At a time when the world turned ugly, Christian Dior and Coco Chanel were determined to introduce something beautiful 鈥 fashion.
In 鈥淭he New Look,鈥 actors Ben Mendelsohn and Juliette Binoche play the two and reveal what inspired and drove them to become the brands that still thrive today.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e experiencing in the story is two extraordinary individuals and how they survived, the choices they made and what happened after France was liberated,鈥 says creator Todd A. Kessler. 鈥淭he experience of it is they鈥檙e all in the same crucible.鈥
While Nazi ties color the story, 鈥淭he New Look鈥 offers information most didn鈥檛 know until testimony at the Nuremberg trials was opened somewhere around 1987.
Juliette Binoche plays Coco Chanel in "The New Look."聽
Making connections
For Binoche, the AppleTV+ series was a chance to get to know more about the woman she plays. 鈥淭he complexity of that character I find fascinating,鈥 she says. 鈥淭he show allowed me to go into and develop a passion for her because she is so complex.鈥
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In addition to her relationships with artists, aristocrats, Germans and the Resistance, 鈥淭he New Look鈥 details how revolutionary she was. 鈥淪he got rid of the corsets, made the dresses a little shorter and cut her hair,鈥 Binoche says. 鈥淪he brought pants wearing (into vogue) and she changed women鈥檚 behavior during the first war because women had to be the active ones. Men were at war with the Germans. She took that occasion to really make a big movement. That鈥檚 why, at the beginning of the second war, she stopped everything.
Ben Mendelsohn plays Christian Dior in "The New Look."
Dior, Mendelsohn says, had a burning desire to give something beautiful to the world. 鈥淎nd I think he did it. They both changed the world and the world of fashion in huge ways and in very distinct ways.鈥
The 10-part series chronicles how they learned their trade, maneuvered the world of the wealthy and competed with each other. Key to both is one who came before them 鈥 Lucien Lelong. 鈥淲hat made him noteworthy was his ability to recognize talent because so many gifted designers came through the house of Lelong,鈥 says John Malkovich, the actor who plays him. 鈥淒ior, being a principal one, obviously, but many others as well 鈥 Balmain, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Pierre Cardin. He was very involved with keeping the French fashion industry in France and not Berlin.鈥
Ben Mendelsohn stars in "The New Look."聽
Other names
Like Malkovich, Maisie Williams didn鈥檛 know much about her character, Catherine Dior, before the series. 鈥淚 knew about the muses of Dior鈥ut it felt kind of removed from my idea of Miss Dior,鈥 she says. 鈥淪he had an incredible life and she does become a person of hope鈥omeone who is inherently good.鈥
Catherine Dior, Christian鈥檚 sister, was a leader in the Resistance in Paris, transmitting secret reports to London. In 1944, she was arrested, then tortured by the Gestapo. She was sent to a series of concentration camps until the U.S. Army captured an aviation factory a year later. She was liberated near Dresden and returned to Paris, where her brother barely recognized her. She was awarded numerous medals of honor for her acts of resistance.
鈥淪he was an incredible woman,鈥 Williams says. And it was an amazing opportunity to play her.鈥
John Malkovich plays a fashion mentor in "The New Look."聽
Juliette Binoche plays Coco Chanel, the trendsetting fashion design who built an empire, in "The New Look."聽
Chanel鈥檚 ties were not quite as honorable 鈥 she was criticized for collaborating with Nazi occupiers in an attempt to foster her career.
鈥淭he roots of (her) childhood (are) very important,鈥 Binoche says. 鈥淎ll the behaviors, and the traumatisms, and being survivors in this very tough situation (have an impact).鈥
The Oscar-winning actress says it was important to find connections between her life and Chanel鈥檚. 鈥淚 felt like I had to be Chanel in a way.鈥
Maisie Williams plays Christian Dior's sister, a woman who was pulled into the war and put into a concentration camp in "The New Look."聽
While 鈥淭he New Look鈥 ends with Dior鈥檚 first fashion show, there is more drama to fuel subsequent seasons.
鈥淎n audience draws their own conclusions (about the situation),鈥 Kessler says. 鈥淚f an audience can take anything away from it that relates to their lives, emotionally, literally, spiritually, anything, that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e doing it. It relates to our lives but it鈥檚 not to lead the audience to think one way or another. The inspiration is to honor these people鈥檚 lives and their experiences.鈥
鈥淭he New Look鈥 airs on AppleTV+.
Movie critic Bruce Miller says 鈥淭he Greatest Night in Pop鈥 is a wonderful slice of history that shows what happens when stars check their egos at the door and produce something iconic.
