I watched The New Look: A Bedazzling Look at Christian Dior’s Career.
A review & thoughts (no spoilers) on Apple TV +’s The New Look. It is a series about the hautè courture French designer Christian Dior during and after the Nazi occupation of Paris.
Dear Readers, it’s the final years of world war II and the Nazis have invaded Paris. The French are not thrilled at the prospect of Nazi occupation, so they form a group to rebel against them. That is where this series starts. This article features a piano recording by me playing one of the songs that plays during the ending credits of the show.
Recording: The White Cliffs of Dover played on the Piano by E L R Greenwood.
The plot
In the first scene, we meet Christian Dior (Ben Mendelssohn) at the stage of his career when he was famous, beloved, and well known. His most famous works are shown and we get to see the original bar suit among others. As people wait impatiently to see him, the fashion show goes on and finally he enters to answer the demanding questions from his admiring audience. The past features very heavily throughout the series, starting from when the Nazis occupied Paris to the end of the war. Featuring the compelling story involving Dior’s younger sister, Cathrine (Maisie Williams) and the sibling’s involvement in the French resistance group against the Nazis, The New Look is an emotional rollercoaster taking the viewer through the perils of war into the safety of post-war France.
At the beginning of the show, we also meet an older Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche), who is making her return on the fashion scene with a vengeance. As Chanel was also in Paris during the Nazi occupation, we get to see her conflicts, loves and losses. It is known that Chanel colluded with the Nazis to get her nephew back to safety and the story is told of her collusion and the effects it has on her business and reputation as a Parisian designer.
The story follows them through the war to the end and aftermath. It is an emotionally driven tale mixed with the entrappings of starting your own fashion house through presenting to us the journey that Dior had to open his own fashion house. It also follows the opulent lifestyle of Coco Chanel and how she colluded with the Nazis.
The characters
Christian Dior is played by Ben Mendelssohn who gives the audience a nice idea of how he might have been like as the superstitious and all trusting Dior. Though as there are precious little recordings of Dior himself, we just have to believe him. Mendolsohn goves us a soft spoken and mild Dior complete with a French accent to boot. As Dior’s sister, Cathrine, we have Maisie Williams who exudes determination and grit as a member of the French resistance. Dior’s boss, Lelong (John Malkovich) is a consistent presence at the beginning, he is willing to support Dior in all of his endeavours.
Juliette Binoche is an adored Coco Channel, Joseph Olivennes is her hapless nephew, whom I am informed inherited everything from Auntie Coco. A sweet young Gabrielle Channel (Alice Haldane) is also shown and it is lovely to see the relationship she had with her great auntie Coco. Channel’s other friendships lie in the shape of Elsa Lombardi (Emily Mortimer) another fashion designer who has a sulky attitude and a lukewarm relationship with Chanel.
What I found most agreeable
This period peice is one of the best I have seen in recent years. For two very simple reasons: the costumes and the portrayal of the characters through out. Yes, I would agree that there were dodgy French accents, but the characters, namely the Dior siblings and the Chanels were great portrayals and outweighs the dodgy French accents coming from some of the actors.
Firstly, the fashion that is featured is a feast for the eyes, for of course it would be. It’s Dior for goodness sake! So, I have included two of my favourites below that caught my eye whilst watching.
Smaller versions of Dior’s creations were also put on display in real life and in the series. It was an exhibition called Theatre de la mode which was in the Louvre. As it was the end of the war, designers were looking to re-inspire people; Dior famously contributed to this and the miniature versions of his works were equally as impressive.
The relationship between Dior and his sister is lovely to see. The fact that he is so supportive of Cathrine’s decision to rebel shows how Dior was not only patriotic, but very devoted to his sister’s interests. As an older brother, Dior is overprotective and at times overbearing which is understandable when it comes to his younger sister. In fact, Cathrine’s storyline is one of the things that kept me hooked in the story as I constantly wanted to find out whether the rebellion would be a success.
Much of the story is shrouded by war. Even after the episodes that cover the war are over, there is still that overhanging theme, which is not surprising since it was a major influence on Dior’s New Look. If anything, the brutality that the Nazis treated the French shows the audience there should never be a war to the scale and monstrosity that World War II was. This TV series aims to do more than that though, as it shows Dior’s stuggles as an upcoming designer, his home life drama, and relationship with his siblings. Also, sheds light on Chanel, especially the trials and tribulations she faced as a female designer in this point in history.
Maisie Williams as Cathrine Dior gave a screen-stealing portrayal of the famous designer’s sister was a character that caught my eye in this show. As the viewer, you certainly feel sympathetic towards her and commend her strength to endure. Williams gives a heart wrenching, emotive performance which also included the haphazard cutting of her own hair for the role so you can imagine she was submerged somewhat in the emotional state of her character. Even though, the story isn’t entirely centred around Dior, I would also like to mention Ben Mendolsohn as Dior. I liked his portrayal of Dior and it made the story come together.
Now, it wouldn’t be a proper review without mentioning the music. Overall it was satisfactory, as it mainly fit the theme of the show. An admirable show of the dramatic in the opening sequence gives the audience a preparation to expect some drama when these famous designers are producing their signature peices. For the end credits, a cocktail of covers and songs written at the time that the story is set and also more recent songs, this was a great addition to the show. For each episode there is a different song which really ends each episode well. In particular, these were the ones I really enjoyed: The White Cliffs of Dover and Its Only A Paper Moon. In the recording, I play my own version of The White Cliffs of Dover which was a wartime song made popular by the great Dame Vera Lynne.
What I found most disagreeable
It seemed like they were trying to do too much too quickly, attempting to cram as many stories into one TV series. The series tackled Dior starting his business, his sister Cathrine’s troubles during and after the war, Chanel and her ties to the Nazis, Chanel’s own problems with her business, Chanel’s problems at home with her Nephew, and what life was like in Paris under the Nazi occupation. None of which did the creators decide to go into great detail when the programme is supposed to be on Dior’s New Look.
In fact, they may have become too focussed on the life of Chanel and the eventful time that she had with the Nazis. All apart from highlighting the war crimes of the Nazis to give an appropriately negative message on the Nazi treatment of French civilians and the violence that they treated their prisoners, the other issues seemed fleeting which was disappointing as the rest of the show was enjoyable.
If they had focused on mainly Dior and the struggles and successes that he had when starting the famous fashion house that we know and love today, the story would have felt more rounded. Instead, it seemed akin to a soap opera with the fast changes in point of view and character stories. It is true that Dior and Channel were contemporaries, though, if the story were entirely about Dior, make it about Dior! So not to dwell on the fate of Chanel too much - as this series had done.
Is it worth watching?
From the onset, I did not expect too much from The New Look as many modern period dramas are quite disappointing in my humble opinion. However, if you overlook how poorly plotted the story is and some of the French accents, you will find a series influenced by modern views that still seems to get by as a watchable period drama. The tragic stories tug at your heartstrings, you yearn to know what happens next especially with Cathrine’s story, and throughout, you are treated to great portrayals all round which immerse you in the story. So, yes it is worth the watch for the marvellously stunning ladies clothes and fashion alone, though not for just the story.
Charm’o rating - score out of 5
Duration - 5
Storyline - 1.50
Period drama experience - 4
Characterisation - 5
Romantic Storyline - 2
Scandalous Affairs - 4.5
Music - 5
Plot twists - 2