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United States Juliette Binoche Breaks Down Coco Chanel's Controversial Nazi Alliances In The New Look
Summary
- Apple TV+ series The New Look explores the rise of Christian Dior and the challenges he faced to establish his legacy in the aftermath of World War II. Coco Chanel's story is also intertwined, shedding light on her controversial actions during the war.
- The show delves into the personal lives of Dior and Chanel, emphasizing their vulnerabilities and the impact of their past experiences on their behavior. Understanding their backgrounds is crucial to comprehending their choices and avoiding hasty judgments.
- The New Look on Apple TV+ offers a unique perspective on the fashion industry and the historical context of haute couture during a time of war. The series aims to captivate viewers with its blend of fashion, drama, and historical events.
Apple TV+ tackles World War II from a very different perspective in The New Look, which follows the rise of French fashion house Dior in the wake of national tragedy. Created by Todd A. Kessler (of The Sopranos fame), the 10-episode season features Christian Dior's (played by Secret Invasion's Ben Mendelsohn) personal and professional stumbling blocks on his way to starting his legacy. Another important designer's story is told in parallel, however, as the show peels back the layers of Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche) post-war.
The New Look joins an elite line of Apple TV+ programming, and its focus on haute couture is sure to be refreshing for many viewers. But the time period necessitates a depiction of the horrors of war, and both Dior and Chanel had very personal ties to the Nazis — albeit in very different ways. Though Christian was forced to design for German soldiers to make ends meet, his own sister Catherine (Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams) is taken to a concentration camp for being part of the Resistance. Coco, meanwhile, finds herself collaborating with Nazi officials after saving her nephew from danger.
The New Look Cast & Real Life Character Comparison Guide
The Apple TV+ series The New Look sees talented actors take on the roles of famous designers Christian Dior, Coco Chanel, and their contemporaries.Screen Rant interviewed Binoche about what drew her to Chanel's story in The New Look, and how the fashion goddess justified her highly controversial alliances during the war.
Juliette Binoche Explains Coco Chanel's Dubious Actions In The New Look
Screen Rant: I loved watching you play Coco Chanel, who's of course quite a controversial figure. We delve into her interactions with Nazis in the story, but how do you navigate the personal side of her too?
Juliette Binoche: Well, in order to play her, I needed to have information and understand where she came from. So I did a lot of reading and bumped into a lot of different kinds of views on her. And so I was wondering, "Who do I need to believe?" It took me a while to feel her; to understand where she was coming from.
Of course, childhood is the key to any person because it informs you about behavior and big needs. And the fact she was lacking family, and the need for family in her was big, and the need for a father. [Edward] 'Boy' Capel, her first lover, was like a father to her. She said about him, like, "He's my father and my brother; my whole family." Even though they were living together and really loving each other, he decided in order to have an heir, to get married to a British aristocrat. That killed her, and then two years after, he died in a car accident when she was thirty-six.
You understand that [she was] coming from the poorest place at the end of 19th century. Being a woman and being born in a very poor place, you had no future; you would die poor. The fact that this man who was everything to her betrayed her, and betrayed her love because she lost him forever, I think it made her a stronger but more vulnerable person. After that, her behavior [became] having relationships with artists and having relationships with aristocrats.
What is your take on her choices during the war?
Juliette Binoche: When the war came, she closed her shop even though she was the highest star of fashion. She stopped everything. She had 4,000 seamstresses and didn't care about whether they needed to work or not. For her, that was it. She didn't want to work for Germans. She had factories where they were making her cloth for clothes, so she stopped everything and went to the south of France.
But her nephew, who she was taking care of because her sister committed suicide early on when she was very young, was a prisoner of the Germans [as] a French soldier. She decided, because he had typhus and was going to die because he was very fragile, to go to the French collaboration government who were in touch with the Gestapo. That's how she got to her nephew and saved him.
When you understand where it comes from, suddenly the puzzle, which was scattered for me at the beginning, became [clear]. Not that I want to resolve things, because you have to be in a question mark as well always, making sure that you're not making assumptions that are not true. But reading a lot about her and talking to different people [helped]. Also having the scripts, because that was a base, and hoping that they have done their homework, the showrunner and everyone behind writing. I just felt responsible; I needed to give her this human side for the audience to understand her and not judge her from outside [without] understanding where it came from. Because I don't think she was evil, it's just that she put hersaelf in circumstances that were very controversial.
About The New Look
This emotionally thrilling series reveals the shocking story of how fashion icon Christian Dior and his contemporaries, including Coco Chanel, Pierre Balmain, and Cristóbal Balenciaga, navigated the horrors of World War II and launched modern fashion.
Check out our other The New Look interviews here:
The first 3 episodes of The New Look will premiere February 14 on Apple TV+, followed by a new episode every Wednesday.
Source: Screen Rant Plus
The New Look
The New Look is a biographical drama focusing on the rise of fashion designer Christian Dior as he competes with Coco Chanel. The series was created by Todd A. Kessler and stars Ben Mendelsohn (Christian Dior) and Juliette Binoche (Coco Chanel). The series premiered on AppleTV+ in February 2024.
