Sunspel’s latest collection channels Mr Ian Fleming’s legendary spy to produce basics that are far from basic.

If the Mr Daniel Craig incarnation has taught us anything, it is that James Bond movies tend to work in cycles – from the raw, youthful, parkouring MI6 recruit to the jaded, battle-weary survivor looking forward to collecting his state pension and gold carriage clock ahead of the next Doctor Who-style reboot with another actor filling the Dainite-soled Oxford shoes. But more than that, Mr Craig’s version has had to adapt to modern-day sexual politics and, in the #MeToo era, smutty quips about getting into Bond’s pants simply will not stand up (as it were).

Having said that, we really do suggest you get into James Bond’s pants. Or rather his tees, shirts, sweaters and polos because, as you’ve come to expect from the films (and, indeed, books), Bond’s standard-issue basics were always far from basic. Bond creator Mr Ian Fleming was very particular about the personal effects assigned to his 00 field agent. A former naval intelligence officer from a well-connected, wealthy family himself, the author was accustomed to a certain level of finery, and wrote Bond as a man of similar means and tastes. Mr Fleming was also a noted admirer of Sea Island cotton, a material derived from Gossypium barbadense, a species of cotton grown in the Caribbean, where he no doubt first became aware of it. The fabric is revered for its fine, extra-long fibres, which make an especially high-quality cloth. The onerous nature of spinning these fibres means it accounts for just 0.0004 per cent of the world’s cotton output. The result is a product that is rarefied both in terms of its lightness and its elevated stature. Soft to the touch and scarcely available, like so many of the accoutrements that fleshed out Bond’s world, it was something only insiders knew about.

It seems apt, then, that Sunspel, a brand that provides T-shirts for the present cinematic embodiment of Bond and first introduced the concept of boxer shorts to Britain, should now be teaming up with the Ian Fleming Estate on a range of sweaters, tees and polos made from this uncommon material. The Nottingham-based clothing manufacturer is more than up to the task of working with this tricky fabric. To our mind, nobody does it better. It should also be noted how the collection, which has a subtle 1950s bent, in keeping with Bond’s post-WWII genesis, fits seamlessly into the modern wardrobe. The camp-collar shirts, in particular, feel very at home amid the trends of SS18, while the muted tones – blacks and blues – would allow a secret agent to blend in anywhere.

Crisp Sea Island cotton shirts make numerous appearances throughout the Bond series. And, yes, as revealed in The Man With The Golden Gun (1965), released the year after Mr Fleming’s death, Bond also sported boxer shorts made from this elusive fabric. Sadly, there aren’t any Sea Island cotton underpants in this collection, but there is a pair of navy tropical wool trousers to pull on should the need arise. For Queen and country, and all that.