
History’s New Look…
History can not only be traced by the events of its time, but it can also be traced by its fashion, each era of history will always most naturally coincide with a time defined by its fashion and easily identifiable by the clothes worn during that era. A most notably defining era and moment in fashion occured for that of Christian Dior after World War II.







Christian Ernest Dior was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world’s top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained prominence “on five continents in only a decade.”


Dior’s skills led to his employment and design for various fashion icons in attempts to preserve the fashion industry during World War II. After the war, he founded and established the Dior fashion house, with his collection of the “New Look“. In 1947, the collection debuted featuring rounded shoulders, a cinched waist, and very full skirt. The New Look celebrated ultra-femininity and opulence in women’s fashion. It was christened the ‘New Look’ by the editor of Harper’s Bazaar, Carmel Snow, because it stood in such stark contrast to the sober women’s fashion of recent years.


![Christian Ernest Dior (French: [kʁistjɑ̃ djɔʁ]; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained prominence "on five continents in only a decade." Dior's skills led to his employment and design for various fashion icons in attempts to preserve the fashion industry during World War II. After the war, he founded and established the Dior fashion house, with his collection of the "New Look". In 1947, the collection debuted featuring rounded shoulders, a cinched waist, and very full skirt. The New Look celebrated ultra-femininity and opulence in women's fashion. Throughout his lifetime, he won numerous awards for Best Costume Design. He died in 1957.](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Christian-Dior-2.jpeg?ssl=1)






Yet what makes the glamour of Dior’s collection even more compelling to us today is the dark backdrop it was set against. Few knew then that just eighteen months before, Dior’s youngest sister, Catherine, had been liberated from the German concentration camp at Ravensbrück.
![Christian Ernest Dior (French: [kʁistjɑ̃ djɔʁ]; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained prominence "on five continents in only a decade." Dior's skills led to his employment and design for various fashion icons in attempts to preserve the fashion industry during World War II. After the war, he founded and established the Dior fashion house, with his collection of the "New Look". In 1947, the collection debuted featuring rounded shoulders, a cinched waist, and very full skirt. The New Look celebrated ultra-femininity and opulence in women's fashion. Throughout his lifetime, he won numerous awards for Best Costume Design. He died in 1957.](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Christian-Dior-3.jpeg?ssl=1)




Throughout his lifetime, Dior won numerous awards for Best Costume Design. He died in 1957.
![Christian Ernest Dior (French: [kʁistjɑ̃ djɔʁ]; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained prominence "on five continents in only a decade." Dior's skills led to his employment and design for various fashion icons in attempts to preserve the fashion industry during World War II. After the war, he founded and established the Dior fashion house, with his collection of the "New Look". In 1947, the collection debuted featuring rounded shoulders, a cinched waist, and very full skirt. The New Look celebrated ultra-femininity and opulence in women's fashion. Throughout his lifetime, he won numerous awards for Best Costume Design. He died in 1957.](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Christian-Dior-6.jpeg?resize=525%2C655&ssl=1)
Television’s New Look…
The New Look is an American biographical drama television series created by Todd A. Kessler that premiered on Apple TV+ on February 14, 2024 with the first three episodes. The first season totaled ten episodes, a second season is in development.







The series follows fashion designers Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) and Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche) through the World War II Nazi occupation of Paris and its aftermath.




Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularising a sporty, casual chic as the feminine standard of style. She is the only fashion designer listed on Time magazine‘s list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. A prolific fashion creator, Chanel extended her influence beyond couture clothing into jewelry, handbags, and fragrance. Her signature scent, Chanel No. 5, has become an iconic product, and Chanel herself designed her famed interlocked-CC monogram, which has been in use since the 1920s.







!["Sleeping with the Enemy, Coco Chanel and the Secret War" written by Hal Vaughan further solidifies the consistencies of the French intelligence documents describing Chanel as a "vicious antisemite" who praised Hitler. World War II, specifically the Nazi seizure of all Jewish-owned property and business enterprises, provided Chanel with the opportunity to gain the full monetary fortune generated by Parfums Chanel and its most profitable product, Chanel No. 5. The directors of Parfums Chanel, the Wertheimers, were Jewish. Chanel used her position as an "Aryan" to petition German officials to legalise her claim to sole ownership. On 5 May 1941, she wrote to the government administrator charged with ruling on the disposition of Jewish financial assets. Her grounds for proprietary ownership were based on the claim that Parfums Chanel "is still the property of Jews" and had been legally "abandoned" by the owners. She wrote: I have an indisputable right of priority ... the profits that I have received from my creations since the foundation of this business ... are disproportionate ... [and] you can help to repair in part the prejudices I have suffered in the course of these seventeen years. Chanel was not aware that the Wertheimers, anticipating the forthcoming Nazi mandates against Jews, had legally turned over control of Parfums Chanel in May 1940 to Félix Amiot, a Christian French businessman and industrialist. At war's end, Amiot returned Parfums Chanel to the hands of the Wertheimers. During the period directly following the end of World War II, the business world watched with interest and some apprehension the ongoing legal wrestle for control of Parfums Chanel. Interested parties in the proceedings were cognizant that Chanel's Nazi affiliations during wartime, if made public knowledge, would seriously threaten the reputation and status of the Chanel brand. Forbes magazine summarised the dilemma faced by the Wertheimers: [it is Pierre Wertheimer's worry] how "a legal fight might illuminate Chanel's wartime activities and wreck her image—and his business." Chanel hired René de Chambrun, Vichy France prime minister Pierre Laval's son-in-law, as her lawyer to sue Wertheimer. Ultimately, the Wertheimers and Chanel came to a mutual accommodation, renegotiating the original 1924 contract. On 17 May 1947, Chanel received wartime profits from the sale of Chanel No. 5, an amount equivalent to some US$12 million in 2022 valuation. Her future share would be two per cent of all Chanel No. 5 sales worldwide (projected to gross her $34 million a year as of 2022), making her one of the richest women in the world at the time the contract was renegotiated. In addition, Pierre Wertheimer agreed to an unusual stipulation proposed by Chanel herself: Wertheimer agreed to pay all of Chanel's living expenses—from the trivial to the large—for the rest of her life.](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Chanel-No.-5-774x1024.jpeg?ssl=1)
!["Sleeping with the Enemy, Coco Chanel and the Secret War" written by Hal Vaughan further solidifies the consistencies of the French intelligence documents describing Chanel as a "vicious antisemite" who praised Hitler. World War II, specifically the Nazi seizure of all Jewish-owned property and business enterprises, provided Chanel with the opportunity to gain the full monetary fortune generated by Parfums Chanel and its most profitable product, Chanel No. 5. The directors of Parfums Chanel, the Wertheimers, were Jewish. Chanel used her position as an "Aryan" to petition German officials to legalise her claim to sole ownership. On 5 May 1941, she wrote to the government administrator charged with ruling on the disposition of Jewish financial assets. Her grounds for proprietary ownership were based on the claim that Parfums Chanel "is still the property of Jews" and had been legally "abandoned" by the owners. She wrote: I have an indisputable right of priority ... the profits that I have received from my creations since the foundation of this business ... are disproportionate ... [and] you can help to repair in part the prejudices I have suffered in the course of these seventeen years. Chanel was not aware that the Wertheimers, anticipating the forthcoming Nazi mandates against Jews, had legally turned over control of Parfums Chanel in May 1940 to Félix Amiot, a Christian French businessman and industrialist. At war's end, Amiot returned Parfums Chanel to the hands of the Wertheimers. During the period directly following the end of World War II, the business world watched with interest and some apprehension the ongoing legal wrestle for control of Parfums Chanel. Interested parties in the proceedings were cognizant that Chanel's Nazi affiliations during wartime, if made public knowledge, would seriously threaten the reputation and status of the Chanel brand. Forbes magazine summarised the dilemma faced by the Wertheimers: [it is Pierre Wertheimer's worry] how "a legal fight might illuminate Chanel's wartime activities and wreck her image—and his business." Chanel hired René de Chambrun, Vichy France prime minister Pierre Laval's son-in-law, as her lawyer to sue Wertheimer. Ultimately, the Wertheimers and Chanel came to a mutual accommodation, renegotiating the original 1924 contract. On 17 May 1947, Chanel received wartime profits from the sale of Chanel No. 5, an amount equivalent to some US$12 million in 2022 valuation. Her future share would be two per cent of all Chanel No. 5 sales worldwide (projected to gross her $34 million a year as of 2022), making her one of the richest women in the world at the time the contract was renegotiated. In addition, Pierre Wertheimer agreed to an unusual stipulation proposed by Chanel herself: Wertheimer agreed to pay all of Chanel's living expenses—from the trivial to the large—for the rest of her life.](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Chanel-No.-5-2-1024x682.webp?ssl=1)
!["Sleeping with the Enemy, Coco Chanel and the Secret War" written by Hal Vaughan further solidifies the consistencies of the French intelligence documents describing Chanel as a "vicious antisemite" who praised Hitler. World War II, specifically the Nazi seizure of all Jewish-owned property and business enterprises, provided Chanel with the opportunity to gain the full monetary fortune generated by Parfums Chanel and its most profitable product, Chanel No. 5. The directors of Parfums Chanel, the Wertheimers, were Jewish. Chanel used her position as an "Aryan" to petition German officials to legalise her claim to sole ownership. On 5 May 1941, she wrote to the government administrator charged with ruling on the disposition of Jewish financial assets. Her grounds for proprietary ownership were based on the claim that Parfums Chanel "is still the property of Jews" and had been legally "abandoned" by the owners. She wrote: I have an indisputable right of priority ... the profits that I have received from my creations since the foundation of this business ... are disproportionate ... [and] you can help to repair in part the prejudices I have suffered in the course of these seventeen years. Chanel was not aware that the Wertheimers, anticipating the forthcoming Nazi mandates against Jews, had legally turned over control of Parfums Chanel in May 1940 to Félix Amiot, a Christian French businessman and industrialist. At war's end, Amiot returned Parfums Chanel to the hands of the Wertheimers. During the period directly following the end of World War II, the business world watched with interest and some apprehension the ongoing legal wrestle for control of Parfums Chanel. Interested parties in the proceedings were cognizant that Chanel's Nazi affiliations during wartime, if made public knowledge, would seriously threaten the reputation and status of the Chanel brand. Forbes magazine summarised the dilemma faced by the Wertheimers: [it is Pierre Wertheimer's worry] how "a legal fight might illuminate Chanel's wartime activities and wreck her image—and his business." Chanel hired René de Chambrun, Vichy France prime minister Pierre Laval's son-in-law, as her lawyer to sue Wertheimer. Ultimately, the Wertheimers and Chanel came to a mutual accommodation, renegotiating the original 1924 contract. On 17 May 1947, Chanel received wartime profits from the sale of Chanel No. 5, an amount equivalent to some US$12 million in 2022 valuation. Her future share would be two per cent of all Chanel No. 5 sales worldwide (projected to gross her $34 million a year as of 2022), making her one of the richest women in the world at the time the contract was renegotiated. In addition, Pierre Wertheimer agreed to an unusual stipulation proposed by Chanel herself: Wertheimer agreed to pay all of Chanel's living expenses—from the trivial to the large—for the rest of her life.](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Chanel-Fragrances--768x1024.jpeg?ssl=1)



Her couture house closed in 1939, with the outbreak of World War II. Chanel stayed in France during the Nazi German occupation and collaborated with the occupiers and the Vichy puppet regime. Declassified documents revealed that she had collaborated directly with the Nazi intelligence service, the Sicherheitsdienst. After the liberation, Chanel was targeted by MI6 who want to have her exposed as a Nazi collaborator, and she flees to Switzerland.

![23 January 1943: German-Vichy French meeting in Marseilles. SS-Sturmbannführer Bernhard Griese, Marcel Lemoine (regional préfet), Rolf Mühler [de] (Commander of Marseilles Sicherheitspolizei); laughing: René Bousquet (General Secretary of the French National Police created in 1941), creator of the GMRs; behind: Louis Darquier de Pellepoix Photo Credit: Commissioner for Jewish Affairs](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Vichy-Puppet-Regime-.jpeg?ssl=1)


The New Look is the Featured Television Blog of the month for September, You can expect a detailed critique of the limited series with a look at the cast of the series and the real life fashion icons they played, specifically Dior and Chanel. There is also a recommendation of the limited series where we look at the fashion debut of Christian Dior in 1947, including a look at the history of his iconic bar suit. There is also a detailed review of the ten episodes of the biographical drama series. For the interview, we take a look back in time to 1947, an interview with Catherine Dior, the resistance fighter, and the youngest sister of the renowned French designer, Catherine’s story of survival during World War II is one of great courage, and she is the title inspiration for Dior’s iconic fragrance Miss Dior, that used the annual harvest of rose de Mai from the Dior family garden harvested by Catherine as a vital ingredient in her brother’s perfume. There is also a Top Ten List, and for The New Look, the list is My Top Ten Fashion Movies! Last but not least, the Featured Television Blog of the month includes an Official Trailer for the featured series!
You can watch the The New Look Official Trailer below:

The New Look is available now with a subscription to Apple TV+…
