John Malkovich Talks The New Look & Forgotten History about Coco Chanel & Christian Dior

Fashion designer Lucien Lelong is credited as the man who saved French couture during War World II. John Malkovich portrays him in the limited series, The New Look, co-starring Ben Mendelsohn as Christian Dior, Maisie Williams as Catherine Dior, and Juliette Binoche as Coco Chanel. The story centers around how each of the designers survived the German invasion in the late 1940s. All three designers rose to fame, but behind the beautiful dresses was a much sadder story for Dior, Chanel and Lelong. Dior’s sister Catherine was captured by the Nazis for her resistance work in trying to protect Jewish people. Chanel’s history with the Nazis is less noble and the series shows how she became a Nazi informant and had an affair with a German officer. Malkovich sat down with SheKnows for an exclusive chat where he breaks down that time in history, and specifically the conveniently forgotten part of that history that many might not think of when they first hear the name Coco Chanel.

Like many, Binoche admitted that she wasn’t aware of Coco Chanel and Christian Dior’s complicated story during World War II. History has remembered mainly the glamorous parts of the fashion legends, ignoring that they both rose to fame while the Nazis were in power. Lelong, Dior and Chanel all had to make choices, some that aren’t very easy to sympathize with looking back. “It is a forgotten bit of history, but history is to be forgotten, meaning it always has been, and its lessons rarely learned,” Malkovich says. He then continues, “A lot of the accommodations people made in the circumstances which they found themselves, I don’t think people now would make any less accommodations. In fact, I think they would make much more. Our recent bout with Covid-19 proves that.”

Lelong negotiated with the Germans during the war to make sure that French couture was allowed to operate in France and not move to Berlin. Though some might argue that Lelong was a collaborator with the Germans. “I think he did what most people would do in the situation in which he found himself… he made accommodations (to) survive. They didn’t know whether the Nazi occupation would last a month, a year, or a thousand years. They had no idea what the future would bring,” Malkovich explains, adding that for all they knew, the Third Reich’s reign could last forever. “I think Lelong did what he had to do to keep the French fashion business and haute couture going during these very dark times. And that included designing dresses for Nazi wives, mistresses and officials.”

Watch the exclusive video interview above to hear more about Malkovich’s thoughts on Christian Dior, Coco Chanel and why history must not be ignored. Check out his co-star Binoche’s breakdown of why she thinks Chanel made the choices she made during the war. The New Look is streaming now on Apple TV+.

Before you go, check out the all-time best ‘Outlander’ episodes you need to watch.