David Farnor | On 05, Apr 2016

Amazon and BBC Worldwide have teamed up to produce a new French fashion drama. The Collection, produced by Lookout Point, is an eight-part series, set in the world of French haute couture just after the Second World War.

The series is created, written and executive produced by award-winning showrunner Oliver Goldstick (Ugly Betty, Lipstick Jungle, Pretty Little Liars) and centres on two very different brothers, exposing “the grit behind the glamour and the treachery beneath the trappings of this empire”.

Goldstick heads up an impressive creative team, including Emmy award-winning director Dearbhla Walsh (Penny Dreadful, The Tudors), BAFTA award-winning producer Selwyn Roberts (Parade’s End), production designer Alison Dominitz (Casanova), costume designers Chattoune & Fab (Dheepan) and casting director Rachel Freck (The Go-Between).

In front of the camera, the ensemble is equally impressive, with the cast led by Tom Riley (Da Vinci’s Demons, Kill Your Friends), Mamie Gummer (The Good Wife, Ricki and the Flash), Richard Coyle (Crossbones, Life of Crime, Going Postal) and Alix Poisson (Disparue). The ensemble also includes Frances de la Tour, Jenna Thiam (The Returned) and Irène Jacob.

Goldstick says: “I’m thrilled to be working with this fantastic team. The Collection has been a passion project of mine for years; an entrepreneurial fable set in a pivotal moment in history, where fashion served as the ultimate vehicle for transformation and re-invention. It’s the story of a war-scarred family – upstairs and downstairs – tethered together by its success and its secrets.”

Series Executive Producers include Anne Thomopoulos (Rome, Borgia, Versailles), Pascal Breton (Marseille) for French production partner, Federation Entertainment, and Kate Croft (Murderland).

Lookout Point CEO Simon Vaughan comments: “This is a pioneering partnership structure between BBC Worldwide, Amazon Prime combined with investment from Pinewood and the Welsh Government. World class partners, but working together in entirely new ways. I am very proud of the fact that we are finding new and exciting partnerships to greenlight the best projects.”

“We’re delighted to be bringing such a smart, sophisticated period piece to Amazon Prime members in the UK,” adds Chris Bird, Film & TV Strategy Director, Amazon Video UK. “We aim to bring our customers the best international TV has to offer, and we’re sure our members will enjoy this window into the seemingly glamourous world of Parisian haute couture, perhaps hiding a more sinister undercurrent.”

The project began filming in January, filming in both Wales and France and had its global launch this week at Miptv, at a special event hosted by BBC Worldwide and Lookout Point.

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