Inspired by the lives of some of the biggest names in fashion, Apple TV+ has released a new series centred around some of the star designers who lived in Paris during the Second World War.
It stars Ben Mendelsohn as fashion designer Christian Dior and Juliette Binoche as the matriarch of the House of Chanel, Coco Chanel.
The cast also includes Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams as Catherine Dior, John Malkovich as Lucien Lelong, and Bad Sisters’ Claes Bang as Spatz (Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage).
Image: Haute couture is the star of the show in The New Look. Pic. Apple TV+
Image: Juliette Binoche. Pic: Apple TV+
What’s it about?
The New Look focuses on Paris’s haute couture fashion houses during World War Two and the decisions the designers faced while under Nazi occupation.
The series was created by Todd A Keller – who previously worked on the hit shows The Sopranos and Bloodline – and centres on Christian Dior’s rise to prominence in the fashion world.
In the 1940s, Dior worked for Lucien Lelong in one of the fashion houses that remained open during the war. Staying open while under Nazi occupation meant they designed clothing for the wives of Nazi officials.
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Ben Mendelsohn, who plays Dior in the series, says it’s difficult to know how you would react to the situation, without witnessing it yourself in the moment.
Image: (L-R) Ben Mendelsohn and John Malkovich. Pic: Apple TV+.
“When morality meets reality, then there’s very often an adjustment. You can have all of the ideas of who and how you are in the world, but when reality meets, you must respond to that or walk away from it”.
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The fashion designer launched his debut collection in 1947 and it was nicknamed the ‘New Look’.
Speaking to Time magazine for their 1957 cover story, Dior said he turned women into “flowers with soft shoulders” after a long period of war with “soldier-women with shoulders like boxers”.
‘A big jump into the abyss’
One of the main characters in the Apple TV+ series is Coco Chanel – the woman credited for revolutionising women’s clothing in the 20th century.
Chanel had been considered one of the most famous designers at the time and was living at The Ritz in Paris during the 1940s.
Image: (L-R) Juliette Binoche and Emily Mortimer. Pic: Apple TV+
The series depicts her socialising with Nazi officials including Heinrich Himmler – a leading member of the Nazi Party in Germany.
Oscar-winner Juliette Binoche depicts Chanel in the show and says her scene with Himmler was shot on her first day on set.
“I have to tell you, this scene was for me a big one because it was my first scene. It was my first day of shooting and actually it was a night shoot. And to enter Chanel’s character, being with Himmler was like a big jump into the abyss and I was frightened”.
The actress says it’s important to remember that the show is “fiction inspired by real events”.
She added: “I’m just praying all the time that, you know, the showrunner and the producers, they’ve done the homework, and all the information has been verified”.
Chanel’s association with Nazi officials had previously been inspected in the 2011 biography “Sleeping With The Enemy” by journalist Hal Vaughan.
It claimed the fashion designer became a German intelligence operative, was enlisted in spy missions and how she evaded arrest in France after the war.
However, in 2023, Justine Picardie who authored Coco Chanel: The Legend and The Life, said that the fashion mogul was actually a member of the French Resistance.
Image: Pic: Apple TV+
Where was it filmed?
The Apple TV+ series was shot completely in Paris, at the same locations where the real events occurred.
Executive producer Todd A Keller says it was imperative to shoot on location at the places the fashion designers frequented and which the Nazis occupied.
He says: “The feeling of violation and oppression, by an outside army invading essentially and imposing strict order on the French we felt like [shooting on location] would really bring that world to life and we could transport the audience into it in a way that they may have never experienced previously”.
Image: Masie Williams. Apple TV+
Game Of Thrones star Maisie Williams
Maisie Williams plays Catherine Dior, the sister of Christian, in The New Look.
The 26-year-old actress moved to Paris for eight months to shoot the show and says the storyline made her reflect on the events that occurred in the country.
“We were bringing these banners back to the streets of Paris and it was just something I was very, brutally reminded of, just when speaking with a lot of the French crew and cast and actors, because this is something that, for me, I read in history books, but for Paris, this was like a really, really dark time that they went through”.
Image: John Malkovich. Pic: Apple TV+
Where can I watch The New Look?
The first three episodes of The New Look are available to stream now on Apple TV+ with new episodes released every Wednesday.
Austria has won Eurovision 2025, with Austrian-Filipino singer-songwriter JJ taking the glass microphone.
The 24-year-old singer, who originally trained as a countertenor, represented his country with his operatic ballad Wasted Love, staged on a storm-tossed ship.
The song, which was not dissimilar to that of last year’s winner Nemo, told the story of unrequited love, with a techno breakdown near the end. Austria has won Eurovision twice before, the last time in 2014 with Conchita Wurst’s pop hit Rise Like A Phoenix.
Image: JJ singing Wasted Love for Austria. Pic: Reuters
Israel’s Yuval Raphael, who survived the October 7, 2023, attacks which were the catalyst for Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, was the runner-up with piano ballad New Day Will Rise, performed in Hebrew, French and English.
The singer was left “shaken and upset,” after two pro-Palestinian protesters rushed towards her during her grand final performance.
Organisers confirmed a backstage crew member was hit with paint but was not hurt.
A spokesman for SRG SSR said: “At the end of the Israeli performance, a man and a woman tried to get over a barrier onto the stage.
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“They were stopped. One of the two agitators threw paint and a crew member was hit. The crew member is fine and nobody was injured. The man and the woman were taken out of the venue and handed over to the police.”
Israel has won Eurovision four times, and last year finished in fifth place with Eden Golan’s Hurricane.
Image: Yuval Raphael performs New Day Will Rise for Israel. Pic:AP
Just as the grand final began broadcasting, Spanish broadcaster shared a message of Palestinian support which read: “When human rights are at stake, silence is not an option. Peace and justice for Palestine.”
The broadcaster had already received a warning from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) over political statements reported by Israeli broadcaster Kan.
The EBU said in response to the latter incident: “We can confirm that we have spoken to RTVE regarding this matter and made it clear that commentators are expected to maintain neutrality within the broadcasts of the Eurovision Song Contest.”
During the evening, there were also pro-Palestinian protests near the centre of Basel, as well as a small group nearby protesting with Israeli flags.
Israeli National Security Council had issued a warning to Israeli civilians in the city to keep a low profile during the competition.
In a change from last year’s contest in Malmo, Sweden, the ban on certain flags being waved by the audience was relaxed which meant Palestinian symbols could be seen in the arena.
Image: Remember Monday perform What The Hell Just Happened for the UK. Pic: AP
The UK’s act – country pop trio Remember Monday – who performed in colourful Bridgerton-style outfits – avoided the dreaded “nul points”, coming in at 19th place with song What The Hell Just Happened?
However, for the second year running, the UK received no points in the public score.
The UK has had five wins at Eurovision, but in recent years have struggled to rank, with the exception being Sam Ryder with Space Man in 2022, who came second.
Last year, Olly Alexander placed 18th at Malmo, and Mae Muller was second to last the previous year in Liverpool.
The Eurovision grand final took place in the St Jakobshalle arena in Basel, Switzerland, with the winner from among the 26 performing nations decided by a mix of public voting and points from national juries.
The four-hour-long show was presented by an all-female team – stand-up comedian Hazel Brugger, TV presenter Michelle Hunziker and Eurovision veteran Sandra Studer.
There were performances by previous Eurovision runners-up Croatia’s Baby Lasagna and Finland’s Kaarija, as well as last year’s winner Nemo during the night.
Image: KAJ perform Bara Bada Bastu for Sweden. Pic: AP
Sweden had been widely tipped to win with their sauna-themed entry Bara Bada Bastu (Just Sauna), but ended up coming fourth.
Ukraine, who have made a strong showing each since they first entered the competition in 2003, and who won in 2023, came ninth.
Last year protests and politics overshadowed the singing event amid the outbreak of war in Gaza, with some calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest.
Last year also saw Dutch singer Joost Klein kicked out of the competition by the EBU over alleged verbal threats to a female production worker, which he denied.
Next year’s competition, Eurovision’s 70th, will be held in Austria.
A second man has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent after an incident at a London nightclub that allegedly involved US singer Chris Brown.
The Metropolitan Police said Omololu Akinlolu, 38, will appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.
Better known by his stage name HoodyBaby, the American rapper has been charged in connection with an alleged assault at the Tape nightclub in central London in February 2023.
Brown, 36, was charged on Thursday with grievous bodily harm with intent and was remanded in custody by judge in Manchester until 13 June.
He is accused of attacking music producer Abraham Diaw with a bottle during the incident in February.
During a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Brown watched intently as brief details of the case against him were outlined by prosecutor Hannah Nicholls.
She accused Brown of committing “an unprovoked attack with a weapon in a nightclub full of people”.
Brown spoke to confirm his name and date of birth, but did not enter a plea.
He will appear for a plea and trial preparation hearing in London on 13 June.
Brown – known for hits such as “Loyal”, “Run It” and “Under the Influence” – was arrested at a hotel in Manchester in the early hours of Thursday by detectives from the Metropolitan Police.
The Grammy Award-winning singer was due to tour the UK in June and July, with dates in Manchester, Cardiff, London, Glasgow and Birmingham.