The New Look on Apple TV Plus is a remarkable story following the lives of renowned fashion designers Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) and Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche) against the devastating backdrop of World War II.
The seventh installment of The New Look opens with Coco still hiding out in Switzerland with her frenemy Elsa Lombardi. Coco tells Elsa about Pierre Wertheimer coming to her room the night before but that nothing happened and that she needs help with getting back to Paris so she can visit her perfumier.
Elsa comes up with a plan to ask Pierre on Coco's behalf and corners him at the hotel bar. She tells him that Coco's nephew, Andre, is still very poorly and she needs to get back to Paris to see him. Clearly very fond of Coco despite everything they have been through, Pierre agrees that they can both travel with him to be sure they get into the country safely.
Meanhile, Catherine is looking a little stronger after her horrors at the prisoner of war camp and goes for a walk with Herve for some fresh air. Dior isn't happy about her over doing it, but Catherine seems to have got some of her fighting spirit back and ignores her older brother and goes anyway.
Once out, she is conscious of her shaved head, but Herve calls it her 'badge of honor'. They talk a little and Herve tells Catherine they are looking for concentration camp survivors like her to help at a repatriation center where she can use her experience to reunite other Parisians with their loved ones. Dior is understandably worried about Catherine going, fearing it would remind her of the nightmare she was forced to live, but she is adamant she wants to help others.
As Catherine bravely faces her dark past and helps desperate families find information about their missing loved ones, Dior is visiting the new location for his couture house with Marcel Boussac. It is huge, overwhelming and very grand, all the things Christian doesn't want for his new business venture. He tries telling Boussac that this isn't his vision, but the businessman reminds him that he has invested 6 million francs into this and won't budge.
Back at home, Dior tells Jacques about clashing with Boussac over their differing opinions and while Jacques tries to encourage his partner, he is shut down, with Dior dramatically telling him that he wouldn't understand because he isn't creative.
Jacques leaves after their argument and Dior apologizes and faces the fact he is going to have to tell Lelong about his plans to leave.
Lelong, understandably, doesn't take the news well, especially as just before Dior arrives he is singing his praises to anyone who will listen. Lelong is even more put out when he discovers it is Boussac - the King of Cotton - as he calls him, who is investing in Christian's new couture house.
Lelong walks away, hurt and angry, while Dior is left wondering if he is making a huge mistake.
Later Lelong tells Madame Raymonde Zehnacker that Dior will be overwhelmed by Boussac, and it seems he could be right when Dior returns that evening to his old work desk at Lelong's office and tells Zehnacker that he hates the new building Boussac found and he actually had his heart set on a much smaller, much more intimate location.
Meanwhile Coco has made it safely back to Paris and is happy to be home. She's thrilled to see Andre, who is looking much better. As Elsa gets Andre to pack, Coco sneaks out to work on her perfumes, which goes well and she collects the samples, determined to start a war against the unsuspecting Wertheimers for stealing Chanel No.5.
However, it isn't long before Pierre finds out what she has been up to, and his brother, Paul, is cross that Pierre has been helping Coco and threatens to inform the FFIs that she is in Paris. He is wary of Coco after her links with the Nazis, unlike his brother, who is clearly happy to forgive Coco for all her wrongdoings.
As Chanel and Elsa get on the train home, they are giddy with happiness that things seem to be going their way. Coco has her hands on her perfumes, and Elsa is happy becasue her friend has promised to bring her into the business. But as the pair then inject themselves with a sleeping drug in their carriage, they both drift off... but is trouble just around the corner?
Back in Paris, Catherine has come face to face with an old friend of her father's who is looking for his missing daughter. She is thought to have been in the same camp as Catherine, but when he shows her a photograph, she says she has never seen her, despite there being a flicker of recognition on her face.
Later, Dior is upset when Catherine announces she is going to stay with their father in the country, and it is unclear if she is there because the man earlier made her miss her own father, or if she knows more about the fate of the missing woman than she is letting on.
Seeing Dior's torment over Boussac's bossy ways, Raymonde Zehnacker goes to see him as they are old friends. She tells Boussac that he is crushing the artistic side of Dior and their couture house will fail if he doesn't listen to the designer. In the end it seems Raymonde has got through to Boussac because she presents Dior with the keys to the building that he had his heart set on for his couture house. She asks if she can come with him to work, and he is thrilled, saying that she has made him happier than he has been in months.
Meanwhile, back in the countryside, Catherine goes to bed at her father's house, and props the image of the missing woman on her bedside table, apologising as she falls asleep. But what does she have to be sorry for?
The New Look is available to stream worldwide on Apple TV Plus.
