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avid Mason looks out of the window of his premises on Mayfair's Montagu Square
– the one time home of John Lennon. Across the way is no. 5, the one time home to
a character far more important in his world: Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond.
'I grew up with Sean Connery as Bond and you would see these people on the movie
screen and they became icons, even when you're just 10,' says Mason, immaculately if austerely
dressed in an all navy and white combo. 'And then when you're 40 you want to drive the cars they
drive and wear the suits they wore. You reminisce of a dreamy golden age.'
Mason is not alone with this. In fact, his business in part banks on it. He is the creative director
of Anthony Sinclair, a name that may not have escaped the niche bubble of bespoke tailoring had
said Anthony Sinclair – who died in 1987 – not been tailor to one Terence Young. He was director
of the best of Connery's Bond movies and recommended the actor and the character be outfitted
by his tailor.
It was Anthony Sinclair who consequently tailored, for example, the midnight blue, shawl
collar evening suit Bond wears in 'Dr. No', or the Prince of Wales check suit he wears to lean up
against that Aston Martin DB5 in 'Goldfinger'. In menswear circles, both suits would become icons
in their own right. Among the Bond acolytes – 'a global army of fanatics who know everything about
the character,' notes Mason, 'which means authenticity in everything we do is crucial' – they are what
Auric loved most: pure gold.
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