This episode I spoke to Steven Murdoch Head of Retail for Crockett & Jones.
Crockett & Jones has been a part of the James Bond journey since as early as Skyfall. Below is a moment transcribed from the interview.
One of the stylists came to me, because you know Daniel loves our shoes, he’s a great advocate of our brand. He (the stylist) come to us and said can we take some shoes for then to try on, he’s very comfortable in your shoes and see how we get on. That’s how I started the conversation back in 2009/2010. They took half a dozen pairs and came back and said, there’s a good chance we’re going to use them. So it evolved from there.’
About the delay
We discuss what it’s like having an official official partnership with EON Productions, what the working relationship is like with EON and what the knock on effects are for delays to No Time to Die. Below is an official statement sent to me by the brand regarding the latest delay.
We are of course disappointed about the further delay to No Time To Die, but given the current situation still gripping the world we believe it is the right decision. Steve quite rightly said, James Bond is an iconic Character in the history of cinematic film and thus we firmly believe the film should be enjoyed on the big screen.
For Crockett & Jones specifically, it gives us a longer period of promotion and also launches the film in the middle of our busiest season – Autumn Winter. We are hopeful that our UK retail stores are full[y] operational by November and that consumer confidence has returned to visiting them. We launch e-commerce in the next few weeks, but to fully appreciate the ‘James’ in all its glory, a visit to our retail stores is advisable.
Steve Murdoch:
In Skyfall it was generally it was off the shelf shoes they seemed to work when they tried them on they fitted well and he knew our shoes already […] he’d had our shoes before, so we didn’t have to tweak a lot and didn’t have to make up special made to orders. other films come along and they want very specific things. but they always want them within a week which is impossible, but with Skyfall and Spectre it was quite straight forward we didn’t have to change much.
We had the same stylist for Skyfall and Spectre, we spent time going through he range and he said what he needed, so i don’t push him into anything. we have such a big range of shoes we have almost 200 shoes in our store. we have one of the biggest ranges for footwear you could find.
It’s almost impossible not to find what you need in our stores. Spectre and Skyfall were very similar the way we picked the shoes and what they took, there wasn’t much need for making it complicated.
Before we got heavily involved with the bond franchise we was doing films like, for years we’ve been doing films like Nanny McPhee, and going back, we did the Kings Speech and we done things like Allied, and Kingsman, and The Man from Uncle and Mission Impossible there’s endless amount of films we’ve dealt with, I mean witches recently, we’ve been dealing with the new Jurassic film, so there’s a lot of films, we could have a lovely book with all the films we’ve been in, it’s fantastic, one day.
They are always a bit coy about it and protective about their films which I get because they don’t want plots and secrets and whose starring in the films to get out there. So a lot of the times we sign declarations which is fine. A lot of time they’ll take a half dozen pairs and try them out and come back and say no they’re not what we want, or, they are what we want but i want them in these colours. every film varies, sometimes they want something quick, something off the shelf, we’re doing the screening tomorrow. We got to know a few good stylists and a few good costume pieces and they all seem to know us now. not a month goes by without someone contacting us, someone said come and see you for shoes, they all talk so we have a great reputation.
I won’t give anything for nothing I don’t think it’s right just to give the product away. i mean our shoes take 8-10 weeks to make with 200 operations they’re quality shoes I’m not going to give them away. I mean obviously films have budgets. And they will try and get them for free I get that that’s what they have to do. people we get to know who we work with a lot we’ll give them a discount or a set discount. People we don’t know or we’ve only just started to get to know probably not as much we need to know who they are as well. A lot of background checking lots of scammers who pretend to say they’re stylists and they send you an email going I need six shoes for a great film tomorrow with tom hanks and you need to know who these people are. You have to be so careful.
I was invited to go one of the sets on one of the films, it was 2-3 in the morning, it was the scene where the tube train goes crashing into the underground. It was silly o’clock in the morning and I just wasn’t up for it. I did ask a couple of times, it doesn’t matter. I’m just happy we do the shoes and we’re associated with the films.
It was a last minute thing by the costume guy, I kept saying to the costume guy can i come along when they’re filming. So he found a slot but bless him wasn’t the best slot.
Originally when the conversation about licensing came up 2019 I had a meeting in Jermyn street with Suttirat and the EON people the production people they went through the range and what they wanted. It’s not my job to push what shoes on to them what they want its me just to find what they’re asking so whatever they need we’ll try and accommodate.
Listen to the podcast
The full interview with Steve Murdoch is available to listen in the player below or on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify. Don’t forget to leave a review on your smart phone there to get a ‘thank you 007’ on the podcast. Be sure to give Crockett & Jones a follow on their instagram here.
Crockett & Jones in No Time to Die
Learn all about the special limited edition shoe ‘James‘ and the two shoes (Highbury Derby and Molton Chukka) that C&J have made for No Time to Die here. You’ll also find exclusive quotes from the films costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlab.
All images for this post have been sent on to me by the marketing team at Crockett & Jones to provide context. I do not own any of them and am not affiliated with C&J, EON, MGM or DANJAQ. Many thanks to James Fox and Steven Murdoch from C&J for their time and assistance.
Further Reading
Check out the reviews of the C&J shoes that have featured in previous James Bond films Spectre and Skyfall in the links below.
The Crockett & Jones Highbury from Skyfall & No Time to Die | Review
The Crockett & Jones Alex Shoe from Skyfall and Spectre Review