Maisie Williams as Catherine Dior and Ben Mendelsohn as Christian Dior in the Apple TV+ series *THE NEW LOOK*

We have a strong interest in historical dramas about fashion. In Episode 53 we talk about why the Apple TV+ series THE NEW LOOK is a binge-worthy historical drama.

THE NEW LOOK isn’t a story about haute couture fashion by Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) and Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche). Set in World War II, THE NEW LOOK focuses on the impact of the 4-year Nazi occupation of France and the early months of Liberation on Paris’s community of haute couture designers, Resistance fighters, business owners, and everyday people all struggling to survive.

The series title is lifted from a fashion review by U.S. Harper's Bazaar editor Carmel Snow (Glenn Close), however THE NEW LOOK’s break-out character is Catherine Dior (Maisie Williams), the French Resistance fighter and younger sister of Christian Dior. We found her story to be another important chapter of World War II history that’s rarely told.

NOTE: Spoiler alert - if you haven’t seen THE NEW LOOK you may want to save this podcast for later. Check out the books mentioned in this podcast and previous fashion-themed podcasts below.

Hosts **Michon and Taquiena Boston**, *Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters*

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Click on the book covers to order the books by Justine Picardie mentioned in this podcast including the biography of Catherine Dior. The New Edition Coco Chanel: The Legend and The Life is an extensively revised and updated version of Picardie’s 2010 biography of the designer. Available in both hardcover (center bookcover) and paperback, the New Edition includes previous unseen images from the Chanel archives.

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THE NEW LOOK

Created by Todd Kessler, THE NEW LOOK is set in the final months of the Nazi occupation in Paris during World War II. The series interweaves the complex choices of two iconic fashion designers who ultimately would change fashion forever: Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) and Gabrielle Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche).

Christian Dior, is a rising star poised to revolutionize fashion. He shares an apartment with his younger sister Catherine (Maisie Williams), a fierce resistance fighter who puts her life on the line to liberate her country and win the war. Christian’s apartment becomes a secret meeting place for Catherine and her fellow Resistance friends. While on a mission, Catherine is arrested and tortured by the Nazis then sent to Ravensbrück women’s work camp. Knowing the deadly brutality of the work camps Christian Dior is frantic about Catherine’s imprisonment and willing to give up everything to find his sister and bring her home alive.

Meanwhile, Coco Chanel struggles to maintain her reign as a fashion powerhouse. With the help of a friend with Nazi connections, Chanel rescues her beloved nephew Andre (Joseph Olivennes), a prisoner of war. Chanel later learns that her business partners, brothers Pierre and Paul Wertheimer (Charles Berling and Jérôme Robert) have secretly fled occupied France with their families to escape a certain death under the Nazi occupation. Her business partners also take the Chanel company and its operations with them without Coco Chanel’s involvement.

Desperate to reclaim her namesake business and a larger percentage of the profits from her iconic No. 5 perfume, Coco Chanel works with the Nazis who want to use her personal connections to Britain and Winston Churchill. But as Paris is liberated by the allies, Chanel faces the consequences of her Nazi collaboration.

The series also includes fashion power players like Lucien LeLong (John Malkovich), Cristóbal Balenciaga (Nuno Lopes), future post war power players Pierre Balmain (Thomas Poitevin), and Pierre Cardin (Elliot Margueron), and the influential U.S. Harper’s Bazaar editor Carmel Snow (Glenn Close) who has the power to crown the next fashion royalty. These individuals all navigate the dark realities of war for political and creative freedom. Above all creativity is the art of survival and the start of new beginnings.

THE NEW LOOK is available on Apple TV+. Check the Apple TV+ website for fee information.

Listen to Ep. 53 and past episodes of the podcast where we talk about fashion and historical drama

Featured

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Ep. 54 - PAGE TO SCREEN: Our 2024 Summer Reads from the Podcast

#historicaldrama, #perioddrama, #WorldWarII, #hautecouture, #fashion, #TheNewLook, #TaquienaBoston, #MichonBoston, #AppleTV+, #ChristianDior, #CatherineDior, #ToddKessler, #Passing, #NelaLarsen, #1920s, #HarlemRenaissance, #fscottfitzgerald, #TheGreatGatsby, #Netflix, #JuliaChild, #TheFrenchChef, #televisionhistory, #AlexPrudhomme, #biography, #juliaonmax, #APipeforFebruary, #KillersoftheFlowerMoon, #CharlesHRedCorn, #Osage, #EmilyBernard, #JanetCam, #YanceyRedCorn, #MoiraRedCorn, #books, #summerreading

The Boston Sisters have selected 5 books for summer reading inspired by past episodes of the podcast since its launch in 2021. We’ve got your covered for historical drama for summer 2024.

#historicaldrama, #perioddrama, #WorldWarII, #hautecouture, #fashion, #TheNewLook, #TaquienaBoston, #MichonBoston, #AppleTV+, #ChristianDior, #CatherineDior, #ToddKessler, #Passing, #NelaLarsen, #1920s, #HarlemRenaissance, #fscottfitzgerald, #TheGreatGatsby, #Netflix, #JuliaChild, #TheFrenchChef, #televisionhistory, #AlexPrudhomme, #biography, #juliaonmax, #APipeforFebruary, #KillersoftheFlowerMoon, #CharlesHRedCorn, #Osage, #EmilyBernard, #JanetCam, #YanceyRedCorn, #MoiraRedCorn, #books, #summerreading

#historicaldrama, #perioddrama, #WorldWarII, #hautecouture, #fashion, #TheNewLook, #TaquienaBoston, #MichonBoston, #AppleTV+, #ChristianDior, #CatherineDior, #CocoChanel, #1940s, #BenMendelsohn, #JulietteBinoche, #JulianLeLong, #JohnMalcovich, #GlennClose, #CarmelSnow, #HarpersBazaar, #ToddKessler, #MaisieWilliams, #NaziOccupationofParis, #JustinePicardie, #France

Ep. 53 - THE NEW LOOK: A Deep Dive with The Boston Sisters

#historicaldrama, #perioddrama, #WorldWarII, #hautecouture, #fashion, #TheNewLook, #TaquienaBoston, #MichonBoston, #AppleTV+, #ChristianDior, #CatherineDior, #CocoChanel, #1940s, #BenMendelsohn, #JulietteBinoche, #JulianLeLong, #JohnMalcovich, #GlennClose, #CarmelSnow, #HarpersBazaar, #ToddKessler, #MaisieWilliams, #NaziOccupationofParis, #JustinePicardie, #France

The Boston Sisters take a deep dive into the series THE NEW LOOK. Not just a story about haute couture fashion by Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) and Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche), THE NEW LOOK is based on real-life events during World War II that include the impact of the 4-year Nazi occupation of France and the early months of Liberation on Paris’s community of designers, Resistance fighters, business owners, and everyday people struggling to survive.

#historicaldrama, #perioddrama, #WorldWarII, #hautecouture, #fashion, #TheNewLook, #TaquienaBoston, #MichonBoston, #AppleTV+, #ChristianDior, #CatherineDior, #CocoChanel, #1940s, #BenMendelsohn, #JulietteBinoche, #JulianLeLong, #JohnMalcovich, #GlennClose, #CarmelSnow, #HarpersBazaar, #ToddKessler, #MaisieWilliams, #NaziOccupationofParis, #JustinePicardie, #France

#perioddrama, #historicaldrama, #julianfellowes, #thegildedage, #tthomasfortune, #nychistory, #oldmoney, #newmoney, #19thcentury, #rachelbrosnahan, #costumes, #donnazakowska, #KasiaWalickaMaimone, #EricWinterlingInc, #costumedrama, #1950sfashion, #1960sfashion, #costumedesign, #costumemaking, #fashion, #EricWinterling

Ep. 46 - Costumes That Bring History to Life: A Conversation with Costume Maker Eric Winterling

#perioddrama, #historicaldrama, #julianfellowes, #thegildedage, #tthomasfortune, #nychistory, #oldmoney, #newmoney, #19thcentury, #rachelbrosnahan, #costumes, #donnazakowska, #KasiaWalickaMaimone, #EricWinterlingInc, #costumedrama, #1950sfashion, #1960sfashion, #costumedesign, #costumemaking, #fashion, #EricWinterling

In Episode 46, we talk with Eric Winterling who realizes the costume designers’s vision for 2 historical dramas set in New York City: THE GILDED AGE and THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL. Eric’s New York City costume studio, Eric Winterling Inc., brings costume designers’s visions and history to life for stage and screen.