FAMILY STYLE

"La Maison," on Apple TV+.

- INKOO KANG

The opening minutes of “La Maison,” a new succession drama on Apple TV+, offer up an irresistible depiction of the pride that goeth before a fall. Vincent Ledu (Lambert Wilson), the graying head of a Parisian fashion house that bears his name, is about to receive France’s highest civilian honor, but his grasp of his craft is slipping: a wealthy Korean bride whose patronage he urgently needs is proving resistant to his usual charms. After storming out of their meeting, he runs into his younger brother, Victor (Pierre Deladonchamps), whom he exiled from the firm years ago. “Vincent Ledu descends from Olympus to play salesman,” Victor says coolly. “Precisely,” Vincent replies. “And now I’m heading back up.” A day later, when a video goes viral of Vincent calling his difficult client and her entourage “dogeating plebes,” he’s dragged back down to earth. Though Vincent wishes to envelop himself in “decorous silence,” he’s afforded no such luxury, least of all by his family, who treasure the century-old Ledu brand as their ancestral birthright and their cash cow. A stilted apology, scripted by his P.R. team, does little to ameliorate the crisis. The fashion industry is no stranger to scandal or to racism—as one on-looker puts it, “Ledu just pulled a Galliano”—but Vincent’s offense is immediately deemed fatal. The company’s continuation depends on whether the dynasty can expand its idea of family quickly enough to survive.