Fashion

Big knit energy: how the statement sweater killed the Christmas jumper

From Chris Evans’s Aran in Knives Out to Bond’s tight-fitting one in No Time to Die, the new era of attitude jumpers has begun

It must be a tough call for any actor, when the breakout star of your film is hailed as a ... jumper. But that’s what has just happened with Chris Evans, whose muesli coloured Aran knit in the murder mystery Knives Out has a) utterly broken the internet b) made people rethink their life choices, based on a desire to get intimate with a piece of clothing. Or, as writer Ira Madison III put it: “I just ordered Chris Evans’ sweater from Knives Out and I can’t wait to **** it.”

Quite. Even the film’s official marketing has nodded to the fact: in an official video statement, “the film everyone’s talking about” has been amended to “the sweater everyone’s talking about”. (Evans, himself, touchingly admitted he nicked the, what I’m now referring to as the Charlie Bit My Finger of Wool Garments, off the film set to presumably set fire to it, in case it elbowed him out of the way and got cast in a new Captain America franchise).

The Knives Out jumper is part of a new trend for the The Statement Utility Jumper. Recently, we’ve also seen the ribbed, tight-fitting jumper in the No Time to Die poster, where James Bond looks as if he is both #humblebragging about his pecs but also semaphoring an edgy, ready-for-the-apocalypse vibe (all in all, very War Core). And Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse, going quietly off-kilter in ribbed, wide-necked jumpers. These jumpers feel imbued with a pre-worn history and a heavy attitude. As Knives Out costume designer Jenny Eagan said: “I’m not sure if it’s the sweater or who’s wearing the sweater.”

The Statement Utility Jumper is all very “Big Knit Energy” (Hi, Sarah Lund) and exactly the opposite of The Christmas Jumper that, in contrast, has all the dark energy and presence of Crazy Frog’s cover of Last Christmas. In interesting timing, the Christmas jumper was officially cancelled last week when charity Hubbub said they were bad for the environment. An early Christmas present for anyone who felt the juddering, in-coming horror at the thought of wearing their Hotline Bling jumper to the Christmas party next week.