James Bond Style
Text by Lindy Hemming and Introduction by Dylan Jones
The book is separated by Bonds in chronological order, namely Sean Connery, Roger Moore, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig, each chapter filled with the most iconic looks from the actors’ films, from Dr. No to No Time To Die. In addition, there are extensive behind-the-scenes insights and stories from both the costume designers who worked on every movie as well the actual designers behind the outfits—think: Donatella Versace, Tom Ford, and Jenny Packham—plus a host of actors, from Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig to Michelle Yeoh and Grace Jones. These anecdotes reveal the sheer scale of the business that is Bond style, for instance, thirty-three bespoke Tom Ford tuxedos were made for No Time To Die in record time (and received just twenty- four hours before filming), while in Quantum Of Solace, Prada fabricated twenty dresses for Olga Kurylenko—as she wore the piece through most of the film, they needed one dress for each stage of the action, from brand-new to dust-covered to ruined.
And all the most memorable moments are inside, like Ursula Andress emerging from the waves in that famous white bikini, to the homages to that scene: Halle Berry in a shocking orange La Perla bathing suit in Die Another Day, and, in a completely unplanned and now completely viral take, Daniel Craig, also in La Perla, on a Bahamian beach in Casino Royale (one of the trunks used was later auctioned for £44,450).
Thanks to its never-before-seen sketches, detailed fashion analysis, and extensive research by the series official archivist, we’re confident in saying that no book in history has chronicled the sartorial aspect of the Bond franchise as comprehensively as James Bond Style, otherwise known as the ultimate Bond style bible.
One of the world’s most renowned costume designers, Lindy Hemming, a graduate of Britain’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, has worked on five James Bond films: GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002), and Casino Royale (2006). Hemming is the recipient of an Academy Award for best costume design for Topsy-Turvy (1999) and has been nominated for a Tony Award and several BAFTAs. She also won two Costume Designers Guild Awards, for The Dark Knight in 2008 (she was the costume designer for all three movies in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy) and Patty Jenkins’s Wonder Woman, in 2017. In addition, Hemming has received critical and commercial acclaim for both independent and blockbuster films, among them Four Weddings and a Funeral, the Tomb Raider franchise (starring Angelina Jolie), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Paddington, Paddington 2, and Wonka. In 2018, Hemming, from Carmarthenshire, Wales, was voted by the BAFTA Cymru committee as the winner of the Siân Phillips Award, which recognises Welsh people who have made a significant contribution to international television production and feature filmmaking.
The New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author Dylan Jones has written or edited twenty-eight books. In the ’80s, he was one of the first editors of i-D, before becoming a contributing editor of The Face and editor of Arena. He spent the next decade working in newspapers—principally The Observer and The Sunday Times—before embarking on a multi-award-winning tenure at GQ. During his editorship, Condé Nast’s flagship men’s title won more awards than any other magazine—over eighty. A former columnist for The Guardian, The Mail on Sunday, and The Independent, he is a former trustee of the Hay Festival. He is currently the editor in chief of the Evening Standard. In 2012 he was awarded an OBE for services to publishing.