Joining forces with staples of Gen-Z culture is becoming a bit of a habit for Balenciaga. The luxury label had already made headlines a little while ago for its unprecedented collaboration with the online video game Fortnite. This time, they chose America’s most famous family, The Simpsons, to be the faces of their new seasonal collection.
Quite swoon-worthy to say the least, the Théâtre du Châtelet hosted quite a show last night in the city of lights. Paris’ long narrow streets were not brightened by its usual lights as the yellow skin-coloured citizens of Springfield put on a glowing debut performance to walk the Balenciaga runway for one of Fashion Week’s wrap up events.
Spearheaded by Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia, members of the audience were met with a cinema screen instead of a traditional catwalk for an exclusive projection and introductory presentation of the Spring/Summer 22 collection of the brand.
Can it already be considered as a bold move to greet your guests with screens as Fashion Weeks have finally shifted back from their online presentations to their real-life setups, the 10-minute long video was a burst of freshness after almost three weeks of traditional red carpet-like events.
Moving away from most conventional ways of opening a new line of clothing, Balenciaga’s much-thought out reception is one that the industry will surely remember for a while. Using some of the criticism made against them as self-mocking gags to trigger giggles; staggering prices, extravagant silhouettes and colours were all reviewed by the characters from the multi-awarded show as they took pleasure in picking on the brand throughout the short episode.
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Although the Simpsons weren’t the only ones taking part in the groundbreaking event as Anna Wintour, Cardi B and her lover Offset were all sat front row for the avant-première, they adamantly made Gvasalia’s dream come true. His presentation is a revolutionary one that the industry should keep a close eye on and eventually inspire itself from if it doesn’t want to fall into an elitist bubble no one might care about in the decades to come.
