Fashion house’s cartoon poking fun at itself suggests industry realises it’s time to ditch the pomp
It was the standout coup of Paris fashion week. Balenciaga secured a catwalk debut from Homer and Marge Simpson, accompanied by Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Justin Bieber joined Anna Wintour to applaud from the front row.
A fashion week crowd who arrived at the Théâtre du Châtelet expecting a catwalk show were entertained, instead, with a special 10-minute episode of The Simpsons in which the people of Springfield travelled to Paris to walk the Balenciaga runway.
The cartoon poked fun at the house’s outsize shoulder pads (Marge got stuck in a doorway in her dream gown) and costs (Homer almost fainted when he saw the dress’s $19,000 price tag). Homer developed a taste for snails in garlic butter, and took to wearing a single dangling earring and shoulder-robing his Puffa-style jacket.
Creative director Demna Gvasalia’s instinct that his guests would prefer an episode of The Simpsons to a traditional catwalk show was the boldest symbol of a tangible shift felt during this, the first Paris fashion week to return to a live format.