There are many familiar names that we get introduced to in Apple TV+’s new fashion biographical drama The New Look. We meet Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, watching their rivalry unfold as they navigate the horrors of World War II to shape fashion into what we know it as today. Their illustrious contemporaries—the likes of Cristóbal Balenciaga and Pierre Balmain—also make an appearance. But there’s one unexpected party that quickly becomes one of the most intriguing characters in the series: World War II heroine Catherine Dior, the younger sister and muse of Christian Dior.
“It’s easy to forget that these iconic fashion brands came from the minds of individual people”
Even amongst fashion enthusiasts, Catherine Dior is an unknown name to many. Those who recognise her might only do so thanks to her widely rumoured namesake, the Miss Dior fragrance, but her impact on the Dior brand runs far deeper. A member of the French Resistance that fought against the Nazi occupation, it was to fund her livelihood that Christian took on work designing clothes for Nazi wives and girlfriends in Paris. But when Catherine was captured, tortured and imprisoned in the notorious labour camp Ravensbruck, Christian turned to his close-knit circle of friends in the fashion world to help locate and save her at any cost.
In The New Look, Maisie Williams steps into the role of Catherine Dior, bringing her remarkable story to the screen for the first time. Here, she opens up on the weight of the role, her preparation process, and how being a part of the series has changed her own perspective of fashion.
What was your first reaction when you read the script for The New Look?
Initially, I just felt so concerned for this girl. There’s so much we know about the World War II time period, but it’s not until you hear these stories from one person’s perspective that you can start to understand what it was like for the many people that were affected. Although I’ve been a massive fan of Dior, I was unaware of how much of an influence Catherine was on Christian during the initial stages of him launching his brand, so it was really wonderful to know more about the woman who was the biggest inspiration for him.
What stood out to you about the character of Catherine?
Her age, really. Catherine was just 21 when she was taken to these camps. For her to fight so ferociously for what she believes in, at such a young age, is just something I found to be really inspiring. Her relationship with Christian also stuck with me. Catherine was one of the only people in Christian’s family that saw him and understood him for who he was, and that influenced their incredible sibling bond for their entire lives, and I just think that that’s so beautiful.
“Every single tool you get to use as an actor, I feel like I got to use on this show”
Have you been able to personally relate to Catherine on any level?
One of the reasons why I love her relationship with Christian so much is probably because I have such a great relationship with all of my siblings. I have three big brothers, and I really channelled a lot of my time spent with them—my desire to support them and see them do well and reach for anything that they want in their lives. That was what I related to the most.
What was the preparation for the role like?
We shot over the course of eight months, and preparation was a constant process throughout the whole thing. In the show, we see Catherine as part of the resistance, we see her in the camps and then we see her return. There were a lot of obvious physical changes throughout the different stages—my costumes changed so much, my wigs changed a lot and I also shaved my hair. I stopped doing a lot of my basic self-care necessities in order to just disconnect from that comfortable feeling that comes from being somewhere familiar. I wanted to reject a lot of that for parts of the show. There was also the preparation of voice, and the weight loss which changed my stature in lots of ways. Every single tool you get to use as an actor, I feel like I got to use on this show, and I just feel very fortunate to have been able to have an opportunity like that.
With the weight of the subject matter and the fact that your character is based on a real person, I imagine the stakes of the role are higher. How did you navigate that?
There’s a huge responsibility when you’re playing someone who is a real person, and I felt what was most important for me was to try and get away, as far as possible, from my own life. I have no lived experiences of the things that Catherine went through. But by pulling myself further and further away from my own life and necessities, it gave me this blank canvas in order to be able to drink in all of this information that we did have, let those really shape myself, and hope that that does her life justice. I hope that people who don’t know about Catherine will watch this show and go on to read about her life, because there was so much that we couldn’t have in the show, but she really had an unbelievable life.
What was it like on set?
This set was so wonderful, it was a really safe place. We worked with so many incredible crew members from all around France, where there’s just this respect and incredible atmosphere that the crew seemingly effortlessly brings. It makes the life of an actor working in France just so easy and so effortless. Most of my scenes were quite sombre, and there were a lot of very difficult scenes that we would shoot. The mood on set was not heavy, but there was a lot of space for me to be able to do whatever I needed to do, and I really appreciated that. It’s something you don’t notice, until you don’t have it. Then, it makes your job a lot harder.
“I hope that people who don’t know about Catherine will watch this show and go on to read about her life”
Did learning about the history of these huge fashion houses change your perception of fashion in any way?
Absolutely. When we look at these big logos and the kind of consumerism of what fashion is now, it’s easy to forget that these iconic brands came from the minds of individual people. If you think back to the human story of these individuals and the decisions they had to make all those years ago in order to survive and create their houses, you start to wonder whether they would have even imagined that their houses would still be going today and the relevance that they would have within culture. It just makes me look at fashion in a way that is more delicate.
