum is home to roughly 35,000 works of art. In preparation for Fashion Week, it has received one more of a very different kind. This one has four wheels, turbine wings, floating balloons attached throughout, a front-mounted winch, rally-style roof rack, built-in slingshot, and a patchwork-inspired facade.
It’s a one-of-a-kind Mercedes-Benz CLA art piece created by KidSuper; the third of five collaborative projects that see partners handed the keys to an all-new Mercedes-Benz CLA to use it as a blank canvas and apply their own creative signature and vision as part of the Mercedes-Benz “Class of Creators” initiative.
KidSuper’s Mercedes-Benz CLA hit the halls of the Musée des Arts décoratifs (MAD) at the Louvre alongside the label’s latest collection, which tells the story of a child building a DIY spaceship to reach the stars. With a seemingly iron-clad, riveted patchwork exterior, floating balloons, and turbine wings, the KidSuper CLA is ready for lift-off. “When we were sketching it and drawing it, I was like, there's no way they're going to approve of this,” laughs Colm Dillane, founder of KidSuper, “It's really cool to work with a company that can actually realize your dreams.” But in reality, this celestial project is deeply rooted in real life, in the history of one of automotive’s biggest names.
“When we started this collaboration, I went to Stuttgart and I got to see all of the cars that Mercedes has made. I saw the first car they ever made, and I embroidered that design onto the jacket, and then I took the windows from one of my favorite cars and added it to this car, and then I took the rims from another car,” explains KidSuper. He’s talking about the wheels that pay homage to the futuristic styling of the 1996 Mercedes-Benz F 200 concept car, while the side mirrors reference the iconic silhouette of the legendary Mercedes-Benz 300 SL.
This kind of creative patchworking connects the dots between the car and the accompanying capsule collection that will launch in September. “There's a similar feel to everything KidSuper does from the clothing to the designs, the concepts, the stories. That's why there's the patchworkiness to the car, which relates a lot to our process: all the different artworks I use, all the different hand doodles I have, all the different patchwork clothing.” The 13-piece capsule collection speaks the same visual language as the car, telling the story of a child dreaming of space travel while combining elements pulled from Mercedes’ archive and the history of automotive.
Despite the power of Dillane’s imagination and Mercedes’ production facilities, the Kidsuper CLA won’t be hitting the road anytime soon. “Hopefully they make this car super real and I can drive it around New York City,” laughs Dillane, “I was like, why can't we make it drive? They're like, to drive a Mercedes car it goes through like five years of testing processes...”
Kidsuper’s take on the Mercedes CLA is the third of five projects in the “Class of Creators” series. Keep an eye out for collaborations from Hot Wheels and Riot Games/League of Legends in the coming months.
