Haute Couture and Nazis in the new Apple series

This year, the series Cristobal Balenciaga showed the private world of one of the most famous Spanish designers. Interestingly, the series also has its echo New look, new Apple TV+ production, which in one way or another touches on the same context. In ten episodes, it shows the years of the Second World War, when Paris was controlled by the German government. As if that wasn’t enough, the city is under the oppressive grip of Nazi aesthetics and its restrictions. What turns the ordinary and most sophisticated life into a test of courage and will?

But the series doesn’t focus on resistance or how Parisians managed to survive the brunt of the violence. Instead, it analyzes the situation through the most elegant, creative, and emblematic sphere of the Gala capital. So: the designers who stayed in France during the occupation and especially the way in which their work became a silent rebellion. Much more so when they try to keep it classic Maison OPEN, He had to face the restrictions, prejudices, and resentment of the representatives of the Third Reich.

The most interesting thing about the series is that it uses this painful and sometimes claustrophobic environment to tell two things at the same time. On the one hand, the way the French people responded to wartime aggression. Specifically, how he found a way to resist in the midst of a terrifying super-surveillance system. On the other hand, this period was particularly fruitful for aesthetic creation. In fact, throughout its first two episodes, the series puts particular emphasis on the premise. The need to transform the rejection of authoritarianism into an expression of art. Or what is the same thing, in symbolic liberation?

Resistance in the midst of a difficult situation

To do this, Todd A. Kessler’s script takes two representative figures of Parisian fashion at the time. On one hand, Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche). Already at that time the owner of a reputation that preceded her, and undoubtedly the most famous face of what was called Parisian fashion. The actress gives her character an edgy and practical touch. But it also does something else. She manages to find the focal point that made her famous. Chanel in New Look is more than just a brand and Coco, it’s a designer. It is the famous proof that Paris – and then France – continued to defy despite the Nazi siege.

The plot makes the intelligent decision to embody Paris – with all its contradictions, darkness, and glitz – in the figure of its most famous designer at the time. More than an artist – which she is – the series shows the character as a force of nature. One that is also committed to changing the aesthetics that support and sometimes limit the idea of ​​women.

Gradually, the plot reveals the layers of the character as he walks through the streets where the swastika flag flies or has to face a military presence. The camera follows her closely, both in the workshop and in the meetings where she debates in angry anguish what to do as the shadow of war spreads across the continent. For Chanel, everything is clear: resist.

The nuances of complicated circumstances

But the designer is an ambiguous figure. The year is 1943 and he lives in the Ritz Hotel. She also has a scandalous relationship with German spy Hans Günther von Dincklage (Claes Bang). The series carefully avoids showing any type of moral bent or explanation. The point is clear: Coco Chanel is trying to find a point of balance in the middle of a delicate scenario.

He doesn’t always succeed, and in fact, the character feels like he doesn’t really have much of a clue how to do it. What is quite evident and clear is that the woman who dresses Paris has a unique ability to show. It’s about sending a discreet message with your creations.

A shy man who seeks fame

At the beginning of the series, Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) is still a genius in training. The series carefully shows his development, although the actor has some problems with showing ambitions very close to his character’s greed. Dior wants to be famous, recognized, loved and admired. But in 1943, options were few, and the scope of her resources was limited.

What makes him a man in the midst of a dilemma of loyalty? As Lucien Lelong’s (John Malkovich) apprentice, he creates clothes for the Nazi elite, and even though he knows it’s not the right thing to do, he has no choice. In perhaps one of the weaker points of the series, the interpreter fails to convey Dior’s inner pressure to stop being a student in the midst of a situation that overwhelms him. Character characterization doesn’t help much either. Mendelsohn, Known for putting his own character on the figures he plays, seems to be a little out of step in the French designer’s shoes.

Much more cautious in her incarnation – and even her execution – is Maisie Williams, who plays Catherine, Christian’s sister. As an emblem of freedom — she belongs to the resistance — the script tries to show her as a kind of Coco Chanel, without the limits of luxury. She doesn’t always succeed, but when she does, it gives the young actress the opportunity to deliver a great performance.

Luxury new image of women

Gradually, these two designers will meet and confront each other. But in the first two chapters of New Look, the interest of the script is to tell a twilight Paris, surrounded by hidden violence, which refuses to give up its spirit. The premise works while the characters seem engrossed in their capsule of work and creativity. However, he is a bit clumsy in trying to be neutral, without always achieving it.

However, the New look exudes elegance and has a smart premise. Moreover, the visual part is easily maintained in the wide close-ups of the city and in the shadows of the big Parisian buildings. An identity that undoubtedly gives the series some of its best moments.