To this day, the styles popularized by Christian Dior and Coco Chanel are legendary. From Margot Robbie rocking Chanel consistently to Jenna Ortega slaying Dior looks, A-listers still adore these legendary designers. In Apple TV+’s, The New Look, we get to see the origins of these two fashion powerhouses as well as a detailed look at their personal styles. So, when I had the chance to speak with Juliette Binoche, who plays Chanel, I had to ask her about the meaning behind Coco’s amazing style and of course, those remarkable jewels she’s always wearing.
If you’ve watched The New Look’s first episodes on the 2024 TV schedule, then you’ll likely remember all the opulent and unique jewelry that Coco Chanel is consistently wearing. Binoche told me during an interview for CinemaBlend that her character was all about being both “comfortable” and “elegant,” which is why her costumes were so modern and functional, yet also expensive and almost formal.
This mixture comes by way of her clothes, of course, but also the jewelry the designer was known for wearing. The actress explained all this to me in detail, starting with the garments:
Well, the good thing with Coco Chanel is, because she liked to be elegant, but comfortable is the combination she preferred most, and she was very good at. That's why she got rid of the corset, and made the skirts shorter and had shorter hair. But I felt like during the show, there was always something I could wear today actually.
Binoche then dived into how the jewelry, and mixture of jewels, elevated Coco's looks, saying:
But the jewels were very important as well, because it gives a sort of persona, it gives behavior. The fact that she mixed the real jewels that she got from the Duke of Westminster and she bought for herself probably, but also the false ones. And she invented the fashion [of] mixing the real gems, you know the real diamonds, with all the all the stones with false ones. And that was fine with her. There was a sort of freedom in the way that she wanted to live her life.
Knowing all of this adds so much meaning to Coco’s looks in The New Look. Chanel’s style was described by Vogue France as “simple and sophisticated,” and they noted the hallmarks of her designs, writing:
Fashion according to Coco Chanel can be summed up in two words: simplicity and elegance. Marked first by the history of its creator, but also by the context of the two world wars, the creations of the Chanel lines seek to liberate women and make them freer of their movements ... without losing sight of elegance.
You can see those hallmarks on display in Juliette Binoche’s costumes, making the philosophy of Chanel’s clothes as well as the designer's personal style clear as day.
While her clothes were all about being functional and elegant, her jewelry helped step everything up in the elegance department specifically. In each episode, it’s so fun to see the new layers of jewels Binoche is wearing as Chanel, and it helps you better understand her life and values.
Throughout this show, which might be one of Apple TV+’s best, Coco Chanel plays a complex role as she navigates life at the end of and after World War II. She worked for the Nazis at the time and then had to figure out how to return to Paris and reopen her shop after the war. While doing all of this she was also trying to not lose sight of her brand and style. You can see all this through her fashion as well, because no matter what she's going through she always prioritizes looking good and complimenting her day-to-day looks with the perfect jewelry.
To learn more about The New Look, make sure to check out our stories about Ben Mendelsohn working with Maisie Williams and John Malkovich explaining the scene that helped define Lucien Lelong and Christian Dior’s relationship. Then, make sure to check out new episodes of The New Look every Wednesday with an Apple TV+ subscription to discover more about the origins of Dior and Chanel.
