Directed by Todd A. Kessler, the series The New Look focuses on the events during the time when the French had been colonized by the Nazis. However, the fourth episode of the series brings out the phase after the liberation of France. The spoils after the war and the psychological traumas have been depicted skillfully. The episode also portrays Coco Chanel as an ally to the Nazis. Meanwhile, Christian has left all hopes of finding his sister Catherine, thinking that she must have been dead. Will Christian give up on his profession? How will Coco manage to save herself? Let’s find out!
Spoilers Ahead
Why Was Coco Arrested?
The Allied troops finally managed to liberate Paris by 1944. Everyone in France was merrymaking and celebrating their freedom from the clutches of the Nazis. However, people who were suspected of having collaborated with the Nazis were being attacked. Arletty, a famous actress of the time, came to Coco seeking help as people attacked her while she was at home. They had been throwing rocks at her house, demanding that her head be shaved as a form of punishment. She said that she had only fallen in love with a Nazi man and had been assumed to be a collaborator with the Nazis.
Things had been turning grim for the people who had anything to do with the Nazis (especially women). Later, Coco was also arrested on suspicion of collaborating with the Nazis. When Coco was taken for interrogation, she denied her association with the Germans. Muggeridge said that had she not been associated with the Nazis, her nephew Andre wouldn’t have been released. He further said that he was sure that Baron Vaufreland had his hand in it and that Coco was also spotted in Madrid, proving her association with the Nazis. When Coco had run out of arguments, she said that if she was to be harassed further, then she would have to ask Churchill to save her. However, that eventually happened when Churchill made internal phone calls to save Chanel, eventually leading to her being freed.
How Did Muggeridge Plan To Trap Coco?
After her release, she went to meet Andre and Oscar to celebrate her safety. Oscar then called in Malcolm, a journalist who had been covering stories on individuals after the liberation of the country. Malcolm offered to cover Chanel’s story and bring out her real story in front of the world. He said that he could clear her image in front of her countrymen, making them believe that she wasn’t a traitor.
However, it was later revealed that Oscar was working with Muggeridge, planning to trap Chanel to ensure that his name was off the list. They had planned to interview Chanel and bring out her truth as a Nazi spy. They wanted to find out the name of her alleged Nazi lover. Muggeridge told Oscar that if they couldn’t catch Coco, then they would have to capture Andre, which did not sit well with him.
Meanwhile, after seeing what people had done to Arletty, shaving her head and humiliating her on the streets, Chanel was petrified. She called Malcolm to sit down for an interview. Right before she was about to start the interview, Oscar called Andre and told him that it was Muggeridge’s plan (M16) to trap her. Andre immediately walked into the interview room and tried saving Coco, saying that an accident had occurred at her boutique. On their way out , Andre told Coco that it was a trap that had been set for her. She decided to flee Paris and went away to the France-Switzerland border to keep herself safe. Meanwhile, Oscar killed himself out of guilt for trying to betray his own friends.
Was Lelong’s Exhibition Successful?
Lelong told his designers that he would arrange for an exhibition where they would have to design miniature dresses for dolls. He said that the Nazis had destroyed fabrics, and there was currently not much fabric left in France to create individual collections. He said that the miniatures would be presented in the exhibition in the next two weeks. While many designers approved of Lelong’s plan, others, like Balmain, thought that he was making a mockery of their talents.
Balmain did not take the exhibition seriously and criticized Lelong for making a fool out of them. He resigned from his job and asked Christian to join him so that they could open their new business. However, Christian did not abandon Lelong, as he remembered how he had helped Christian search for Catherine.
What Made Christian Stick To His Profession?
Christian blamed Herve for destroying his family and dragging Catherine into the war. He couldn’t come to terms with the fact that he had lost his little sister and that she was now trapped in a Nazi camp, or maybe was dead. When Christian went to meet his father, he asked him to prepare himself for the news of Catherine’s death, as he had heard that the Germans were taking their prisoners on death marches. Christian’s father blamed him for not being able to protect his sister.
Being burdened with the guilt of not being able to bring back Catherine, Christian told Lelong that he did not want to participate in dress-making at the exhibition. Lelong, however, tried to nudge him in the right direction, saying that the tide would recede and that creating was their way of survival. Lelong’s words of comfort, however, couldn’t persuade Christian, and he decided to walk away from the city. Later, when he visited a shaman, Madame Delahaye, she made him see glimpses of Catherine from the past. She also told him that Catherine would return if he followed his inspiration through his creativity and found his own way in life.
In the hopes that Catherine would one day come back to him, he went back to creating new fashion. The Theatre de la Mode was opened in 1945, attracting 100,000 audiences. The audiences were introduced to new designs in France by several designers who rescued French fashion from the clutches of extinction. However, the dresses that grabbed the majority of attention of the spectators were two dresses from the collection of Christian Dior. Maybe the urge to reunite with Catherine ignited the creative skills in him, making him one of the most renowned designers of all time.
What Will Happen Next?
The fifth episode of The New Look will portray how the introduction of French fashion in the new world will pave new ways for Christian. On the other hand, Coco will try her best to ensure her safety from the hands of Muggeridge. She will go to any extent to make sure that she does not have to face public humiliation. The fifth episode will reveal if the way Coco fled from Paris will hamper her name and brand in any way. Andre will deploy his best measures to ensure that the aunt who once saved him from the clutches of the Nazis is kept safe. The personal battles between Christian and Coco will be highlighted further in the next episodes, bringing out the differences in their ideologies and perspectives.
