N.Peal | London Elite Cashmere, Official Partner of 007

Dec 13, 2024

007 James Bond (Daniel Craig) Wore 25 N.Peal Pieces in the Movie "Skyfall"

We have had products featured in the last three Bond films: Skyfall, Spectre and No Time To Die---Adam Holdsworth, owner of N.Peal

(But my personal favorite is still the 2006 Casino Royale with Eva Green)

Adam Holdsworth on collaborating with James Bond: "I'd like to say this was completely deliberate and planned, but that's not the case. We were able to collaborate with the '007: Skyfall' movie because we're flexible enough to meet the filmmakers' needs - 'Can you make something in this style? We need 25 pieces. You need to complete them quickly.' Yes, we could do it. Because we have a very flexible supply base that we can do for any customer. Of course, Barbara Broccoli (007 series producer) was already our customer. The film production team could choose any international big brand, but they like to work with high-quality British traditional brands, and N.Peal completely fits this requirement. So, after some effort, we became James Bond's official brand partner in 2019."

(N.Peal and Tom Ford monopolized Daniel Craig's wardrobe, haha)

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the most iconic James Bond film Goldfinger from 1964, N.Peal specially produced some items referencing the golf sweater and jacket suit from the movie.

N.Peal's brand originally focused on menswear, and after collaborating with 007, the brand's cashmere menswear has even more categories, arguably the most extensive and best in the mid-range light luxury cashmere price segment, with particularly appealing colors.

It's been a while since I've seen such concise product photography and pure colors. From our purchasing experience, excellent brands excel not just in design, cut, and materials, but also in colors that immediately look right.

Story

Nat Peal founded N.Peal in Burlington Arcade in March 1936, initially as a menswear store. Nat Peal's original name was Nat Leapman, and to make the name sound more British, he reversed the name order to Peal.

Burlington Arcade is now a World Heritage building, a London landmark with over 200 years of history.

It's been a while since I've seen a brand with 100 years of history - even Brunello Cucinelli was founded in the 1970s. The last time I wrote about such an old brand was the Czech Nehera

From 1939-1945, during World War II, they collected wool and cashmere knits in the Shetland Islands. Shetland Island is located at the northernmost part of British territory, 280 kilometers from the Faroe Islands, a Danish autonomous territory.

Shetland near the bay is also home to chubby puffins.

By the 1950s, considered the "king of cashmere" in Britain, he began touring the US East Coast with cashmere handbooks featuring various colors and styles. On his first US promotional trip, he brought small alpaca, vicuna, cashmere goats, and Shetland goats to showcase N.Peal's precious cashmere quality. He stayed in luxury hotels, placed advertisements in local newspapers, attended elite parties, and gradually gained recognition on the East Coast.

Without the internet, N.Peal's East Coast customers purchased through mail-order letters. For a time, he would send out 20,000 product catalogs (which included not just products, but also London city landscapes and classic styles) for customers to choose from and order by phone.

He then did the same on the US West Coast, gradually breaking into Hollywood and becoming close to Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, and Princess Grace of Monaco.

In the 1950s, finding an expert offering various colors, styles, and high-quality cashmere wasn't easy. Thus, celebrities naturally sought him out, including Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor, and Grace Kelly. A famous photo shows him bringing a soft white turtleneck for Marilyn Monroe to New York, earning him the title "Cashmere King" for his self-promotion skills.

In the 1980s, philanthropist Chuck Feeney acquired the brand, but its operational status wasn't great. In 2007, Adam Holdsworth and his business partner bought N.Peal, with Adam becoming the current managing director and CEO.

Before purchasing N.Peal, Adam had already worked in the cashmere industry for over 10 years in Yorkshire. Adam's father was a wool trader in Bradford. Adam joined the family business in 1989, starting to buy wool blankets and cashmere fibers from Mongolia. In 2003, he founded the Pure Collection cashmere and wool brand. To focus more on N.Peal, Adam sold his Pure Collection shares in 2016. Pure Collection is still in operation.

Adam's view on N.Peal's flagship store location in Burlington Arcade: "Of course, we could have moved the flagship store elsewhere. We only acquired the brand and its related assets and weren't necessarily obligated to keep this store. But we realized that Burlington Arcade is N.Peal's spiritual home. The brand has been operating in the arcade since 1936, not always in the same location, but definitely within the arcade. And there was an opportunity to renew the lease, so we decided to stay. Although it's an expensive choice, it's a key part of our brand assets. Burlington Arcade is deeply rooted in N.Peal's DNA."

Adam's perspective on the N.Peal brand: "Our products are expensive, but when you integrate the brand's history, excellent quality, exquisite design, and gorgeous colors, you get a luxurious and elegant product full of value. Recently, customer preferences have changed. What was once considered 'luxury' - flashy, logo-covered popular brands - is now shifting towards appreciation for ancient crafts, durability, and traditional manufacturing techniques, which are our brand's strengths. These characteristics are also what people expect to find in Burlington Arcade."

Besides ready-to-wear items, N.Peal offers cashmere made-to-measure services. If you want to customize an N.Peal cashmere sweater in a specific color or length, they provide this customization service. The process takes 6-8 weeks, with hand-processed knitting modifications.

Offline stores include 5 in London, 2 in New York, and one in Munich (Munchen). The flagship store is in Burlington Arcade.

For those interested in the entire cashmere production process from goat to final garment, visit https://www.npeal.com/pages/our-cashmere-videos. N.Peal's official website has a detailed cashmere production process review, including dehairing, dyeing, spinning, and knitting.

Currently, 60% of N.Peal's cashmere meets GOTS standards, which were mentioned in the Le Kasha article. Recent new cashmere brands like Lisa Yang and Arch4 also emphasize GOTS organic cashmere certification.

N.Peal's pricing is comparable to Arch4 , Le Kasha, TSEmid-range light luxury cashmere brands, with excellent value for money.

Garment

N.Peal offers diverse payment methods, including WeChat, Alipay, UnionPay, and a specialized Alopay HK, indicating they also serve Hong Kong customers.

Due to the extensive cashmere collection, I'll highlight best-selling and 007 special series items, focusing on menswear.

Men

The top-selling item is a replica of the cashmere suit jacket Sean Connery wore as James Bond in Goldfinger (1964).

N.Peal's male models also look quintessentially British.

Another popular item is the navy blue cashmere suit.

The 007 Goldfinger series cashmere cardigan is currently sold out.

N.Peal has also produced the purple V-neck worn by James Bond.

Cardigans

The Men's Kensington Cashmere Cardigan, a thick buttoned cashmere cardigan, sells well in red, blue, and grey, with red being the most popular.

The Men's Chunky Moss Stitch Cashmere Blazer is also notable, currently available in one color.

The most popular style is the Silicon Valley look: zip-up and half-zip cashmere cardigans, typical of tech executives. This includes Mark Zuckerberg and TV series protagonists, often worn with jeans and sneakers.

Silicon Valley styles are typically basic, like the Knightsbridge series with plain knitting.

Knightsbridge represents a classic cut with four colors.

The striped Lambeth series is understated, available in navy blue and Elephant Grey.

Here's the translation in English markdown, keeping the original URLs:

"More vintage with cable knit patterns, suitable for the artistic British gentleman

Men's Richmond Cable Cashmere Cardigan series, 6 colors

Another cable knit cardigan, slightly thicker than Richmond, with another color being Granite Grey, which is the same as the Granite Grey in Kingston

Men's Aspen Cashmere Cable Fur Cardigan - lined with rex rabbit fur, outside is cashmere, reversible. The Granite Grey version below has a brown rex rabbit fur lining

Aspen cardigan also comes in Pebble Grey and Navy Blue. I must say, N.Peal's colors are truly authentic, and their categorization is as clear as Sentaler

Tops

Half-zip tops are the most popular, followed by high-neck sweaters Just look at how many colors Carnaby has, and you'll know how classic it is

Following the classic half-zip trend, N.Peal has some styles changed to button-ups with polo collars, making them more artistic and British Greenwich series

Half Button series, besides Biscotti Brown, also in Navy Blue - changing colors is N.Peal's most common approach for men's wear

Balham hooded series, in Navy Blue and Elephant Grey

Here's the translation in English markdown, keeping the original URLs:

Gilet

These 3 men's cashmere vests are also excellent Belgravia is the most classic, zip-up vest, with the most color options

Calgary button cashmere vest

This one has a different fabric, reversible, one side is cashmere, the other is suede

Overshirt

Cashmere shirt jackets, surprisingly popular among men. Another brand specifically making men's cashmere overshirts is God's True Cashmere, created by Brad Pitt and a designer friend, specializing in vintage plaid colored cashmere shirt jackets, but the celebrity premium makes it as expensive as The Row and Barrie

Cashmere coat, currently only this one. Short jackets are more numerous, while women's cashmere coats are more diverse

Men's pants not introduced, mainly cotton fabric.

Women

Besides the Hollywood Authentic collaboration cashmere sweaters, the best-selling women's items are rex rabbit fur coats and wool coats. Only listing rex rabbit coats here, as I don't like wool and won't include it.

Rex rabbit fur is in the cheaper fur category, price similar to cashmere

These cashmere pants are nice, very draping, and the color is perfect

Epilogue

For men looking to buy a cost-effective luxury cashmere brand, besides Dreyden , N.Peal is recommended. For women, TSEand the cashmere brands mentioned in that article are still more recommended.