Exclusive look at the N.Peal 007 Collection GoldenEye Cable Crew Neck Sweater

After the Goldfinger Black outfit earlier this week, Bond Lifestyle now takes a closer look at the GoldenEye inspired Cable Crew Neck Sweater from the N.Peal 007 Cashmere Collection.

N.Peal provided me with the GoldenEye sweater before it is launched, so I can reveal the details to you here in this exclusive preview.

N.Peal Cable Crew Neck Sweater, from the 007 Cashmere Collection

N.Peal 007 Cashmere Collection

This cable knit sweater is part of the new N.Peal 007 Cashmere Collection which celebrates more than 50 years of Bond. The collection is a dream come true for the Bond Lifestylers as it includes recreations and new interpretations of iconic pieces seen in the Bond films from all decades and all Bond actors, from the early Sean Connery films up to the latest SPECTRE movie.

Details about the pieces will be disclosed one by one on different Bond channels, including The Bond Experience, From Tailors With Love, Calvin Dyson and The Suits of James Bond. The whole collection will be available from 18 October 2019.

The 007 Collection was first revealed simultaneously at the N.Peal boutiques in London and New York on 5 October 2019, Global James Bond Day. Bond Lifestyle had the privilege to attend the event in London to see the collection and speak with N.Peal Managing Director Adam Holdsworth (see Bond Lifestyle on Instagram for some images of the London event).

Goldeneye

The N.Peal Cable Crew Neck Sweater is inspired by an outfit seen in the 1995 Bond film GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan's first outing as Bond.

Pierce Brosnan wearing the James Bond outfit of the chase scene in a promotional photo for GoldenEye
photo © EON, Danjaq

The complete outfit worn by 007 in GoldenEye is a navy cable crew neck sweater layered over a blue dress shirt with button cuffs, light brown trousers (possibly Brioni Snello) with brown belt and brown leather Church's Chetwynd shoes. Accessories include an Omega Seamaster 300m Quartz and a green silk day cravat worn under the shirt. A day cravat is a scarf-like patterned silk, tied in the style of an ascot, but tucked into the shirt and worn informally.

In this promotional photo details of the shirt and day cravat can be seen
photo © EON, Danjaq, MGM

The first moment we see James Bond wearing the outfit is right after the opening credits of the film, when Bond is being evaluated, and he embarks on a high-speed race in his Aston Martin DB5 against Xenia Onatopp's Ferrari F355 GTS in the mountains near Monte Carlo.

James Bond is being evaluated in the first scene (after the opening credits) of GoldenEye
photo © EON, MGM, Danjaq

As GoldenEye is one of my favourite Bond films and as a big fan of Pierce Brosnan and his style, I personally love this upgraded casual outfit.

In the later scenes, when he visits the Manticore Yacht and fails to prevent the theft of the Eurocopter, Bond seems to wear the exact same blue shirt, trousers and shoes, but he has replaced the sweater with a navy double breasted blazer with gold buttons.

Cable Knit, Crew Neck Sweater

Not much is known about the brand of movie sweater, but we can see the following characteristics: the sweater is a classic sweater with a 'crew' neck and a 'cable' knit, inspired by the Aran-style jumpers. The Aran jumper is named after the (Irish) fisherman on the Aran Islands who originally wore this cut with more and more complicated knit designs. As Pierce Brosnan is Irish, the Aran style knit suits him well.

As the story goes, the fishermen wore knits to symbolise their lives on the islands and sea. Different knits symbolise luck, wealth, family, health, work, love, nature etc.

The sweater in the film has several different braids on the body and sleeves of the sweater. 

Pierce Brosnan wearing the Bond outfit in a promotional photo. I digitally enhanced the photo to show more knit details of the sweater.
photo © EON, Danjaq

In the enhanced image above, the details of the sweater from Pierce Brosnan can be more clearly seen, and it reveals the cable knit pattern. A much more intricate pattern than on the new N.Peal interpretation.

The 'crew' neck refers to the rounded, close-fitting neck. The crew neck has become a very popular shape for shirts as well as sweaters, worn by countless celebrities including Steve McQueen and John F. Kennedy.

The crew neck can be paired with many different items of clothing either dressing it up or down to what occasion you are trying to dress for. A crew neck is too small for a regular necktie, but in GoldenEye, James Bond adds extra flair by wearing a green silk day cravat under the dress shirt, for that extra Monaco rich men's touch.

Folded cuffs of the sweater in the film
photo © EON, Danjaq, MGM

Bond wears the sweater cuffs folded, revealing the blue cuffs of his shirt, as can be seen in some shots in the film and the promotional photo shown earlier.

N.Peal Cable Crew Neck Sweater, Navy, NPG-071JB

N.Peal’s interpretation of the GoldenEye sweater for their 007 Collection is a rather losely based on the original movie sweater. It is a crew neck, and a cable knit sweater, and it is navy blue, but the cable knit pattern is a more simple braid throughout the sweater, unlike the more complicated and intricate knit of the sweater in the film as we saw earlier in the enhanced photo. 

N.Peal is famous for its cashmere, and their GoldenEye inspired sweater is made from 100% cashmere. And one can instantly tell as it feels extremely soft and fine. This luxurious fabric will keep you warm and insulated in the winter, yet it will ensure you stay cool in the summer.

Thanks to the fine 100% cashmere, this N.Peal sweater is much lighter and wears more comfortably than a heavy original Irish fishermen's sweaters from back in the day on which the design is based. It also looks more fine and thinner than the shirt in the film. But this N.Peal sweater is definitely better suited for a casual visit to Monaco than a rough day at the sea.

I'm almost 6ft5 (195cm) and wearing a size Large in the photos. The sweater wears very comfortable, snug but not too tight. The sleeves could have been a tad longer I would say, because for my long arms it's better to not fold the cuffs or it would become too short. Although if you want a shirt to stick out from under cuffs, they could be folded, as seen in the photos. Ideally I'd add a few centimeters to the sleeve, but for most people the length should be adequate.

The colour of this sweater is navy blue just like the movie sweater and you can look at the first image in the article (the product image) for a good representation of the color. So it is a bit darker than it seems in my photos, and similar to the colour in the film, but on photos that becomes so dark that details can't be seen. If it catches the light it will be definitely blue, but in low light it does turn towards black or very dark blue. It's a great versatile sweater colour to combine with anything from blue jeans to beige dress trousers.

As every other item in the 007 Collections, the sweater has an N.Peal 007 label in the collar.

All items from the 007 Collection are thoroughly branded with 007 logo's on all the labels and packaging. The large black box has a black bow, N.Peal 007 Collection logo in white, and is closed with a black 007 'seal' sticker.

The pieces in the collection come in a large, stylish box with N.Peal 007 logo and bow
photo © Bond Lifestyle

Each item inside is wrapped in 007 paper.

007 branded paper and black sticker protect each piece inside the box
photo © Bond Lifestyle

The N.Peal GoldenEye cashmere sweater costs £329 and is available on 18 October 2019 in stores and on NPeal.com together with the rest of the collection.

Don't forget to read the first article about the N.Peal Goldfinger Black Polo and V-Neck.

With many thanks to N.Peal for providing me with the cable crew neck sweater and the great event in London.