The New Look
The New Look
Now Showing

The New Look

"Creation is survival."

7.4
Yr 2024
Status Canceled
Your Verdict

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Series Brief

Overview

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 Il and launched modern fashion.

Critical Reception

What critics are saying

Score 38 /100

The New Look received largely negative to mixed reviews from critics, who found the historical drama about fashion icons Christian Dior and Coco Chanel during World War II to be surprisingly dull and superficial. Despite a talented cast led by Ben Mendelsohn and Juliette Binoche, reviewers felt the series struggled to balance its heavy wartime setting with its fashion-focused subject matter.

Many critics pointed to sluggish pacing and a lack of narrative momentum as major drawbacks, noting that episodes drag without establishing clear stakes or purpose. Critics also expressed frustration with how the series handles complex historical dynamics, arguing that it skirts around deeper character relationships and pales in comparison to the real-life gravity of Nazi-occupied Paris.

While some praised the strong lead performances and luxurious production values, the overarching critical consensus views the drama as a dreary missed opportunity sapped of both style and emotional resonance.

“Such superficiality is typical of this weirdly incurious series.”

“Episodes drag past with a languid pace, rarely asserting their importance beyond the scant thrills that come from watching capital-A actors do their jobs.”

“Though it features fine performances from Juliette Binoche and Ben Mendelsohn, the backdrop of war is essentially written out of the series in favour of a competition over tulle”

“Ben Mendelsohn and Juliette Binoche star in a drawn-out drama that purports to be more pivotal and purposeful than it ever achieves.”

Transmission Paths

Where to Watch

Apple TV
UK • US • CA
Apple TV Amazon Channel
US • UK • CA
Why fans love it

The New Look tracks the survival strategies of influential designers during the German occupation of Paris. Through a combination of historical biography and political drama, the series examines the delicate balance between personal ambition and the grim realities of life under wartime constraints. It centers on the professional friction and compromises of figures like Christian Dior and Coco Chanel as they attempt to preserve their craft amidst a crumbling city.

Juliette Binoche and the rest of the ensemble portray these designers not as icons on pedestals, but as individuals navigating moral gray areas. The narrative avoids glossy retellings to favor a candid look at the fragility of status during global instability. By framing the birth of modern fashion as a response to the trauma of World War II, the show focuses on how aesthetic invention persists when the world is effectively burning.

Featured Players

Cast

Credited 75
Regulars 12
Longest run 10 eps
Show 67 more
Jannis Niewöhner as Walter Schellenberg 3 episodes David Kammenos as Jacques 10 episodes Françoise Miquelis as Madame Dean Bonjean 2 episodes Hugo Becker as Hervé 7 episodes Darina Al Joundi as Madame Delahaye 4 episodes Joseph Olivennes as André Palasse 8 episodes Noé Besin as Jean 2 episodes Christopher Buchholz as Baron Vaufreland 3 episodes Stéphanie Crayencour as Beatrice 2 episodes Marvin Münstermann as Franz 2 episodes Cédric Weber as Marcel Ceradame 1 episode Franz Liebig as Gunther 1 episode Roman Schomburg as Hans 1 episode Wendy Nieto as Female Student 1 1 episode Alice de Broqueville as Female Student 2 2 episodes Elise Tilloloy as Young Female Assistant 1 episode Wotan Wilke Möhring as Nazi Officer 1 episode André-Alexandre Gangl as Detention Center's Nazi SD Officer 1 episode Clément Böcher as Tuxedoed Nazi Officer 1 episode Alexandre Liebe as German Soldier 1 episode Laurent Pons as Shabbily Dressed Man 1 episode William Brouard as Citizen 1 episode Guillaume Faure as Reporter #1 1 episode Margeaux Lampley as Reporter #2 1 episode Sylvain Jouret as Reporter #3 1 episode Bruno Lozet as Ritz Receptionist 1 episode Mathilde Ollivier as Chantal 1 episode Raphaëlle Agogué as Madeleine Dior 2 episodes Yahil Cohen as Young Christian (12) 2 episodes Sam Zaffuto as Catherine Dior (infant) 2 episodes Jakob Diehl as The Professeur 2 episodes Axel Auriant as Guillaume 2 episodes Florence Coste as Enid 1 episode Alexandre Willaume as Raoul Nordling 1 episode Adrian Schiller as Ambassador Hoare 1 episode Brontis Jodorowsky as Commander Resnais 1 episode Cornelius Obonya as Walter Kutschmann 1 episode Daniel Horn as British Soldier 1 episode Andreas Simma as Gestapo Commander 1 episode Niko Ravel as Large SS Officer 1 episode Ilia Koutchokov as Schellenberg Nazi 1 episode Elisa Alessandro as Female Servant 1 episode Nora Sandholm-Azémar as Swedish Consul Secretary 1 episode Eric Vendramini as Gas Station Attendant 1 episode Johan Leclaire-Bottarelli as German Soldier (checkpoint) 1 episode Joe Pitts as Young Christian (20) 3 episodes Alizée Caugnies as Young Catherine (child) 3 episodes Sagamore Stévenin as Pierre Reverdy 1 episode Serpentine Teyssier as Germaine Domenger 2 episodes Maxence Mayo as Anton The Brat 1 episode Emma Nicolas as Zoe 3 episodes Michael Carter as Maurice Dior 4 episodes Franz Lang as Christian Bérard 2 episodes Eliott Margueron as Pierre Cardin 3 episodes Patrick Albenque as Marcel Boussac 4 episodes Frédéric Anscombre as René de Chambrun 5 episodes Catherine Jacob as The Baroness 2 episodes Quentin Faure as George Vigouroux 4 episodes Pierre Aussedat as Henri 2 episodes Alice Haldane as Gabrielle Palasse (10) 3 episodes Gaëtan Wenders as Jacob Friedman 3 episodes Jérôme Robart as Paul Wertheimer 2 episodes Jonjo O'Neill as Bernard Dior 2 episodes Mathilde Warnier as Marie-Therese 2 episodes Alex Jennings as Raymond Dior 2 episodes Dominic Tighe as Julien Horn 2 episodes Frédéric Moulin as Concierge 2 episodes
Production Board

Crew

"B" Camera Operator
"A" Camera Operator
Hair Supervisor
Creator
Location Scout
Hair Designer
Best Boy Grip
First Assistant "A" Camera
Director of Photography
Costume Coordinator
Visual Effects Editor
Key Grip
Art Direction
Makeup Designer
Makeup Supervisor
Art Department Coordinator
Construction Manager
Dialogue Coach
Costume Design
Post Production Supervisor
Digital Imaging Technician
Signal Match

Similarity

Where The New Look overlaps with other shows, and exactly what they have in common.

Keyword Cloud

Keywords

paris, france world war ii biography fashion designer based on true story german occupation of france candid fashion industry
Technical Sheet

Details

First Aired
February 13, 2024
Status
Canceled
Origin
US
TMDB Votes
86