In the first episode of The New Look, Todd A. Kesslerâs glossy new Apple TV+ period drama charting the epic rivalry between Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, we meet not only the feuding designers (as played by a grizzled Ben Mendelsohn and a glamorous Juliette Binoche) but also those in their illustrious circle, including couturier Lucien Lelong (John Malkovich), his then design assistant Pierre Balmain (Thomas Poitevin), and Chanelâs German lover, the Nazi-affiliated Hans Günther von Dincklage (Claes Bang). But, thereâs one character who quickly emerges as one of the most fascinating: Christian Diorâs heroic younger sister, Catherine Dior.
We meet her in 1943, three years into the Nazi occupation of Paris, as she, embodied by Maisie Williams, is accosted by officers who demand to see her papers. When she flees, they chase her and pin her against a wallâonly for her to then turn the tables on them. Two members of the French Resistance suddenly appear and shoot the soldiers, and Catherine, startlingly composed, escapes with them. You realize that she was never the damsel in distressâsheâd simply set a trap that the Nazis walked into. She is a woman who, despite all the chaos around her, seems to be fully in control of her own destiny.
But who was the real Catherine Dior? What was her life actually like during the Second World War? And how did she go on to influence the work of her brother? As the show continues to air, we present a full breakdown below.
Born in 1917 in Granville, in northwestern France, Catherine grew up the youngest of five children born to industrialist Maurice Dior and his wife, Madeleine. Maurice managed a firm which specialized in producing fertilizer, and grew the business into a success, soon moving his growing family into a grand villa. (Their candy-colored mansion now houses the Musée Christian Dior.) However, tragedy was just around the corner: Madeleine died in 1931 and, soon after, an economic downturn and failed real estate ventures decimated the familyâs fortune. Mauriceâs remaining assets were liquidated, the company sold, and the family forced to vacate their stately home in favor of a dilapidated farmhouse in Provence. There, Catherine supported the family by growing green beans and peas; she would remain green-fingered her whole life.