With each case he tackles, detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) comes equipped with a singular approach — and a distinctive personal style. In Knives Out, the Southern sleuth strapped on suspenders to uncover a cable-knit-wearing killer in the bowels of a New England family mansion. In Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, he stuffed his suitcase with linen loungewear — including a memorable two-piece bathing suit — to infiltrate a friend group’s reunion on a sandy Grecian island.

Clothes are as important a tool to a detective as anything, and Blanc is by no means the first detective to flaunt impeccable fashion. In fact, the stylish sleuth is a mainstay of the genre, from Agatha Christie’s mustachioed Hercule Poirot to Colombo’s scruffy trench-coat swagger and Sherlock Holmes’s tweed hat and ever-present pipe. 

But what’s different about Benoit Blanc is how his presentation evolves with each case. His style becomes a prismatic reflection of the mystery and suspects that he’s interrogating — as well as an ode to different eras of cinematic sleuths. “His looks in Knives Out were a nod to the ’50s, and Glass Onion was blending the ’40s and ’60s,” explains costume designer Jenny Eagan, who worked on all three films. “Some things carry through — the French cuff, for example — that are inherently Benoit Blanc. Blanc’s a little bit of a show-off, so why not make him look fantastic?”

In writer-director Rian Johnson’s latest mystery — Wake Up Dead Man, now streaming on Netflix — the character’s style shifts once again. Blanc heads to Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, a Gothic church in upstate New York, to suss out an unbelievable murder that takes place over Easter weekend. To face his most complicated case yet, Blanc sports longer hair, topped off with a wide-brimmed hat. His legs are cased in pants with a hint of ’70s long and lean flare, which gape over a heeled boot. A belted trench hugs his never-ending collection of textured three-piece suits.

Eagan, Craig, and Johnson look back on the iconic gumshoe’s style leading up to his latest look in Wake Up Dead Man. “Benoit gets up in the morning and wants to present himself,” says Craig. “I think it’s important to make him look as good as we can.” Paw through his enviable closet below. 

KNIVES OUT

Eagan and Craig hit the ground running with 2019’s Knives Out. “I’ve known Jenny since about 2009. We have a shorthand,” says Craig. 

Blanc is each film’s aesthetic compass, guiding both tone and palette. “I start with Daniel,” describes Eagan. “He’s done his homework.” Craig adds, “She’s a bit of a genius. I’ll do a fair bit of research, and then she’ll come up with something brilliant.” Eagan points to Cary Grant as one of her inspirations for both tailoring and texture.

Eagan’s approach is predicated on the banquet of storytelling opportunities that clothes present: “For everybody, whether they’re a film star or a person every day, their clothes tell the story about who they are, who they’re trying to portray to the outside world.” Craig, like his character, knows his way around a meticulously assembled outfit, and that was the foundation for his character development. “Benoit likes dressing up, which I do as well,” says the actor. “So I put that, myself, into it.”

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY

Benoit’s sophomore outing whisks him away to the inviting blue waters of a private Greek island. Easy-breathing fabrics and an unforgettable poolside ensemble were a must — putting Glass Onion in stark contrast with its follow-up film. 

Wake Up Dead Man takes place in a foggy small town whose flashiest attraction is a kitschy devil-themed pizzeria. So the characters (played by Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church) assume less over-the-top ensembles, donning practical coats and boots to schlep through endless gray days instead of caftans, bikinis, and Speedos better suited for guzzling hard kombucha poolside. 

As a result, Eagan tones down Blanc’s look in the latest film. “This one didn’t have the swimsuit [from Glass Onion] or a moment to get that laugh, because the conversation is so different. We kept it subdued,” says Eagan. 

WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY

Two of the film’s main characters — Monsignor Wicks (Brolin) and Father Jud (O’Connor) — wear vestments for the majority of the movie, and Eagan didn’t want Blanc standing out beside two men of the cloth. “In talking with Father Scott Bailey, the Catholic technical advisor, he communicated how the priests are there to service the people,” she says. “I wanted to keep [Brolin and O’Connor’s] looks very subtle, so we had to bring Benoit down so the audience isn’t distracted.”

Even after three movies, the man behind the suits remains shrouded in mystery. “Once the mythology of a character starts expanding, it can suddenly become a burden on the storytelling,” Johnson says. As Eagan gets a feel for each installment’s look, she imagines her own backstories for the inscrutable detective. “I try to think about what happens in Benoit’s life,” she says. “Has he been in Paris and gotten himself custom-made suits?” 

YVES SAINT LAURENT

Craig also brings his own ideas to each iteration. “I’ve always had a yearning to look like a 1970s Yves Saint Laurent model, which is never going to happen,” says the actor. Eagan emphasizes Craig’s input: “He brought a bit of a heel, a bit of dandy. There’s this long, lean, chic feeling — but also a little bracelet.” 

Equipped with a slew of stunning reference images, Craig and Eagan hit their stride with this third movie. “Blanc keeps getting more relaxed in his fashion sense and pushing those envelopes,” says Eagan. “I have evolved, too; I’m more comfortable tailoring for Daniel. We are much more vocal with one another.” Eagan, Craig, and Johnson work so well together because of how open they are to new ideas — from the crown to the Cuban heel. “I’d grown my hair for no particular reason over the past couple years,” says Craig. “I said to Ryan, ‘Shall I keep it?’ And he was like, ‘Yep, let’s do it.’ ”