WWII Fashion Drama ‘The New Look’ Is a Poor Fit for Its Material: TV Review
variety.comAlison Herman TV Critic World War II is well-worn territory for prestige TV, but at first blush, “The New Look” has a novel way in.
The Apple TV+ drama, created by Todd A. Kessler of “Bloodline,” traces the conflict’s impact on the Paris-based fashion industry, focusing on two titans of the craft: Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) and Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche), both founders of legendary houses that persist to this day.
For the purposes of “The New Look,” which begins with the French capital under Nazi occupation, these peers are also foils. Dior is a sensitive dreamer whose younger sister, Catherine (Maisie Williams), joined the anti-German Resistance and spent time in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.
Chanel is a shrewd, self-made entrepreneur who infamously collaborated with the Nazis, a relationship previously explored in the 2011 biography “Sleeping With the Enemy.” In a title card, “The New Look” introduces itself as “the story of how creation helped return spirit and life to the world.” The title comes from Dior’s legendary debut collection in 1947, featuring cinched waists and full skirts that announced a pendulum swing from wartime austerity to mid-century elegance.
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