Black and white is the easiest thing to wear and the hardest thing to get right!

Just imagine a sweater that looks modern without looking severe. Now stop imagining, because the cream, ivory and black panels here are cut on a diagonal, so the whole piece has movement instead of sitting on you like a chessboard.

• Diagonal Panels
  The colour blocks run on an angle across the body. Diagonal lines are quietly flattering — they lengthen rather than divide, which a straight horizontal seam never manages.
• A True Neutral
  Black and cream ask nothing of the rest of your wardrobe. It will go with every coat you own and every trouser in the drawer, this season and the next.
• Waffle Texture, Close Up
  In a two-colour piece the stitch matters more, and the waffle grid gives both the cream and the black a surface that catches light. It reads as fabric, not as print.
• Relaxed Through The Body
  The cut skims instead of clinging, with a dropped shoulder and a gently curved hem that sits just past the hip. Take your usual size for the easy drape you see here, or go one up if you like a little more room. It comes in S through 5XL, and the shape is drafted for each one rather than simply scaled up.
• Buttoned At The Throat
  The small henley placket keeps the neckline soft and adjustable. Done up it looks tidy; one button open is enough to change the whole mood of the piece.

The usual problem with a graphic sweater is that it announces itself and then you can't wear it two weeks running. Because this one stays in black and cream, it reads as a neutral — and neutrals are the pieces that quietly get worn to pieces.