Chris Connor reviews the first three episodes of Apple TV+’s The New Look…
Coco Chanel and Christian Dior remain icons of the fashion world and household names, decades on from their peak. What is less widely discussed perhaps is the work either did during the Second World War when Paris was under Nazi occupation and the impact it had on both. This is the subject of Apple TV+’s The New Look starring Ben Mendelsohn as Dior and Juliette Binoche as Chanel. It of course takes its name from the unofficial name for his iconic post-war works.
Such is the level of commitment from Apple that a second season is already in production, in spite of some slightly mixed early reviews.
It feels in these initial episodes more like a WWII and espionage thriller than a show about Haute couture. As Dior speaks at a celebration of his career in the 1950s and is asked about his work under the Nazi occupation. The bulk of these initial episodes is set in mid-1940s Paris with the resistance attempting to fight the oppression. Dior’s sister Catherine (Maisie Williams) is among them.
This is maybe not Apple’s finest show with some at times stilted dialogue and inconsistencies to true events but when a show has a cast this stacked including Emily Mortimer, John Malkovich, and Claes Bang. The cast for the most part makes up for some of its stuttering. Binoche, in particular, excels as a conflicted Chanel, torn between her loyalty to France and the Nazi oppression, double-crossing for both sides. While the accents aren’t all quite up to scratch, the sheer amount of star power and charisma makes this watchable.
Apple clearly intended this to be a prestige event with a soundtrack curated by Jack Antonoff of the band Bleachers a frequent collaborator for Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey. Among the names trying their hand at some 1940s standards are Florence and The Machine, Nick Cave, Del Rey and The 1975.
It will be interesting to see the course the show takes later on in its run, with so little of its three-episode premiere dedicated to its 1950s setting, surely this will become a main focus later on, as Dior and Chanel’s rivalry escalates and other fashion designers feature.
If not quite a slam dunk like the best Apple shows, there is enough intrigue, genre fare and wattage in the performances and period detail to keep viewers engaged. It is certainly a glossy re-enactment of a dark time for France and its fashion houses.
Chris Connor
