Watch or skip?

Fashion industry series tend to make us feel like “who cares,” mostly because the stakes aren’t that high at first glance. But when you look closer, the stakes are actually higher than we thought; there are millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs at stake, and the success of a fashion house Is big deal, and the personalities who lead these houses can certainly generate drama. That’s what we got from watching the first episode of the new French series on Apple TV+.

HOUSE: WATCH OR SKIP?

Opening shot: The plate is placed on a weaving loom where the lace is produced.

Point: Lace, one of the signature elements of Ledu’s designs, has been added to a wedding dress that reads “Life Is A Dance.” The mercurial designer Vincent Ledu (Lambert Wilson), the company’s president, goes with his former muse and current right-hand woman, Perle Foster (Amira Casar), to a dress fitting.

The client is a young Korean woman with a lot of money and very specific tastes, which irritates Victor. Despite a dozen or so prototypes, the woman is still not satisfied; Perle tries to calm Victor down by reminding him that this is a mid-seven-figure order. But she is alarmed when Vincent’s brother Victor (Pierre Deladonchamps), representing rival fashion house Rovel, bursts into the apartment with his company’s designs.

Vincent and Victor have been feuding for years. But despite the fact that Victor’s wife, Marie (Anne Consigny), is the daughter of Rovel CEO Diane Rovel (Carole Bouquet), Victor has never given up his stake in the family business. Oh, and he and Perle are also having an affair.

Vincent is at a party to celebrate an honor he received from the French government when he learns that a Korean bride has canceled her order in favor of Rovel’s designs. He goes out onto the balcony and starts a tirade at Perle, using very unflattering terms to describe Koreans. The waitress records the tirade for her own amusement, but when Vincent’s nephew Robinson (Antoine Reinartz) overhears the recording, he demands the waitress’s phone. He sends it to himself, then deletes it from her phone (but doesn’t check her “Deleted” folder to permanently delete it…rookie mistake).

The video lands in Diane Rovel’s inbox, who eagerly sends it to the tabloid’s website; inevitably, the video immediately goes viral. At first, Vincent dismisses it as something that will pass, but under pressure from Perle and his siblings, with whom he still speaks and his Fashion Week show in jeopardy, he attempts to record an apology video.

Meanwhile, Victor, sensing that his mother-in-law wants to destroy Ledu once and for all, agrees to sell his shares in exchange for taking over the company.

Meanwhile, two young designers, Paloma Castel (Zita Hanrot) and Ye-Ji Kang (Park Ji-min), steal Ledu and Rovel’s prototypes that were supposed to be destroyed and use them for their own designs. This is a statement about the waste of the fashion industry, and their show at Fashion Week is well-received by both Victor and Perle. But Paloma has another reason to complain, since she is the daughter Vincent apparently does not know or acknowledge.

What series does this remind you of? Inheritance is meeting Halston AND New look.

Our opinion: At first glance, House it seems like it’s going to be a typical show about the fashion industry. Vincent Ledu is a pretty stereotypical character in his position: arrogant but never 100% sure of himself, demanding but loyal, thinks he’s a much better person than he seems. So even though his speech was laced with racist remarks about Koreans, he doesn’t feel like a racist.

But the more intriguing aspect of the show isn’t Vincent, or even the rivalry between Vincent and Victor, though we imagine that will be a big part of the show. No, the most intriguing aspect is the prospect of taking Ledu, which is in shambles after a disastrous Fashion Week show, and remaking it in his own image, with the help of Paloma.

Since Paloma has a history with the Ledu family but is trying to change the fashion industry, which is infamously environmentally unfriendly, working with Perle from the inside of the fictional fashion giant offers a lot of possibilities. Perle also has time to shape the brand after being someone’s muse for decades, so she doesn’t go for Vincent, who offers her a chance to take over. So watching Perle change the paradigm is going to be the part of the series we’re most looking forward to seeing.

Sex and Skin: Only implied sex, no nudity.

Parting shot: After watching Ledu’s fashion week disaster, Diane Rovel says, “I destroyed my father, now I want my mother.”

Sleeping Star: The character of Robinson Ledu played by Antoine Reinartz seems to be loyal only to himself, which should lead to some interesting situations.

The most pilot line: The new Rovel family driver is told to only drive near Diane Rovel ads, not Led ads. When traffic directs him to an alternate route, Diane gives him an evil look.

Our call: STREAMING. House works because it’s not about what you might think it would be about. Instead of the stereotypical tyrant designer, it’ll be interesting to see two unexpected characters take on a fashion house and bring it into the 2020s.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting, and technology, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV addict. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, Home page, en.vanityfair.comFast Company and elsewhere.