Apple TV+’s The New Look Highlights the Beauty of Creation Alongside the Horrors of War

“White. A blank page or canvas. His favorite. So many possibilities.”

That quote is from Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George, a musical about tormented painter Georges Seurat. Though Apple TV+’s new series The New Look has nothing to do with Seurat, this quote—about the act of creating art—is equally applicable here. The New Look, from showrunner Todd A. Kessler, centers on an entirely different Frenchman: the perdurable Christian Dior. Hearing his name may conjure images of his numerous designs, but the man himself is somewhat inscrutable and has not been extensively explored on screen until now.

The first of the 10 episodes (all of which were available for review) introduce us to an established Dior in 1955, played by an understated Ben Mendelsohn. It has been seven years since he launched his first collection that made him a household name in the world of couture. And, in the words of his contemporary Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche), he is a nervous wreck. Tortured and superstitious, he is obsessed with tarot readings and can no longer enjoy the success he worked so hard to achieve.

We then flash back to 1943, where Dior is navigating the German occupation of his city of Paris during the final years of World War II. This war has forced him and his employer Lucien Lelong (a kindly and soft-spoken John Malkovich) to make an impossible choice: design dresses for Nazi wives and girlfriends or remain out of work. No work is not an option, of course, and so Dior takes the “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to his clientele. Dior also supports his sister Catherine (Maisie Williams), a revolutionary who is an active part of the French Resistance.

Alongside the story of Dior, The New Look tells the adjacent narrative of Coco Chanel during the same period. Though their journeys and behaviors rarely overlap, their circumstances are more alike than it appears at first glance. Beloved members from both of their families are captured by Nazi’s; Catherine is taken to a concentration camp where she is mercilessly tortured by the Germans in order to extract information about her Resistance colleagues. Chanel’s nephew Joseph is also taken and, with the help of a man with Nazi connections, she works to get him released—with a price: she must provide assistance to the Germans. 

In her performance, Binoche emphasizes the contradictions, selfishness, and complete impossibility of being Coco Chanel. She is self-centered, yet she cares deeply for her nephew, who is the only true family she has. Her constant battles are with herself, though she takes her frustrations out on everybody around her, including her lifelong confidant Elsa Lombardi (Emily Mortimer). Binoche’s nuanced performance alternates between making us root for her and hate her, sometimes within the same episode.

And as Dior, Mendelsohn is nothing short of incredible here. A long-time supporting character actor (which Star Wars and Marvel fans can attest to), it is thrilling to see him lead a show. Like an accessory to one of his beautiful outfits, he wears his emotions on his sleeve, and this series’ enamored audience gets the privilege to witness and partake in his complex feelings about the war, his work, and his family. With the smallest of facial expressions, Mendelsohn makes us fall in love with Dior. When he cries, we cry. When he laughs, we laugh. He has complete command over our feelings and he leads with elegance.

Generally, the Dior story is the more interesting of the two. Chanel’s exploits sometimes grow tired and the incessant back-and-forth negotiations throughout the season—with her lawyers, her friends, and her business partners—become repetitive. However, the series is peppered with a wonderful supporting cast, ultimately making it worthwhile. Maisie Williams is effectively heartbreaking in her turn as Dior’s traumatized sister. Emily Mortimer is another stand-out, her desperation palpable as somebody who will do just about anything to help her friend succeed. Claes Bang plays “Spatz,” a spy who works alongside Chanel. Bang perfects the balance of being her “friend,” while also being appropriately menacing when necessary. Glenn Close appears in later episodes as fashion journalist Carmel Snow in a surprisingly restrained and even performance.

Meticulously recreating the Paris of the mid-twentieth century, every aspect of the production looks stunning. The House of Dior collaborated with the creatives, designing and reproducing many of the classic dresses for the series, all of which are, naturally, exquisite. The titles for each dress are artistically depicted on screen, as are the names of each character as they are introduced. These visual cues are helpful, particularly because of the seemingly endless rotation of characters and outfits that appear. And in creating the audio language for the series, The New Look shines as well. The soundtrack, overseen by Jack Antonoff, includes several newly recorded covers of twentieth-century songs including “Now is the Hour,” “La Vie en rose,” and a jazzy arrangement of “Blue Skies” by Lana Del Rey. James S. Levine provides the strings-heavy score. All of these musical choices perfectly capture the ambiance of the period and the juxtaposition of high society Paris set upon the backdrop of war.

Throughout the season, it is reiterated time and time again by Dior that he had no grand ambitions to change history. No, he merely wanted to create beautiful dresses for women to wear. Yet, by creating the most ravishing outfits, making history was an inevitable byproduct. Through the lens of this history, the series explores the ethical and moral struggles of creating art in an attempt to survive and save your loved ones. The show doesn’t make judgements; that is left to the viewer. Instead, it simply presents us with the circumstances of the characters and the consequences of their actions.

There have already been discussions of a second season, which is reportedly in the works. Is it necessary? After seeing this story come full circle across all 10 episodes, probably not. As it stands, The New Look is a series that successfully captures the utter horrors of war alongside the beauty of creation. The severity of one only emphasizes the gravity of the other. Together, they make something breathtaking, heartbreaking, and entirely worth watching. 

The New Look debuts with three episodes on Wednesday, February 14th; new episodes air weekly on Apple TV+. 

Josh Sharpe is the current TV intern at Paste. His other bylines include TheaterMania and Collider. To hear about his thoughts about film, TV, and musical theatre, follow him @josh_sharpe22 on all socials.

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