“Hosiery is not being used solely for layering anymore, now it is being worn more as a garment in its own right,” agrees Francesca Capper, co-founder of Poster Girl, whose recent viral campaign featured influencer Cindy Kimberly wearing bright pink stockings and a cropped jacket across the streets of New York. “It takes confidence wearing hosiery alone, which you can see reflected in our customer base,” continues co-founder Natasha Somerville. Poster Girl’s core audience for lacey hosiery is primarily 18 to 34 years old.
Hosiery’s new style codes
Specialist label Heist Studios has seen a 27 per cent increase in sales of coloured tights versus 2022, says managing director Claire Breslin. “[Sales of] our fashion tights, which are seasonal, trend-driven collections such as Shimmer, Herringbone and Lace, have risen by 12 per cent,” she adds.
Likewise Sarah Shotton, the creative director of luxury lingerie brand Agent Provocateur, notes that their stocking sales have grown significantly in 2023, now accounting for 20 per cent of the total. “There was a time when it had died off. Now we can’t get enough hosiery in.” The brand is set to launch tights next year as a response to the growing demand.
“We saw coloured tights in a number of AW23 collections, including Gen Z favourites Gucci, Sandy Liang, Acne Studios and Miu Miu. The hosiery trend comes in time with a revival of a number of 2010s trends (including leggings as pants and peplums),” says Rooyakkers. She also notes that popular 2010s content like Gossip Girl — which often featured white or coloured tights on key characters — has seen a major boost on TikTok this past autumn. “#Gossipgirl has had one billion views on TikTok in the past 30 days, up 143 per cent in the past year,” she adds. Lead character Blair Waldorf’s infamous red tight look has been replicated in countless TikTok “GRWM” or “OOTD” videos.
Driving loyalty with innovation and subscriptions
With the trend showing no signs of slowing, those able to provide affordable, quality and on-trend tights and stockings are set to win big.
When Cecile Antier first moved to New York from France, where tights are a wardrobe staple, the then corporate lawyer noticed that there wasn’t an obvious brand that people went to for fashionable hosiery at a reasonable price point. “You’d either have to pay upwards of $80 for a decent pair, or $7 for a bad-quality pair that wouldn’t last you more than a couple wears,” she says. “I always wondered why there weren’t many good mid-market brands with good products and fun marketing.”
