TV’s Benedict Cumberbatch and wife Sophie Hunter eclipsed some of the biggest names in fashion — including supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell — when they arrived at New York’s Met Gala this week in flamboyant outfits. His stylist of ten years, Joe Woolfe, who designed the 42-year-old’s cream suit and put together his outfit, tells me: ‘We spent ages talking about it and planning it for about three weeks before he flew to the U.S.‘He’s vegan, so that meant there were a lot of fabrics we couldn’t use. We ended up using an amazing English bamboo fabric from Huddersfield Fine Worsteds.’ Vegans do not wear materials made from animal-derived products, such as wool, and Woolfe was on strict orders to ensure every aspect of the ensemble was vegan... Benedict, who accessorised his look with a cane, Lock & Co panama hat, Jaeger-LeCoultre watch and Stubbs & Wootton slippers of ‘the highest-grade sea island cotton velvet’...Sophie,The 41-year-old theatre director sported a bespoke, billowing lilac Roksanda gown... We actually had to wait for her to pick her outfit first and then match Ben’s to hers.... Even when he acquired the white shirt from designer Emma Willis, who dresses Prince Charles and Daniel Craig, he made sure the silk would meet the actor’s exacting standards. ‘It was silk, but peace silk, which doesn’t involve killing the worms, so it’s fully vegan and cruelty-free,’ he adds.‘I had to get a few for him to choose from, because I know what he’s like, and if I just give him one thing he’ll feel like he’s being cornered. But he always ends up choosing what I offered first!’
