[2] Sunspel's origins date back to the mid-nineteenth century when the firm began crafting high-quality underwear in Nottingham - then the centre of the British lace and hosiery industry - from cotton, merino wool and silk.

[5] Originally undergarments, they were designed to be cool and comfortable in the heat of tropical climates and were made with a high-quality Sea island cotton jersey fabric.

[5] He discovered the underwear style on his honeymoon in the United States and modified the design by adding a back panel, flattening the seams and using the highest quality cotton.

[9] The underwear style gained widespread popularity after the 1985 Nick Kamen Levi’s advert in which he wore Sunspel boxer shorts.

Shortly afterwards, Sunspel was approached by the award-winning costume designer and stylist Lindy Hemming, whose brief was to update James Bond's style as part of a reboot to the franchise.

Hemming said of the brand:“[For Casino Royale], I thought it would be a perfect collaboration of quality and Britishness to ask Sunspel to create all [Bond's] T-shirts, polo shirts and underwear, which they duly did, excellently.

[5] Sunspel manufactures T-shirts in its Long Eaton factory and uses extra-long staple Supima cotton from California, which can be traced to the farm it comes from.

[21] In 2006, Sunspel designed a custom polo shirt for Daniel Craig in his debut performance as James Bond in Casino Royale.

[22] In 1985 Nick Kamen starred in a celebrated Levi's advertisement, in which he removed his jeans in a launderette, to reveal a pair of white Sunspel boxer shorts.

[26] In 2016, the television football pundit Gary Lineker undertook to present the season-opening edition of Match of the Day in his underpants if Leicester City became Premier League Champions.