Summary

• "The New Look" on Apple TV+ explores the rivalry between Christian Dior and Coco Chanel after World War II's end.
• The series follows Dior's rise to fame and his impact on women's fashion, revolutionizing Paris as a fashion capital.
• The star-studded cast includes Ben Mendelsohn, Juliette Binoche, Maisie Williams, and John Malkovich.

Apple TV+’s The Apple TV+ series is named after his first fashion collection, which was launched in 1947, three years after was liberated from Nazi occupation. The first few episodes of The New Look focus on the four years of occupation and the different approaches Coco and Christian took to their work and survival at the time.

The New Look was created by Todd A. Kessler, best known for his work on The Sopranos. The Apple TV+ series is already in production for season 2 and could follow an anthology format. The New Look tells the true story of famous real-life designers and their contemporaries whose legacies have endured through their continued impact on the fashion world long after they’ve gone.

Ben Mendelsohn As Christian Dior

Actor: Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn, 54, had his first breakout role in Australia in 1987’s The Year My Voice Broke. It wasn’t until 2010 that Mendelsohn began to gain international attention with the crime drama Animal Kingdom. Since then, he’s taken on roles in many major films, including The Dark Knight Rises, Rogue One, and Captain Marvel. For his work in the Netflix series Bloodline, Mendelsohn won an Emmy Award in 2016.

Notable Movies & TV Shows: The Year My Voice Broke (1987), The Big Steal (1990), Metal Skin (1994) Love My Way (2006-2007), Animal Kingdom (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Bloodline (2015-2017), Rogue One (2016), Darkest Hour (2017), Ready Player One (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), The Outsider (2020), Secret Invasion (2023).

Character: Ben Mendelsohn stars as Christian Dior in The New Look, the French designer at the center of the biographical series. In 1946, Dior founded Christian Dior SE, more commonly known as DIOR, one of the world’s top fashion houses. Dior is credited with revolutionizing women’s dress and reestablishing Paris as the center of the fashion world after World War II.

Juliette Binoche As Coco Chanel

Actor: French actress Juliette Binoche, 59, has made a name for herself in both French and English-language films since her film debut in 1983. She began to gain attention around this time for her collaborations with French auteur directors, including Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Doillon, and André Téchiné. Through her work on screen and stage, Binoche has received many awards and nominations, including the Academy Award for Best ing Actress for 1996’s The English Patient. Her great-uncle is Léon Binoche, who won a gold medal with the French rugby union team at the 1900 Olympics.

Notable Movies & TV Shows: Rendez-vous (1985), Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1992), Three Colors: Blue (1993), The English Patient (1996), Chocolat (2000), Caché (2005), Flight of the Red Balloon (2007), Camille Claudel 1915 (2013), Maria (2014), High Life (2018), The Taste of Things (2023).

Character: In The New Look, Juliette Binoche plays Christian Dior’s famous rival, Coco Chanel. Like Dior, she was a French fashion designer, though her fashion luxury house was founded in 1910, over 35 years before DIOR. As a designer and businesswoman, Coco Chanel became known for the Double-C logo, the Chanel suit, the little black dress, the Chanel bag, and the perfume Chanel No. 5, all of which remain staples in fashion today.

Maisie Williams As Catherine Dior

Actor: Actress Maisie Williams, 26, was born Margaret Constance Williams in Bristol, England. At just 12 years old, Williams was cast as Arya Stark in one of the biggest television shows of the 2010s, Game of Thrones. She played the role from age 14 to 22, taking on other roles in films throughout the show’s eight-season run. Since the series ended, she has appeared in Two Weeks to Live, Pistol, and the animated web series Gen: Lock. In 2019, she launched Daisie, a multi-media networking app designed to help artists and creators launch their careers.

Notable Movies & TV Shows: Game of Thrones (2011-2019), The Falling (2014), Cyberbully (2015), iBoy (2017), Mary Shelley (2017), Then Came You (2018), Gen:Lock (2019-2021), The New Mutants (2020), Two Weeks to Live (2020), Pistol (2022).

Character: Maisie Williams plays Catherine Dior in The New Look, the younger sister of Christian Dior. In 1941, during World War II and the Nazi occupation of , Catherine ed the Resistance. In 1944, she was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp. After being liberated, she was awarded several medals of honor.

John Malkovich as Lucien Lelong

Actor: American actor John Malkovich, 70, started his career in theater and established himself on screen in the 1980s with films including Places in the Heart and Death of a Salesman. Malkovich’s performances have been recognized by many awards bodies, as he’s been nominated for two Oscars and won a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2002, he created his own fashion company, Mrs. Mudd, for whom he designs the outfits himself. In 2013, Malkovich saved the life of a man in Toronto who’d accidentally cut his throat on a piece of scaffolding.

Notable Movies & TV Shows: Places in the Heart (1984), Death of a Salesman (1985), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), In the Line of Fire (1993), Being John Malkovich (1999), RKO 281 (1999), Napoléon (2002), Ripley’s Game (2002), Burn After Reading (2008), Red (2010), Crossbone (2014), Billions (2018-2019), Space Force (2020-2022).

Character: In The New Look, John Malkovich plays Lucien Lelong, who was a prominent French couturier from the 1920s to the 1940s. Lelong wasn’t a designer but employed other designers, including Christian Dior, who worked for Lelong from 1941 until 1946 alongside Pierre Balmain. He retired from couture in August 1948, only continuing his perfume business.

The New Look ing Cast & Characters

Claes Bang: Danish actor and musician Claes Bang, 56, is best known for 2017’s The Square, which won the Palme d’or at the Cannes Film Festival. As a musician, he releases music under the moniker This Is Not America. In The New Look, he plays Hans Von Dincklage/Spatz, a German spy and Nazi propagandist who dated Coco Chanel during World War II.

Hugo Becker: Hugo Becker, 36, is a French actor known for his roles in French films as well as Gossip Girl and Chefs. He plays Hervé des Charbonneries, a founding member of the Resistance and Catherine Dior’s love interest.

Joseph Olivennes: Actor Joseph Olivennes, 32, is the son of British actress Dame Kristin Scott Thomas. He has previously appeared in Versailles, The Poisoning Angel, and Deep Fear. In The New Look, he plays André Palasse, Coco Chanel’s nephew whom she helped raise following the death of her sister.

Nuno Lopes: Portuguese actor and DJ Nuno Lopes, 45, is internationally known for Saint George, which was Portugal’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Oscars. He plays Cristóbal Balenciaga in The New Look, the Spanish designer and founder of the Balenciaga clothing brand.

Thomas Poitevin: French actor Thomas Poitevin, 44, appeared in just a few projects before The New Look, in which he plays Pierre Balmain, the French designer who worked alongside Christian Dior at Lelong before founding his own house in 1945.

Emily Mortimer: Emily Mortimer, 52, is a British actress known for her work on stage and in film and television. Some of her notable roles include Lovely and Amazing, The Newsroom, and The Pursuit of Love. In The New Look, Mortimer plays Elsa Lombardi, a socialite and friend of Coco Chanel who inspired her “English look” and later denounced Chanel for collaborating with the Nazis.

Zabou Breitman: French actress and director Zabou Breitman, 64, is the daughter of writer Jean-Claude Deret, whose projects she appeared in as a child. She is known for Se souvenir des belles choses, The Swallows of Kabul, and The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak. Breitman plays Madame Raymonde Zehnacker in The New Look, the director of Dior’s design studio and his right-hand woman.

Glenn Close: Glenn Close, 76, is considered one of the greatest living American actresses, with eight Academy Award nominations, three Tony Awards, three Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. She is known for The World According To Garp, Fatal Attraction, Hamlet, 101 Dalmations, The Wife, and more. In The New Look, Close takes on the role of Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of the American edition of Harper’s Bazaar from 1934 to 1958.