Base layer: Redux

Underwear brand, Sunspel offer nothing new under the sun. Classic white T-shirt. Check. Fine guage polo shirt. Check. Lightweight cotton boxer shorts and fine cotton briefs. Check again. And their colour spectrum– black, marl grey, white with the occasional teal blue or brown in a merino sweater - will hardly set your wardrobe alight. Yet, when I discovered the pleasure of wearing Sunspel Egyptian cotton T-shirts a few years ago, I can no longer bring myself to pull on any other brand.

‘The secret is in our fabric,’ says Dominic Hazlehurst, co-owner of Sunspel , ‘we only use the biggest staples – the bud of fibre at the top of a cotton plant - which gives us longer and smoother threads for our garments.’ As well as this, many of Sunspel’s cotton items are ‘flamed’, which further smoothes the cotton as microscopic knots and puckers are burnt off each thread. This process gives their T-shirts and boxer shorts a smart-looking sheen that feels remarkably comfortable against your skin. Talking of boxer shorts, Sunspel were the first to launch this style to the UK from the States in 1947. And they made the world’s most famous boxer shorts - worn by Nick Kamen in that iconic 80’s Levi’s TV ad.

It is this refined quality in these menswear basics that have made Sunspel the place to go if you’re an already established menswear brand such as Richard James or Kris Van Assche, and you want to launch an underwear range. It’s fabrics like their Q14 lace-like cotton, developed in the 1930s, which is both breathable and warm, which give them the edge. ‘And we employ 35 machinists in our Long Eaton factory just outside of Nottingham,’ says Hazlehurst, ‘so we can control every part of the manufacturing process to make sure our standards don’t dip.’

Which goes some way to explain why Daniel Craig as James Bond, is seen wearing an ultra lightweight, Sunspel ‘Q75’ polo shirt in Casino Royale, a Sunspel fabric developed for the heat of the Italian Riviera in the 50’s. And another reason to duck into their pop-up shop currently rubbing up next to Dunhill’s Bourdon House on Davies Street, Mayfair until January 2010. Which is about as James Bond an address as you’re likely to find.

Sunspel pop-up shop, 10-12 Davies Street, London W1