The New Look

I didn't realize the subject matter when I first started watching, and it was a pleasant surprise. The design careers of Dior, Chanel, and the other couture houses are merely a backdrop to the painful period of Nazi-occupied Paris. The show deals with how people handle ethics, compromise, and survival under impossible circumstances.

At the time I'm writing this, most of the reviews here are quibbling with things I find unimportant. It's made for English-speaking viewers, so it's not in French, and some of the accents may not be perfect. But many of the performances are absolutely riveting, and the story is quite thought-provoking. It's also entertaining - worth a watch!

Yes, ok, John malkovic. He's great, but will be almost uncastable in further roles requiring an accent.

Meanwhile Coco Chanel looks like a parody of Jennifer Sanders, and there's a bit of Brosnan in Spatz!

Asides from the character assasinations, the acting is good, the story fascinating, the period in Paris is complicated and attention to detail very good.

On the story... Dior is 'working for the Nazis' to survive, but supporting the resistance too. You do what you must.

Poor Coco is shown in a very bad light though, so far. I am only a few episodes in.

What shouldn't surprise me, but in fact angers me, is that society continues with it's money and privilege in the middle of war and occupation. I suppose it was ever thus. There is rarely justice, or karma, in war.

I'm liking the series - its quality.

Sumptuous exploration of Vichy Paris and the designers who inhabited it. I've known all my adult life that Coco Channel was a Nazi collaborator, but I did not know the story about Christian Dior, his sister in the resistance, or her time at a work camp. This all set during the Nazi's occupation, and final retreat from France, is produced so well, with such an excellent top tier cast, top tier directing, set design, writing, pace, just about everything about this show is excellent I'm very surprised to see it not doing better in the user reviews and ratings. In an era of reality TV drivel, this quality show is so needed.

The New Look is worth watching based on the acting performances alone-Ben Mendelsohn, Juliette Binoche, Malkovich and Maisie Williams who since GoT has turned in multiple big performances. My complaint is the historical inaccuracy involving the Coco Chanel character and storyline which is nearly half the script. It shouldn't matter because Hollywood scripts aren't meant to be documentaries. But when the truth is more interesting than what the scriptwriters put to page why make the change? For some reason they make her conflicted and being pulled in by the Germans. In reality she was a full fledged sympathizer and shared their views decades before they marched into Paris. She was directed involved in using German Laws to attempt and seize the business from her partners. As some have said, instead they whitewashed and girl bossed her. The C. Dior storyline is much more historically accurate and entertaining. But for some reason they didn't feel the need to meddle as much with his biography.

Ben Mendelssohn and Juliette Binoche give fine believable performances in this series. As does Maisie Williams as Catherine the sister of Christian Dior. Maisie, is of course incredibly well-known from Game of Thrones. In this role she was so believable and her performance so subtle that initially I did not realise who the actress was and had assumed she was a young French actress chosen for the role. The production quality is impeccable with especially sumptuous locations. The serious is almost worth watching for that reason alone. But unfortunately this is all rather badly let down by a light treatment that too often lacks any convincing emotional intensity. As such it belongs more in the realm of escapism than the serious drama the (based on a true life) story of intense courage and love truly deserves.