’The New Look’ costume designer on recreating Christian Dior’s seminal silhouettes
‘The New Look’ on Apple TV+ traces the creation of Christian Dior’s defining silhouettes against the backdrop of the Second World War. Costume designer Karen Muller Serreau tells Wallpaper* how she recreated the era
![The New Look Apple TV + Dior TV Show](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/josShtLtfGojrzoHGCnrLK-415-80.jpeg)
In 1947, Christian Dior launched his fashion house with a collection that charmed and markedly changed the industry. Paris had been liberated from Nazi occupation three years earlier, while Dior’s own emancipation from Lucien Lelong, for whom he’d been designing since 1942, arrived in 1946. Labelled the ‘New Look’ by Carmel Snow, the acclaimed editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, the collection made a compelling argument for excess after post-war austerity. The bar suit in particular, comprised of an ivory, wasp-waisted jacket and full, pleated black skirt, was quickly championed for its dramatic new silhouette. Now, adopting its moniker from Snow’s baptism, a new ten-part drama from Apple TV+ titled The New Look excavates fashion history, tracing Dior’s professional and personal life during the Second World War and leading up to the New Look.
’The New Look’ on Apple TV+
Christian Dior’s ’New Look’ bar suit, as depicted on the show
‘My grandmother used to talk about it,’ says the show’s costume designer, Karen Muller Serreau, recalling her introduction to Dior’s celebrated silhouette. ‘For her, the New Look had the feeling of future and hope.’ Conceived by Todd A Kessler, we first meet Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) backstage at the Sorbonne in 1955, where he is to give a speech to a hall full of enthusiastic design students. An audience question takes us back to 1943, and for much of the show’s run we’re privy to the hardships of occupied Paris, a restrictive environment that would ultimately provide the New Look its power. ‘I can understand how it brought hope to people,’ continues Muller Serreau. ‘We were building up to it as we worked, so when we came to the part with the bar suit, we felt like people then must have – a sense of wow, and this relief to have cloth and a full skirt.’
Ben Mendelsohn as Christian Dior
Running parallel to the Dior narrative, which sees him crafting party frocks for Nazi officer’s wives (a way for him survive the war), drinking with his contemporaries Pierre Balmain and Cristóbal Balenciaga, and worrying about his sister Catherine (Maisie Williams), imprisoned at a labour camp for her efforts in the French Resistance, is the story of Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche). While Lelong kept his atelier open for the duration of the war, Chanel shut up shop, supposedly as an act of patriotism, though the show depicts the couturier living at The Ritz where she conducts an affair with a Nazi agent. The rest of The New Look charts the pair’s rivalry, and the changing fortunes of their eponymous houses. On-screen, clothing is largely employed as a vehicle for storytelling, while fashion and creativity are presented as a means for survival, as Mendelsohn’s Dior announces at the Sorbonne.
Another recreation of a Dior look from the show
Binoche and Williams’ characters in particular were the most fun to dress, says the costume designer, while Chanel was also the most challenging. ‘There aren't many pictures from during that period in her life, so it was [a question of] looking at before and after for inspiration,’ she notes, ‘[of] trying to get the essence and feel of her right, but not have her wearing what everybody knows.’ Chanel’s own rulebook was a valuable tool, and the designer’s famous directive to remove the last piece of jewellery you put on was frequently followed. ‘Catherine’s really interesting too, because she’s Dior’s sister and had been his model in her younger days,’ adds Muller Serreau. ‘But she’s then working for the resistance, so wanting to disappear, not be noticed in the outside world. It was always about pulling her back and making her sort of ordinary. She goes through several stages, so building the character was good fun.’
Maisie Williams, who plays Christian Dior’s sister Catherine
This disparity between the high glamour world that Dior and his peers were creating and the reality of war time, and subsequently Dior’s New Look and the rich attire of the editors who attended his debut, was keenly observed during production, says Muller Serreau. ‘There was this real contrast all the time, from wartime to a fashion show. That was kind of interesting,’ she explains. ‘I'd go from one part of the workshop where we were working on skimpy, dull-coloured outfits and then at the other end, there'd be these beautiful satin and silk things being worked on. We only had two scripts at a time, so we didn't ever quite know what was going to happen afterwards. We were always surprised.’
The New Look is available to stream on Apple TV+ now.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Zoe Whitfield is a London-based writer whose work spans contemporary culture, fashion, art and photography. She has written extensively for international titles including Interview, AnOther, i-D, Dazed and CNN Style, among others.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
’It has been a dream’: Lewis Hamilton has guest designed a winter collection for Dior Men
Formula One star Lewis Hamilton is announced today (15 July 2024) as Dior Men’s latest ambassador, while revealing a guest-designed capsule collection which draws on the colours and materials of Africa
By Jack Moss Published
-
‘Things are not what they seem’: Unpacking the S/S 2025 menswear shows
Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss explores the trends and takeaways from this season’s menswear shows, from an embrace of ‘irrational clothing’ to couture-level craft and eclectic new takes on tailoring
By Jack Moss Published
-
Peter Philips has created the easiest eye make-up routine with these Dior products
Peter Philips, creative and image director for Dior make-up, tells Wallpaper* how to play with the latest Diorshow collection of solo eyeshadows and eyeliners
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Revisiting the showstopping runway sets of men’s fashion week
As Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2025 draws to a close, Wallpaper* picks the season’s most transporting runway sets, from giant cats at Dior Men to a ‘fairytale ravescape’ at Prada
By Jack Moss Published
-
Highlights from Haute Couture Week A/W 2024
Wallpaper* picks the best of Haute Couture Week A/W 2024 in Paris, from Olympics-inspired offerings at Dior and Thom Browne to the first Chanel collection since the departure of Virginie Viard
By Jack Moss Last updated
-
Dior Men’s cat-filled set was a collaboration with ceramic artist Hylton Nel
Dior Men’s Kim Jones speaks to Wallpaper* about his collaboration with South African ceramicist Hylton Nel, revealed as part of the designer’s S/S 2025 show today in Paris (21 June 2024)
By Jack Moss Published
-
Pre-Fall 2024’s defining looks combine sharp silhouettes with a soft touch
A play on texture defines the Pre-Fall 2024 collections, seeing clean lines and pin-sharp tailoring meet soft-to-the-touch fabrics. Here, photographer Mattia Parodi captures the season’s best looks
By Jack Moss Published
-
How to wear black in summer
Wallpaper* journeys to Morocco’s Aman resort to make a case for wearing black this summer with S/S 2024’s most darkly dramatic looks
By Jack Moss Published