Daniel Wears Prada? The No Time To Die Mystery Tie

The mission to get this tie was close to impossible, and it involved ordering the tie a number of times.

Article by – Tie Another Day.

Daniel Wears Prada?

No Time To Die has provided us with a limited amount of suits and ties, from the Massimo Alba suit with Alexander Olch tie, to the Tom Ford suit that he wears when he arrives in Whitehall. The last suit is a blue Prince of Wales check suit that he wears when he meets M, meets Blofeld, and then when he debriefs with Q.

Before the film was released Tom Ford released a collection of suits and ties that they had provided to the film, part of this collection included a selection of six ties. One of which was immediately identified from trailers and behind the scenes trailers.

However, the tie that was associated to the navy blue / grey Tom Ford suit became a bit of a mystery, because the pattern did not match with any of the selection of Tom Ford ties. Indeed, Daniel Gaster and I wrote our thoughts down on the ties in the film.

Teamwork

The tie pattern was hard to identify. However, after a time I have been working with Mattia who is the undisputed bond clothes / accessories detective and has an impressive track record in finding the identity of these hidden gems.

Whilst Matt Spaiser of Bond Suits first suggested this tie was not one of the TOM FORD Collection, it was Mattia that suggested that the tie could be from Prada as the pattern matched a tie from a previous season.

The investigation

One of the problems in identifying the tie is the lack of detailed colour photos of this tie. There are some amazing black and white photos which did help and hinder. It helped in identifying the pattern in great detail, but the colour was difficult to ascertain. Was it a black or blue tie?

Behind the scenes

As part of the research, there was a detailed picture that was published on Tom Ford’s Twitter page (above), this was the basis of most of the research. Additionally, there was a webpage that provided a leak of proof photographs from the behind the scenes, including one picture suspected to be taken by Greg Williams which is the colour photograph of Daniel Craig and Ralph Fiennes outside a pub in Hammersmith. (See the location in a short YouTube vid below).

Extra details

Indeed this photo was on the front cover of the September edition of LFI magazine. This proof photo proved additional information as to the colour contrast to the suit. Additional resources included photos from the Making of No Time To Die book, which again provided a detailed pattern.

The white dots on the screen

One of the features of the tie which made Mattia believe that it was from Prada is the fact the horizontal line of white dots were at an angle, and this feature was evident on the Prada tie. The pattern was also a pin dot pattern which is much smaller than a polka or micro dot pattern. There were also some other patterns that could have been.

However, the alignment of the white dots were horizontal. From initial discussions, there was a similarity to the Tom Ford tie that Bond wears in the London scenes in Quantum of Solace.

Colour matching

On Prada’s website, the tie was available in a few colours (Black, navy, smoky grey), so as part of a verification exercise I took a high-resolution picture and counted the number of dots on a line on the tie, and it matched the number in the pictures from behind-the-scenes photographs. The question was which colour matches the photos?

Well the black tie was not available, but the navy version was. It was displayed on a light blue shirt which was similar to the shirt and tie combination as seen in the photograph.

When I got the tie, I took photos against a light blue shirt and placed it in a navy blue tie. The colour matched the same contrast and colour hues as seen in other pictures. The black tie would be much darker and grey, and would not match the contrast as seen on screen. This all helped in reaching the assessment that the navy blue tie is the correct tie.

The tie is not enough

I took the plunge to purchase the navy tie, with the aim to colour match the tie to see if it is the same tie. I undertook the same counting exercise and after triple checking it turned out that the number of dots was correct on this tie, on the tie on Prada’s website, and the pictures from Greg Williams and high resolution promotional pictures. YES! I was sure that this was the correct model and tie. The colour is a near perfect match to the hi-resolution picture.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again

I first ordered the tie from FarFetch, and it did take some time to get the package. However, my happiness was dashed when the tie I received was similar but had a Prada sign on the front of the tie. Granted it was at the bottom of the tie, but still noticeable. For me it wasn’t the tie that I ordered, and sent it back.

I then ordered from Prada’s website, and decided to collect it from the Prada boutique in Old Bond Street. Apart from having to wait outside for a few minutes, I was eventually invited in to collect the tie and again disappointment. The tie was the same version that FarFetch sent in that it had a Prada logo at the bottom.

I was at my wits end thinking will I ever be able to track down this tie.

Anyway, I went onto Prada’s website, and found that it was available at some stores in London. So I decided to call up the Sloane Street Boutique. The sales assistant was amazing. She looked through the inventory, and even took a photo of the tie and it was the right one. I then left work to get the tie and the customer service was brilliant.

Details, details, details…

So, let’s look at the details of the tie. Well it is a slim / skinny tie at 7cm width. The tie design looks like it is part of the staple design that Prada sell season after season. The colour is navy, and the latest style number is: UCR77_1JYH_F0008_S_141  here. 

The current price is misleading. Yes it says 145 GBP, but when you add it to the cart it goes to £210. Prada’s website is a little buggy.

From my experience, it might be worth contacting your local boutique and getting them to photograph the tie to confirm that it is the right one. One positive thing, is that it appears that this tie is a staple of Prada’s collection. Therefore is likely to be part of future collections and is not a seasonal piece.

Learn more about the style of James Bond in our book From Tailors With Love: An Evolution of Menswear Through the Bond Films. Available on Amazon.

Final thoughts

Whilst we have not had any public or official confirmation that this is the tie, based on a number of conversations and assessments of photographs and the tie, it is with a very highly probability that this is indeed the correct tie in the right colour.

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Article by Z (@Tie_Another_Day). Be sure to follow him on instagram. With further credits going to Mattia Devarti and Matt Spaiser.