Vitals

Daniel Craig as James Bond, disillusioned British government agent

From Montenegro to Venice, Italy, Summer 2006

Film: Casino Royale
Release Date: November 14, 2006
Director: Martin Campbell
Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Twenty years ago, James Bond entered a new era with the premiere of Casino Royale on November 14, 2006. Faithfully adapted yet thoughtfully updated from Ian Fleming’s debut source novel that introduced readers to agent 007, the film also introduced audiences to Daniel Craig’s characterization rooted in a gritty realism.

Casino Royale significantly rebooted the franchise for the first time, portraying Bond as relative rookie double-0 agent rather than the experienced spy of previous films. Thus, Craig embodied a younger, rawer Bond than Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore’s portrayals—more aligned with how Timothy Dalton translated the literary character for his pair of films in the late 1980s.

Though I had seen a few 007 movies prior, it wasn’t until I joined my friends to see Casino Royale in theaters twenty years ago that I felt like a true James Bond fan. And I wasn’t alone; twenty years after its release, Casino Royale remains considered among the best of EON Productions’ official 25 Bond movies, even if the rest of Craig’s five-film tenure encountered more uneven reception.

While cleanly updating the geopolitical situation, technology, and attitudes from the novel’s 1952 publication to the 21st century, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis also kept their screenplay impressively true to Fleming’s novel, right up to its closing lines as a bitter, mournful Bond coldly reflects on being betrayed:

The bitch is dead.

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What’d He Wear?

James Bond’s aspirationally elegant costumes have been a hallmark of his handsomely tailored screen characterization dating back to Sean Connery’s tuxedo-clad introduction in Dr. No (1962). Readers who were familiar with the films before the novels may be surprised to find that Ian Fleming had actually stipulated a humbler wardrobe for his ace secret agent, typically centered around navy worsted suits, white Sea Island cotton shirts, black knitted ties, and black loafers—supplemented by the occasional well-traveled sports suit or contextual casual-wear.

The Bond production team retained costume designer Lindy Hemming and Brioni suits for Daniel Craig’s debut as Bond in Casino Royale, so his style is still as tasteful and varied as decades of preceding films had established. However, Casino Royale also establishes a more cyclical degree to his wardrobe as Craig’s Bond occasionally pulls the same pieces from his closet to fit each situation. One significant example is the cozy black cardigan that he pulls on as a laidback layer in both Montenegro and Italy. (Matt Spaiser previously wrote characteristically authoritative blog posts for Bond Suits detailing the cardigan in both the Montenegro balcony and Venice boat scenes.)

In both instances, Bond pairs this cardigan with a T-shirt and slacks to fit he context. He first wears it with a darker gray crew-neck T-shirt and glen plaid trousers while consulting with fellow MI6 operative René Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) on his balcony in Montenegro. Weeks later when Bond wears the same sweater more casually on his Venice yacht, the two men are far less chummy when Bond suggests to M (Judi Dench) that Vesper’s guilt doesn’t necessarily mean Mathis’ innocence (“It could have been a double-blind. Keep sweating him.”).

This pitch-black soft wool cardigan is styled with a total of six buttons up the front, with the smaller top button positioned in the middle of the narrowly ribbed shawl collar and the two lowest buttons positioned closer together over the waistline. This hem line and the cuffs are widely ribbed. Although the screen-worn cardigan’s manufacturer has not been confirmed as of 2026, Bond-affiliated knitwear outfitter N.Peal just introduced its own Casino Royale-inspired cashmere cardigan to coincide with the film’s 20th anniversary. You can also shop similar ones curated by Iconic Alternatives.

By the early 2000s, cardigans had fallen from fashion into the dustbin of what the ill-informed may have dismissed as “grandpa style”. Taking on- and off-screen style queues from ’60s screen and style icon Steve McQueen, Craig arguably contributed to revitalizing cardigans for a new generation.

While lounging on his 54-foot Spirit yacht in Venice, Bond visually references a specific moment in “King of Cool” lore, layering the dark shawl-collar cardigan over a white T-shirt and beige slacks not unlike McQueen’s famous outfit (paired with suede playboy boots) during a road trip with his then-wife Neile Adams and photographer William Claxton up the California coast in 1964. For this scene, Bond cozily pairs the refined cardigan and trousers with the informality of a white tee and bare feet. This fine-gauge, mid-weight Egyptian cotton short-sleeved V-neck T-shirt was made by Sunspel, specifically designed for Craig to wear in Casino Royale as part of the British luxury label’s “Riviera Collection” that also included his screen-worn gray T-shirt and navy polo.

Bond maintains the simplicity of his outfit with plain beige-stone chino cotton trousers. He never moves from his crouched position aboard the Spirit’s deck so we can’t see much confirmed detail beyond the side pockets and plain-hemmed bottoms, but they’re likely flat-fronted with jetted pockets over the seat as well.

While Bond’s Persol sunglasses are briefly visible next to him on the deck of his yacht, no shoes are as he reclines fully barefoot during his phone call with M. The only other item he wears is his stainless dive watch, having earlier clarified for Vesper that it is not a Rolex but an Omega—specifically an Omega Seamaster Professional Diver 300M Co-Axial, ref. 2220.80.00.

An evolution of the Seamaster series that Pierce Brosnan wore in his quartet of Bond movies, Craig’s Professional Diver has a 41mm stainless steel case on a matching link bracelet—the clearest visual differentiation from the larger, rubber-strapped ref. 2900.50.91 Seamaster Planet Ocean that he wore earlier in Casino Royale. The blue dial features a textured tonal wave pattern, luminous hour indices, and a white-wheeled date window at the 3 o’clock position, all visible through a domed, anti-reflective, and scratch-resistant sapphire crystal and echoed by the blue unidirectional rotating bezel around it. The screw-down crown is guarded at the traditional 3 o’clock position, opposed by a helium release valve at 10 o’clock.

This self-winding chronometer is powered by the Omega 2500 Co-Axial Escapement movement with a rhodium-plated finish and 48-hour power reserve. Should 007 choose to take a header off the yacht into Venice’s famous canals, his watch would remain duly protected with its water resistance rated up to 300 meters.

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How to Get the Look

Daniel Craig took a page from the late Steve McQueen’s lookbook during the penultimate scene of Casino Royale, illustrating that wool knitwear doesn’t need to be reserved for the winter by layering his black shawl-collar cardigan over a white V-neck T-shirt and beige chinos while relaxing barefoot on the deck of his moored yacht. 007’s wardrobe easily translates the look between seasons as well, with a gray crew-neck tee, checked wool slacks, and chukka boots accompanying the sweater in cooler weather.

• Black soft wool shawl-collar, six-button cardigan sweater
• White fine-gauge mid-weight Egyptian cotton short-sleeved V-neck T-shirt
  • Sunspel Riviera Midweight V-Neck T-Shirt
• Beige-stone chino cotton flat-front trousers with side pockets, jetted back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Stainless steel 41mm-cased dive watch with blue bezel, blue dial, and link bracelet
  • Omega Seamaster Professional Diver 300M Co-Axial 2220.80.00

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

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The Quote

The job’s done. The bitch is dead.