Vitals

Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, Southern private detective and “proud heretic”

Upstate New York, Spring 2025

Film: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Release Date: November 26, 2025
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Happy 58th birthday to Daniel Craig! Born March 2, 1968, the actor followed his five-film tenure as James Bond with the recurring role of Southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc in three Knives Out movies to date including his latest release, Wake Up Dead Man, which premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival two months before its limited release in American theaters the week of Thanksgiving 2025.

Writer and director Rian Johnson cited his “all time favorite whodunnit film”,  the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile (featured in my latest post), as one of six films to influence Wake Up Dead Man, though this mystery’s setting is more grounded than either a Nile River cruise or the private Greek island of Glass Onion.

Wake Up Dead Man is set in the fictional small town of Chimney Rock in upstate New York, filmed both in the Hudson Valley village of Cold Spring as well as across the pond in Essex where the Church of the Holy Innocents co-starred as “Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude”, where the controversial reactionary monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) is murdered during his Good Friday mass. Wicks’ assistant priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), an ex-boxer newly arrived from Albany, soon emerges as a top suspect among Wicks’ small but devout “flock of wicked wolves”.

Luckily for Father Jud, local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) needs harder evidence than gossip and calls on Blanc, who arrives on Easter Sunday to solve what he describes as “a textbook example of a perfectly impossible crime”:

This was dressed as a miracle. It’s just a murder. And I solve murders.

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What’d He Wear?

Reuniting with Daniel Craig from Rian Johnson’s first two Knives Out movies, costume designer Jenny Eagan recalled to Hugh Hart for MPA’s The Credits that, “the day I got the script, I got a phone call from Daniel saying, ‘I’m ready to talk.'”

Blanc’s Suits

Craig and Eagan maintained their pattern of recalling past decades with Blanc’s style. “If you look back, the first Knives Out might have leaned a little ’50s, putting Daniel in suspenders and high-waisted pants. With Glass Onion, it’s a little ’60s. For this one, since Benoit keeps evolving, we created a kind of ’70s look but for today,” Eagan explained for The Credits.

Blanc’s Wake Up Dead Man suits reflect the influence but not the excess of 1970s fashion, specifically informed by the long, lean silhouettes favored by French designer Yves Saint Laurent. “I’ve got this sort of fantasy about being a 1970s Yves Saint Laurent model, which is just not what I am,” Craig quipped to Andy Cohen on Sirius XM, adding of his work with Eagan that “I’d sent Jenny ridiculous pictures and be like can we just have a go at this? It’s in the ballpark.”

While digging for classic Saint Laurent suits to manipulate the pattern for Craig, Eagan decided against dark fabrics like navy-blue—opting for the screen-used gold-forward suiting to provide a warmer contrast against Father Jud’s black clerical gear, without standing out too dramatically as “I wanted to keep [Brolin and O’Connor’s] looks very subtle, so we had to bring Benoit down so the audience isn’t distracted,” Eagan explained to Brookie McIlvaine for Netflix.

Blanc’s two primary suits are a lightly napped mid-weight woolen tweed, both with a golden mustard-brown ground that harmonizes with the bucolic upstate New York setting. At first, I thought he wore the same suit through most of the action until I realized that:

1. Blanc’s first suit on Easter Sunday has a golden twill ground and a more pronounced rust windowpane check, framed on each side by a light-blue check.
2. Blanc’s suit across the following two days has an almost identical golden ground but herringbone-woven with a more subdued pale-blue windowpane check.

For most men, one mustard three-piece suit with a subtle windowpane check would be enough, but Blanc owning at least two with only subtle details quietly demonstrates that he not only notices these small details—they matter to him.

The single-breasted suit jackets follow a classic configuration of notch lapels rolling to a two-button front, welted breast pocket, and straight flapped hip pockets with the flaps occasionally tucking back into the pockets themselves. The sleeves are finished with four-button cuffs, with the long double vents recalling ’70s trends. Both suit jackets are nearly identical in their cut, though the more colorfully checked Easter Sunday suit has more structured shoulders while the second suit’s shoulders look rounder, perhaps more reinforced by padding.

Both of Blanc’s suits have matching five-button waistcoats—appropriately worn with the lowest buttons undone—and each styled with a pair of jetted pockets aligned with the fourth button. We only see the first colorful-checked suit with the jacket removed, revealing an iridescent brown-and-blue striped satin-finished lining across the back, cinched with an adjustable strap across the bottom.

Blanc’s flat-front trousers continue to follow the Saint Laurent silhouette with a narrow leg that gently flares below the knees without approaching bell-bottom territory. The trousers rise high enough to keep the waistband typically covered by the waistcoat, but a few instances during his energetic reenactments of the crime separate the two garments enough to show the suspenders (braces) attached to buttons along the inside of the trouser waistband to hold them in place. These trousers have side pockets, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms.

The flared trouser legs envelop the tops of his black leather plain-toe Chelsea boots, styled with black elastic side gussets and 1.5″-raised Cuban heels that Eagan explained to Fawnia Soo Hoo for The Set Set were chosen as “a heel always changes the gait a little bit… when he’s up there explaining everything, it’s a little bit of dancing and a saunter. He really worked that part.”

These have been identified by the @whatsdanielwearing Instagram account as the Saint Laurent Wyatt in smooth “Nero” black leather, appropriately linked to the designer who inspired Craig’s screen tailoring; the “Yves” was dropped from YSL’s ready-to-wear lines in the mid-2010s. (The smooth black leather uppers are a surprisingly cool contrast against the outfit’s warmer tones as I would have expected brown shoe leather.)

Blanc’s Shirt and Ties

Though he changes suits, Blanc wears either the same shirt—or an identical one—through all three days of his investigation. Made bespoke for the production by Beverly Hills shirtmaker Anto (who also made Craig’s shirts for the previous two Knives Out installments), this shirt is a blue-on-white hairline-striped cotton, presenting as a pale-blue finish that coordinates with the blue windowpane check on both of his suits.

The long-pointed semi-spread collar has a front placket and double (French) cuffs—a detail that Jenny Eagan identifies as a through-line of Blanc’s style across all three films—cut with mired corners and an additional button closing each gauntlet. His first cuff links are silver hexagons with blue centers, swapped out on the second and third days with silver-framed squares that have black centers.

Blanc unites his tan and blue tones with his silk ties, both styled with busy yet orderly patterns and knotted in half-Windsors. He dresses each tie with a silver tie tack with either a diamond or cubic zirconia head that subtly reflects a point of light against each dense pattern.

He arrives on Easter Sunday wearing a navy silk tie patterned with a lattice of pale-blue interlocking rings that each enclose small cream floral medallions. According to @whatsdanielwearing, this tie was made by Swedish shirtmaker Eton.

On Monday into Tuesday, he wears a coppery-rust silk tie, woven with a tighter foulard pattern of dark-brown and pale-blue alternating circles rendered against a tonal copper grid.

From Opticals to Omega

Daniel Craig continues wearing Omega watches as he had through all of his preceding films as both James Bond and Benoit Blanc, though Wake Up Dead Man doesn’t give his Omega De Ville Trésor Co-Axial Chronometer much screen time. Omega had specifically identified the model in an exclusive for Esquire, while the @watchesinfilms Instagram account suggested 435.13.40.21.03.001 as the most likely reference.

The latest iteration of the Trésor line which Omega launched in 1949, this chronometer features a stainless steel 40mm case, factory-presented on a blue alligator strap that Blanc evidently swapped out for dark-brown leather. Under scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, the domed blue cross-hatch patterned dial is detailed with hands and non-numeric baton hour indices applied in 18-karat white gold, with a small date aperture at the 6 o’clock position. This manual-wound watch is powered by Omega’s Master Co-Axial Calibre 8910 with a 72-hour power reserve.

Though its elegance is understated, Blanc’s $8,000 Omega still presents a significant contrast against Father Jud’s digital Casio G-Shock DW5600E-1V, which is still widely available for less than a hundred dollars.

Blanc continues his trend of sporting eyewear from the fashionable London brand Cutler and Gross, which has fitted its handmade frames for stars since it was founded in 1969. His optical reading glasses are the squared Cutler and Gross 9690 with thick brown tortoise acetate frames, characterized by two of the brand’s trademark “Compass Star” rivets vertically arranged on the front, echoed by three on each side. “Architectural chamfering and Modernist core wire detail this optical and nod to the inspirations behind the design: Palm Springs in the 1950s,” the Cutler and Gross site describes.

Blanc’s sunglasses are the Cutler and Gross 9261 sunglasses, handcrafted from striated “old brown Havana” tortoise acetate in a slightly squared and swollen cat-eye shape with a curved browline and chamfered temples. Measuring 140mm wide with 48mm lenses, these have solid oyster frontal pins and the standard trio of Compass Star temple pins. These are an appropriate accompaniment to the 9690 Opticals as the Cutler and Gross site also describes these as “[taking] the 1950s classic Americana frame in a new direction.”

Also among Blanc’s new affectations is a simple white-gold round chain-link bracelet shining from his right wrist.

Blanc’s Classic Outerwear

Blanc’s hat and coat transport his look farther back from 1970s inspiration closer to the ’30s, which he would agree was the “golden age” of detection fiction per his praise for John Dickson Carr’s 1935 novel The Hollow Man. Specifically echoing film noir detectives, Blanc’s light rose-adjacent tan cotton trench coat features a fine-scaled herringbone weave that gives it a subtle sheen.

Rather than the classic trench ulster collar, the broad lapels on Blanc’s coat are a sharply notched convertible collar, tapering to the widely spaced 6×3-button double-breasted front. The rest of the details follow the martial queues of traditional trench coats, from the shoulder epaulets and storm flaps (with a button fastening the right flap onto his chest) to the raglan sleeves with belted cuffs. Both the full waist belt and the belted cuffs are fastened through light-brown leather-covered buckles. The coat also has a long single vent and slanted side pockets.

Maintaining this retro-informed aesthetic, Blanc tops his newly grown-out tresses with a dramatic fedora made from chocolate-brown felt with a narrow dark-brown grosgrain band with matching trim along the edge of its wide brim.

Sources

• The Credits — “‘Wake Up Dead Man‘ Costume Designer Jenny Eagan on Priestly Fashion and Daniel Craig’s ’70s-Inspired Suits” by Hugh Hart
• Esquire — “In Knives Out 3, Daniel Craig Makes An Extremely Strong Case for the Classic Tie” by Zak Maoui
• Esquire — “Exclusive: We’ve ID’d Daniel Craig’s ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ Watch – It’s an Omega De Ville Trésor”
• Netflix — “Benoit Blanc’s Outfits Just Keep Getting Better with Wake Up Dead Man” by Brookie McIlvaine
• The Set Set — “A Hunt For Clues in the ‘Wake Up Dead Man: a Knives Out Mystery‘ Costumes” by Fawnia Soo Hoo

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The Car

Wake Up Dead Man provides our first prominent look at Benoit Blanc’s car, and his champagne-adjacent late ’80s Mercedes-Benz 560SL (R107) doesn’t disappoint, aligned with Blanc’s sense of continental refinement… right down to its black leather upholstery and the show tunes in the tape deck.

Blanc’s 560SL is either a 1986 or 1987 model, the final and most powerful evolution of the long-running R107 SL roadster—a platform introduced by Mercedes-Benz in 1971 that became synonymous with late 20th-century luxury cruising. Built primarily for the North American, Japanese, and Australian markets, the hardtop 560SL was the top-tier version of the lineup, powered by a 5.6-liter M117 SOHC V8 that produced about 227 horsepower and 279 lb-ft of torque, exclusively paired with Mercedes-Benz’s smooth 4G-Tronic automatic transmission that established it as more of grand tourer than a performance-oriented sports car.

1986 Mercedes-Benz 560SL (R107)

Body Style: 2-door hardtop roadster

Layout: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (RWD)

Engine: 338.4 cu. in. (5.6 L) Daimler-Benz M117 E56 V8 with Bosch KE-Jetronic SOHC

Power: 227 hp (169 kW; 230 PS) @ 4750 RPM

Torque: 279 lb·ft (378 N·m) @ 3250 RPM

Transmission: 4-speed automatic

Wheelbase: 96.7 inches (2455 mm)

Length: 180.3 inches (4580 mm)

Width: 70.5 inches (1790 mm)

Height: 51.5 inches (1307 mm)

Mercedes-Benz never produced the 560SL for the European market, though the Euro-spec grille on Blanc’s roadster makes sense given Wake Up Dead Man‘s production in England. (It can also be explained in-universe as a natural byproduct of Blanc’s idiosyncrasies.) The paint code is likely 702 smoke silver metallic, presenting warm on screen in a manner that also suggests 473 champagne metallic as a possibility.

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How to Get the Look

In his mustard tweed three-piece suits supplemented by a wide-brimmed fedora, custom trench coat, and Cuban-heeled boots, Benoit Blanc’s wardrobe brings a contemporary sensibility to ’70s-informed tailoring—itself was inspired by the interwar “golden age” of menswear.

• Golden mustard twill and light-blue windowpane check woolen tweed tailored suit:
  • Single-breasted 2-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and long double vents
  • Single-breasted 5-button waistcoat with lower jetted pocket and iridescent satin-finished back lining (with adjustable strap)
  • Flat-front trousers with fitted waistband, slightly slanted side pockets, jetted back pockets, and gently flared plain-hemmed bottoms
• Light blue-on-white hairline-striped cotton shirt with large semi-spread collar, front placket, and mitred double/French cuffs
  • Anto
• Silver-framed cuff links with blue centers
• Blue-and-brown foulard medallion-style printed silk ties
• Diamond-head silver tiepin
• Black leather Chelsea boots with raised Cuban heels
  • Saint Laurent “Wyatt”
• Tortoise brown acetate-framed square reading glasses
  • Cutler and Gross 9690
• Tortoise brown acetate-framed cat-eye sunglasses
  • Cutler and Gross 9261
• White-gold round curb-link bracelet
• Stainless steel 40mm manual-winding wristwatch with blue patterned dial (with white-gold baton indices and 6:00 date window) under sapphire crystal on dark-brown leather strap
  • Omega De Ville Trésor Co-Axial Chronometer ref. 435.13.40.21.03.001
• Rosy khaki herringbone cotton knee-length trench coat with broad convertible notch lapels, shoulder epaulets, raglan sleeves with belted cuffs, 6×3-button double-breasted front with full-belted waist, slanted side pockets, and long single vent
• Dark-brown felt wide-brimmed fedora with dark-brown grosgrain band

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie, which debuted on Netflix in December 2025.

Per Blanc’s (and Oprah’s) recommendation, I also recommend John Dickson Carr’s 1935 locked-room mystery The Hollow Man.

One mystery that remains even after the killer is unmasked: Glass Onion refers to Jeremy Renner’s Renning Hot hot sauce, so clearly actor Jeremy Renner exists in the Knives Out universe. Given this, do any of Wicks’ flock—or Blanc himself—notice local Doctor Nat Sharp’s uncanny resemblance to Renner? If only there was an app where we could discuss this.

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The Quote

Telling the truth can be a bitter herb.