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Post @nytimesfashion Tag yourself. We’re Marge Simpson, obviously.
Let’s take a look behind the painstaking creation of the Balenciaga-Simpsons episode that took nearly a year to make.
Several bursts of laughter were heard last Saturday night, rolling around the 19th-century Parisian theater where the great and storied house of Cristóbal Balenciaga skipped the traditional catwalk and screened a special 10-minute episode of “The Simpsons.”
It was a surprise more than a year in the making, and the result of a sometimes grueling collaboration between two exacting creative entities known for their attention to detail. So far it has been viewed close to five million times on YouTube.
In the episode, Homer writes to @Balenciaga (“Dear Balun, Balloon, Baleen, Balenciaga-ga,” he says as he struggles to pronounce the famous fashion name) for Marge’s birthday, explaining that his wife has always wanted to own something by the brand.
The 10 minute episode is packed with Easter eggs for die-hard fans of both “The Simpsons” and Balenciaga. A private Balenciaga jet has landing gear that looks like the brand’s famous sock sneakers; Ned Flanders chooses a dress to wear when given his choice of outfit; Lisa at first acknowledges that walking a runway is “superficial” but then enjoys it immensely.
The collaboration began in April 2020, when Balenciaga’s artistic director Demna Gvasalia sent the “Simpsons'' creator Matt Groening an email about working together. Gvasalia has a penchant for inserting Balenciaga into mass-market trends: Under his direction, the brand has collaborated with other American sensations, like Crocs and Fortnite.
Al Jean, an executive producer and writer of “The Simpsons,” said that when he learned of the Balenciaga project in January, “my response was, ‘What’s Balenciaga?’” He turned to Wikipedia for answers.
“They were definitely our match in terms of, to the last detail, making sure everything is perfect,” Jean said. “The animation crew, this is the hardest thing they’ve had to do since ‘The Simpsons Movie.’”
Head to the link in bio to read more on this collab between @balenciaga and @thesimpsons by @jtes, photos courtesy The Simpsons 20th TV Animation.