Review: World War and haute fashion compellingly collide in riveting new series

The New Look explores complex choices made by Dior, Chanel in occupied Paris

The New LookWhere: AppleTV+What: Series, 10 episodes, 55 mins.When: Three episodes Feb. 14, new episodes weeklyGenre: Historical dramaRating: NNNNN (out of 5)Why you should watch: Fashion and fascism come together in this riveting look at Paris during and after the Nazi occupation and how it impacted the careers of haute heroes Christian Dior and Coco Chanel.

FASHION and fascism come together in this riveting look at the Nazi occupation of Paris and how it impacted the careers of haute heroes Christian Dior and Coco Chanel as AppleTV+ continues its deep dive into history books for inspiration.

With Masters of the Air currently on view and upcoming series on Lincoln’s assassination (Manhunt, March 14), Ben Franklin’s revolutionary war time in Paris (Franklin, April 12) and even a historical comedy, the Black Flag-esque highwayman comedy (The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, March 1), the streamer is betting big on history with this fashion-forward series the best of the bunch.

There should be few battles for the remote as The New Look combines the Second World War with high fashion and gives us some remarkable A-list performances in the process. Juliette Binoche is compellingly convincing as a bewildered Coco Chanel, who battles being labelled a Nazi collaborator during the occupation at the same time as she fights to save control of her cosmetics company after using Aryan laws during the occupation to pry the brand away from her Jewish partners. Chanel did, however, close her atelier in 1939 when the Nazis occupied her city, refusing to outfit the women of the Reich.

Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn is quietly convincing as the troubled Christian Dior, the firm he worked for having clothed Nazis during the occupation though he remained in the background. His life is further complicated by a younger sister who fights for the Resistance, eventually imprisoned under near-fatal conditions; he spends much of his life trying to save her. Survival overcomes nuance and real-time decisions to stay alive or at least in business come back to haunt both Chanel and Dior, among others, as the series explores complex questions with much more intelligence than the simplistic and reductionist “U.S. good, bad guys bad, other Allies weak” messaging of Masters of The Air and its comic book view of the Second World War.

John Malkovich icily rationalizes his choices as Dior’s wartime employer, Lucien Lelong, justifying his decisions as the only way to keep his business going and his workers employed during lean wartime years. Danish actor Claes Bang is almost perfect as Hans Günter von Dincklage, a.k.a. Spatz, a Nazi ne’er do well who charms and beds women, including Chanel, in the service of the Reich. His greasy charm is snake-like yet seductive.

Even the “good guys” aren’t immune to questionable motives and actions. The French Resistance’s appetite for revenge and retribution after the occupation sees “justice” meted out grossly disproportionately at the expense of women viewed to have collaborated with the enemy.

Set against all of this compelling intrigue, rationalization and revenge, the re-emergence of haute fashion is seen as a way to lift the spirits of the once conquered French as they rebuild theirs lives, their country and their self-esteem. Seeing the creative process required in the making of these beautiful, iconic creations is just one of the many rewards in the first-rate, highly recommended series.