Like death and taxes, The Simpsons is inevitable. The 32-year-old show will eventually outlive all of us but not before it references literally every angle of pop culture, including Supreme and The Weeknd, who both (kinda) appeared in "Bart the Cool Kid," Season 33's 15th episode, which aired on March 20.
To briefly summarize the ep: Bart is introduced to the coolest brand on Fairfax avenue, Slipreme (an obvious but legally distinct Supreme parody). TikTok-obsessed Springfieldians crave its orange box logo T-shirts and sneakers, which Bart begs Homer to buy for him.
After a series of hijinks, Bart eventually befriends Slipreme founder Orion Hughes (voiced by The Weeknd) while Homer and the other parents (and Skinner) come to terms with their general lack of cool.
Full disclosure: I haven't seen the full episode (no Disney Plus for me) so I can't confirm that there is or isn't an Assassins reference — seems like a missed opportunity if not.
And, yeah, "Bart the Cool Kid" ain't exactly The Simpsons' most cutting satire — who'd have thought that the Simpsons writers aren't riding the cusp of youth culture?! — though there are still plenty of streetwear jabs, with lots of references to bootleg shoes, queues, and clout.
Oddly enough, no Balenciaga, though.
So it goes for contemporary Simpsons (and "Bart the Cool Kid" seems like a decent enough episode anyways).
Really, the most intriguing stuff doesn't actually happen in the episode. It's more about the meta-ness of the show sitting alongside streetwear.
For instance, it's kinda crazy that not only did The Simpsons not predict Supreme — one of the few times the show wasn't shockingly prescient — but Matt Groening's most famous show has never had its own Supreme collab.
I suppose Supreme tends to prefer low-key franchise team-ups like The Crow (does Akira really count as low-key, though?).
Maybe all those fake streetwear mash-ups that did the rounds on Tumblr and Pintrest a decade or so ago made Supreme wary.
Though it's not like there's been a dearth of Simpsons streetwear team-ups over the years.
From Off-White™ to Vans to Bad Bunny music videos, there's a lotta Simpsons stuff out there.
So, it's not like The Simpsons needs its place in pop culture solidified, or anything.
In fact, the show's well aware of its tenuous relationship to the streetwear biz.
"Perhaps The Simpsons isn't the best show to write cutting-edge comedy about youth culture," "Showrunner Matt Selman put it. "But we can definitely write about old guys feeling lame."
