Travel-loving TV watchers became so smitten with Netflix’s Emily in Paris that the fizzy ode to fashion and romance may have actually impacted tourism. According to a recent poll by IFOP (the Institut Français d’Opinion Publique), 54 percent of people who had watched the show said they would live or work in the city, while only a quarter of nonviewers felt the same way. The City of Light is starring in a new streaming series about the fashion world this month, and while this show will be decidedly darker and more complex, the Paris filming locations will be no less glamorous. On Valentine’s Day, Apple TV+ begins airing its ravishing drama The New Look, which is set during and after the Nazi occupation and follows the rivalry between Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche) and Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn), with an ensemble cast that also includes the likes of John Malkovich, Glenn Close, Emily Mortimer, and Maisie Williams.
The show is the brainchild of seven-time Emmy nominee Todd A. Kessler, the cocreator of Damages and Bloodline, and there’s a chic air of authenticity thanks to its reliance on real Parisian filming locations. Here’s how to retrace their stylish footsteps on your next Paris vacation.
Dior’s world-famous looks are on display in an early scene filmed at the Sorbonne.
Courtesy of Apple
Grand Amphithéâtre at the Sorbonne
The series begins with a flash-forward to 1955 and a fashion show and lecture by Dior held in the nearly 800-year-old university’s gorgeous amphitheater. Opened in 1889, the room centers around the 84-foot-long mounted canvas Le Bois Sacré by Puvis de Chavannes, which features the embodiments of Literature, Science, and the Arts. If there isn’t a public event happening at the hall while you’re in town, you can book a guided tour of the prestigious institution.
House of Dior
In 1946, Christian Dior opened his new fashion house in a historic hôtel particulier in the eighth arrondissement (pictured at the top of the article above), just a block from the Champs-Élysées. “It had to be 30, avenue Montaigne,” he later wrote in his memoir of the “packed little beehive” where he started out with three workshops, but his popular “New Look” was such a hit that he eventually expanded into neighboring buildings. You can shop for haute couture, ready-to-wear, jewelry, beauty products, and home goods at the recently reopened flagship on Avenue Montaigne or learn the history of the brand through the exhibitions at La Galerie Dior around the corner.
The characters in The New Look frequently gather to discuss fashion and politics in Gallopin, a bar and brasserie that opened in 1876.
Courtesy of Apple
Gallopin
In the first episode, Dior discusses designs and the Nazi occupation with Pierre Balmain (Thomas Poitevin) and Cristóbal Balenciaga (Nuno Lopes) at a mahogany- and mirror-lined bar. This is Gallopin, which opened in 1876 in the second arrondissement across from the old neoclassical stock exchange. The front area was one of the city’s first cocktail bars, while the art nouveau dining room is still the place to go for brasserie classics like foie gras, steak tartare, and escargots.
Hôtel Regina Louvre
Chanel famously lived at the Ritz for decades, but the landmark is played in the series by the equally historic Hotel Regina Louvre, which opened in 1900 across the Rue de Rivoli from the Jardin des Tuileries in a residential building on the site of the old royal riding school. Keep your eyes peeled for scenes in the grand lobby, with its checkerboard tiles, crystal chandeliers, and art nouveau–style carved wooden windows. While it may not be the Ritz, the Regina is a five-star hotel all the way, with an oak-paneled bar, an opulent tea room, a newly opened hammam and sauna, and one of the most enviable locations in Paris—a five-minute walk to the Louvre.
Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche) and her German spy boyfriend (Claes Bang) share a drink at the fantastical art nouveau restaurant Maxim’s.
Courtesy of Apple
Maxim’s
Also in the premiere episode, Chanel attends a friendly dinner with her German spy boyfriend Hans Günther von Dincklage (Claes Bang) and other Nazi occupiers, and while her collaboration might make you queasy, the digs are decidedly more palatable. Maxim’s boasts perhaps the most maximalist Belle Époque dining room in the city. It opened in 1893 just around the corner from the Hôtel de Crillon, and its flamboyant interior has been featured in films like Gigi and Midnight in Paris.
Musée des Arts Décoratifs
In the fourth episode, couturier Lucien Lelong (John Malkovich) guides his staff as they sew tiny dresses for mannequins in a lavish, art-filled room. This is the art nouveau Salon du Bois, a room at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, which occupies the northwestern wing of the Palais du Louvre. The museum’s fashion collection comprises more than 150,000 pieces, including works by many of the designers featured in the show, such as Dior. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and is free for guests under the age of 26, or €15 otherwise for permanent collections and exhibitions.
