The ghost of James Bond lingers, as Daniel Craig is all but aware. You could retreat to the Mongolian steppes to live a life in exile and someone would still shout “James Bond!” So you flip the script – or your lid – and do the most un-Bond thing imaginable: you go into Bond villain mode.
At the annual Albie Awards in New York with wife Rachel Weisz, Craig went for a new hairstyle completely. Since before he became Bond, and throughout his turn making double entendres to women colleagues, Craig has had a high and tight style. Shaved at the sides, and a little lengthier on top, it was the sort of neat, military-style you'd expect. But now he's repping a longer cut – and it's one we didn't see coming.
You might be reminded of Mads Mickelssen's villainous Le Chiffre: there's length, and a side parting, and more than a whiff of criminal overlord that just likes to watch the world burn – and that's a strong look. Bond villain coded, basically.
It's a relatively easy style to get down with, too. Very few men look good with centre-partings (save that for Nineties boy bands and 20-something TikTokers), but any guy of any age can look good with a side-parting. Joe Mills, expert barber and founder of Woolf Kings X, says “side partings can be used to create height and width which will always be more flattering. Equally side partings when worked with a fringe or sweep will help to frame the face."
It's a new era for Craig's Bond. Because he did die a hero. But with the new lid, he's lived long enough to see himself become the villain.
