Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.There are places where going on a bizarre, racially-charged rant about people eating dogs isn’t a career-ender these days. France, however, is not one of them. So when the head of a famous Parisian fashion house, Ledu, is caught making offensive remarks about his Asian customers there’s sufficient outcry to force him to hang up his thimble after 40 years. So begins La Maison, a sleek Apple drama that follows an haute-couture dynasty as it unravels in the aftermath of designer Vincent Ledu’s John Galliano-style outburst. Billed, generously, by some as France’s answer to Succession, the series revolves around various members of the Ledu family as they stitch one another up in the race to take control of the historic brand.French they may be, but fraternity is clearly not a word they’re familiar with. While the resolutely unapologetic Vincent (Lambert Wilson) blames his demise on his nephew Robinson (Antoine Reinartz), the latter’s mother barely thinks twice about selling out her son’s ambitions for another chunk of the family estate. Elsewhere, Vincent’s estranged brother Victor (Pierre Deladonchamps), is not only on the board of Ledu, but a director at their biggest rivals: a company called Rovel run by an embittered billionaire (Carole Bouquet) whose raison d’être appears to be to destroy Vincent. Family lunches, unsurprisingly, are awkward affairs. “Our favourite dish is eating each other alive,” deadpans Robinson. With the family busy devouring themselves, it falls on the savvy Perle (Amira Casar) — a onetime muse of Vincent and Victor’s ex-lover — to try to save Maison Ledu. In a bid to make the exclusive house more inclusive, she invites progressive eco-indie designer Paloma Castel (Zita Hanrot) to take over as artistic director. A trailblazer in sustainable, upcycled fashion, she and her mother, it’s hinted, were once discarded by Vincent like last season’s rags. While there’s no shortage of narrative material, the series might have benefited from a little more finesse in its attempt to weave together threads of high-stakes familial tensions and high-fashion industry pressures, and combine shades of black humour and lurid soapy psychodrama. Still, there’s enough style and sufficient substance to keep us watching and waiting to see if Vincent can mount the most improbable comeback in fashion since Crocs.★★★☆☆First two episodes on Apple TV+ from September 20. New episodes released weekly
