On Monday evening along Madison Avenue in Manhattan, while fashionistas on the Upper East Side finished their shopping rounds at Dior and Chanel, a crowd headed to the French Institute Alliance Française to attend the premiere of an Apple TV+ series that recounts the origin story of those two fashion houses through the tale of Coco Chanel and Christian Dior’s lives in war-torn Paris during the 1940s.
“The New Look,” which starts streaming today, is a period drama that portrays the rivalry between Chanel, who is played by Juliette Binoche, and Dior, who is played by Ben Mendelsohn.
The show chronicles how these two figures were shaped by the moral challenges of life in Nazi-occupied Paris and how they managed survival and self-preservation.
The war’s effect on Cristóbal Balenciaga, Pierre Balmain and Pierre Cardin is also explored.
Her younger and striving rival, Dior, resentfully makes evening gowns for the wives of Nazis, while his sister, Catherine, is sent to a concentration camp after her arrest as a resistance fighter.
Persons:
Chanel, French Institute Alliance Française, Coco Chanel, Christian Dior’s, “, Juliette Binoche, Dior, Ben Mendelsohn, Balenciaga, Pierre Balmain, Pierre Cardin, Chanel’s, Winston Churchill, resentfully, Catherine
Organizations:
Madison, East Side, Dior, French Institute Alliance, Apple, Nazi
Locations:
Manhattan, fashionistas, Paris, Nazi