The new Apple TV+ series “La Maison” is so very French, it’s actually in French with English subtitles.

Set against a meltdown at one of Paris’s most iconic and revered brands, the (fictional) House of LEDU, “Maison” deliriously charts many of the expected hallmarks of this glam world: Hysterical fits, explosive confrontations, simmering jealousy, back-stabbing, seduction and life-long grudges.

As “Maison” begins, disaster in the form of an explosively damning phone video means the decades-long reign of its legendary designer (Lambert Wilson) seems doomed as the campaigns for his replacement begin.

Eager to use this debacle to her immense advantage is Diane Rouvel, the grande dame of LEDU’s arch rival.

For Carole Bouquet, a glamorous Cesar-winning fixture of French films since the late ‘70s, Diane is, she said in a Zoom interview in polished English, “the villain here. Everyone is a villain.  But I’m the worst, yes.”

Looking like the proverbial million bucks is one way Diane emphasizes who’s in charge.

“I work a lot with the costume designers. Carine Sarfati’s really great,” Bouquet, 67, said. “To me, the costume is everything in a movie. If I don’t have the right costume, forget about it!

“I mean, there’s no way I’m going to be good if you don’t have it right, starting from the hair to the shoes.  Then, you’re already in the character — and that has to be the right one.

“What character you create depends on the movies. But that really depends on the image, because that’s the first thing you see. The image has to represent the character without speaking.

“In silent movies, when you saw Charlie Chaplin, everybody remembers his costume, the way he looks. That’s why costumes are so important.”

Equally so is the fact that Diane Rouvel is unapologetically a terrible person.

“That’s much better to do, a mean one than a nice one. You can do so many surprising things,” she pointed out. “I mean it is really fun to do.

Diane, she said, “has covered up a problem she’s living with. And as we go along, we discover part of why she’s so tough.

“She can’t show any weakness. Otherwise, she could have been killed or destroyed by another family, another industry. So there’s no way she can show any weakness.”

Showbiz can be as brutal as any fashion house. Bouquet’s verdict?

“I’ve been very lucky because when you do a movie that you like, a project that you like, it’s a gift of life. You know, we love to act because, I mean, it has nothing to do with yourself. That’s the fun part of it.

“Be myself? I am myself too many times. I’d rather be somebody else.”

 “La Maison” streams on Apple TV+ Sept. 20