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In the buzzy new Apple TV series ”La Maison,” viewers are propelled into the high-wire world of haute couture by a scandal that detonates in the opening sequence.
Likened to a French “Succession” on the runway, two next-level wealthy families—one old money, one new money, intertwined by history—tear themselves and each other apart over the fate of the century-old Maison Ledu. There are a lot of sharp objects in dress-making, but none as sharp as these people’s tongues.
Two episodes of the 10-part series drop today. The show takes on the struggle to preserve artisanal craft and tradition in a world driven by the speed and fickleness of technology, the scale realities of conglomerate ownership, and the imperative to reinvent in the face of sustainability concerns. All important subjects, but the real appeal is the river of revenge running under the poshest streets in Paris.
Chock full of César-award-winning French acting royalty, “La Maison” is a fictional story, which is refreshing as we’ve seen so many fashion biopics lately. There is a meta element to the show as Carole Bouquet is cast as chief villain Diane Rovel, the conquest-bent head of the Rovel luxury empire.
In the 1980s, Bouquet was quite literally the embodiment of French beauty. She became the face of Chanel in 1981, and represented that most iconic of perfumes, Chanel No. 5, from 1986 to 1997.
Her acting career in France is just as illustrious: She has appeared in 50 films, winning a César best actress award for “Too Beautiful For You” in 1989. She was also a Bond girl in “For Your Eyes Only” and most recently starred in “En Thérapie,” the 2021 smash French TV series.
Bouquet says the fashion industry used to be more fun, less backstabby. “I had the fun part of fashion. Nowadays it is less, really less,” she said via video call from Paris. “Before, it was more like a family experience, now it’s a huge business. The Chanel I knew 40 years ago is not at all what I know today. [The industry] became so powerful you don’t run a company the same way—it becomes huge.”
Bouquet is glowing and warm, quite unlike the imperious boss lady she plays onscreen. “She’s very aware of the light, very savvy. When she takes a shine to you, she is very cool,” said Canadian director Daniel Grou, who was one of two directors on the series. “She has all the qualities of a diva, but is a real trouper at the end of the day.” She would regale him with “great anecdotes of all the world-famous directors she has worked with,” from Luis Bunel to Luc Besson.
For Grou, showcasing the City of Light and the garments created there was central to building the world of La Maison. “The fashion was larger than life, as lavish as possible, this glitzy jewel, so resplendent,” he said. But the actual clothing in the series—the collections shown on the models and the wardrobe of the characters—while grand, full of handwork and beading and pintucks, is always elegant. It is instead the buildings, such as the bulbous tower housing the Rovel empire, that communicate that glitz.
“Succession,” that other cutthroat family drama filled with really, really rich people, popularized the phrase “quiet luxury,” and it applies here too. “Wealthy people don’t want to be flashy,” Grou said. “It is about elegance, it’s about showing luxury without beating you over the head with it.”
The word for this in French is pudeur, he said, which translates literally to “polite” or “modest,” but which he uses to mean “not ostentatious.”
There are some ripped-from-the-headlines elements to the story: John Galliano’s antisemitic rant caught on video is one obvious reference, and cautionary tale. The power and influence of social media is also explored; Bouquet is very happy to have come of age before the tech era. “I completed my first movie at 18,” she said. If camera phones and cancel culture were around then, she says, “I’m not sure I would still be here [in this business]. We had so much freedom, no witness of the stupid things we were doing.”
For her latest role, Bouquet says it was great fun to tear into such a juicy anti-heroine. “She had an obsession from childhood; she needs power. She is ready to go really far, betraying everyone.” But the script is careful not veer into “Dynasty”-style camp, and offers her opportunities to show the character’s vulnerability. “If someone is cruel all the time, you want to understand why; that being mean comes from a failure.”
Villains need rich backstories, too.