The New Look: Opulent, stylish series about Christian Dior and Coco Chanel

Seven months after the liberation of Paris at the end of World War II, the Theatre de la Mode exhibition opened at the Louvre.

The collection featured 237 doll-sized mannequins all adorned in the finest Parisian couture designed by the likes of Hermes, Balenciaga, Lanvin, Balmain and Christian Dior. It drew more than 100,000 visitors and raised a million francs for the war relief effort.

But its true purpose was to re-establish the power and influence of French fashion after the ateliers were battered during the German occupation. The exhibition was a resounding success and the most feted was Dior. In contrast, there was a notable absence from the line-up of luminaries: Coco Chanel.

Dior and Chanel’s stories in the turbulent era of WWII and its aftermath are the subject of a new series on Apple TV+, The New Look. Created by Damages and Bloodline’s Todd A. Kessler, the series stars Australia’s Ben Mendelsohn as Dior and French legend Juliette Binoche as Chanel, as well as Maisie Williams, John Malkovich, Claes Bang and Emily Mortimer.

A handsome and opulent production, The New Look compellingly places fashion at the centre of French culture at a historical moment when the country was grappling with its national identity after the horrors of war.

The series mulls these questions through the personal stories of two of the industry’s most famous figures.

Towards the end of the war, Dior was a featured designer for Lucien Lelong (Malkovich) and while he is uncomfortable with who his clients are, he reasoned that he still needed to support his family which includes his younger sister Catherine (Maisie), an agent for the resistance.

The dynamic between Mendelsohn and Williams is tender, and Dior is distraught when she is taken by the Gestapo. Uncertain about his sister’s fate, feeling he failed his promise to their mother, Dior now has to reckon with his purpose in a new era for him, for his work and for his country.

It’s a softer, more delicate performance from Mendelsohn than he’s often given the space to do, and very different to his last project with Kessler on Bloodline where he played the raging Danny Rayburn.

Chanel’s story is a different beast, and one which draws on the many revelations of her collaboration with the Nazis, specifically her dalliance with German Hans Von Dincklage (Bang) and an overture she attempted to make to Winston Churchill on behalf of the SS.

Chanel’s place in French history is a thorny subject as she’s never really been held accountable for her actions, and Binoche’s take on her as a wily woman with a knack for self-preservation is a fascinating portrayal. Is her treachery made any less objectionable because it was motivated by her own interests rather than any particular philosophical stance?

While the show is named after Dior’s fashion line, the first half of the season gives more time to Chanel but this is rebalanced about midway.

The New Look is old-fashioned, stylish TV with its proper serialised chapters, an emphasis on performances and the production values to match its grand ambitions. It also just tells a great story.