Daniel Craig is taking off his suit! But, swoon not, he is putting on another. The twin worlds of international espionage and gentlemen’s outfitting are reeling at the news, revealed in times2, that 007 has switched allegiances. James Bond is forsaking tuxedos made by the heartbreakingly expensive Brioni. Tom Ford has won the licence for twill.

Times are changing in the world of evening wear, and rules that seemed set in stone are mutable. Daniel Day-Lewis wore brown shoes to the Oscars and acceptable dress codes now include the enigmatic “black tieless”. So what does a chap wear to play casino tables with international criminal masterminds? Mr Bond has already turned his back on baccarat in favour of poker. Should M’s most charmingly disrespectful field operative chuck out the tie? What is the role of the cumberbund in the stylish demolition of a thoroughly modern evil empire? There is, surely, no place for the kind of garish waistcoats that despoil even respectable dinners these days. Or a clip-on dickie. Is the smartest thing to wear the finest ordinary suit money can buy?

Mr Bond would not want his Martini stirred, still less diluted. Nor can we expect him to deviate from the coutural standards in which he has smouldered for the past half-century. Close examination of Tom Ford’s oeuvre shows that, when it comes to tuxedos, he is old-school. The appointment represents a decision to ignore the foibles of modern fashion and stick with slick. Which means that, in the forthcoming Quantum of Solace, the celestial Mr Craig will be back in black tie. A swoon may be in order after all.