DRESSING DANIEL CRAIG ’No Time To Die’ designer Massimo Alba
James Bond is back. And this time he’s dressed in geography-teacher corduroy.
Ifirst read the theory that James Bond’s suit is effectively his superhero costume in the 1996 book Dressed to Kill: James Bond – The Suited Hero. And certainly, from Sean Connery’s Savile Row tailoring to that by Italian couture house Brioni for Pierce Brosnan and, latterly, US label Tom Ford for Daniel Craig, there is a rich history of 007 looking dapper in sharp, matching jacket and trousers. In the tux, our superspy has found the ultimate expression of the sophisticated connoisseur — a look befitting a man who knows his Bollinger and dry martinis.
Yet in the first trailer for the new Bond film, No Time to Die, though Craig is indeed wearing a suit, it is — whisper it — made of corduroy. The sand-coloured ensemble does service during a car chase, a leap off a bridge and a spectacular motorcycle jump. What is going on?
In a design studio in Milan’s hipster Navigli district — which he habitually shares with his golden labrador, Jasper, and which is crammed with vintage posters, memorabilia and shelves heaving with art books — Massimo Alba, a designer you will almost certainly never have heard of, explains. “It seems that Daniel asked his production company to get in touch, because he wears my clothes,” he says.
“So I sent a lookbook and they asked for some pieces.”
Alba, 59, started his own collection 13 years ago after working for brands such as Malo, Ballantyne and Agnona. Though he is under the radar, his understated creations have been spotted on Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Stanley Tucci, John Malkovich, James Franco, Justin Bieber and Ian McKellen.
“I guess they’re trying to create a new attitude for him,” says Alba of 007. “My feeling is that this Bond could be more poetic. Think of the material — corduroy. It is washed, soft, relaxed. Here they are not starting from the body; not starting from the muscle; maybe instead starting from the way it feels?”
He also explains that the town of Matera, in the Italian south, the location in which the trailer begins, “is a fantastic place — very poetic, very beautiful. The weather there is supergood; the wine is excellent.”
Alba’s signature style is all about “an informal way of being dressed, which has a lot to do with being comfortable in your clothes”. He specialises in pieces that have a worn look and feel: luxurious, yes, but also homespun, as if they have been made in an artisanal way — for example, a blue marblelook handpainted cashmere sweater, a grey collarless cotton-seersucker shirt and a black unlined cotton blazer named the “Lenny”, a homage to composer Leonard Bernstein. Alba has long championed 100% Italian manufacturing.
Cotton corduroy has always been part of the offer and the type used for Craig’s suit is, he says, the softest he has ever found. “I use corduroy both in the summer and winter. My suit is comfortable.”
As well as the three-button singlebreasted suit, which has flat-front trousers and a slim leg, Craig wears a Massimo Alba corduroy single-breasted unlined duster coat in a faint green, and a pair of his “aluminium” grey corduroy trousers; both massimoalba.com. Both are relaxed and, like the suit, about as far away from a tuxedo as you can get without venturing into sportswear.
’I understand what a huge cultural reference he is. I believe in this new attitude for men today — more informal, less aggressive, softer.’ MASSIMO ALBA
“This suit is one of my favourites,” says Alba. “I like to wear it with a simple T-shirt, but also a shirt … and a tie too.”
And he’s happy about his new customer. “I understand what a huge cultural reference he is. I believe in this new attitude for men today — more informal, less aggressive, softer.”
But not too soft. Parked outside his studio is a large motorcycle with an “Alba” racing sticker on the side. Like 007 in the new film, it turns out this thoughtful Italian, with his floppy hair and glasses, rides a Triumph.
‘No Time to Die’ is released on October 1