Fendi spring/summer 2027: fishnet knee socks with jewelled sandals and ribbed socks with heels

On Wednesday 23 September 2026, at 2 pm, at the house's headquarters on via Solari 35 in Milan, Fendi presented its spring/summer 2027 collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri's second show for the maison. The runway was a mirrored box: the models walked inside it and the reflections multiplied the clothes and the audience. In a collection built on lingerie, the legs are dressed in more than thirty of the 70 looks documented by the official gallery of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, and always in two ways: a fishnet or sheer knee sock with a jewelled sandal, a ribbed black sock with a heel. We went through them one by one, in the order they walked.

The collection: lingerie comes out into the open

The starting point is a line by E. E. Cummings, "I like my body when it is with you", reported by Sky TG24, and a television image: Raffaella Carrà and Adriano Celentano in the mirrored studio of Milleluci, in 1974. The space, Mediaset Infinity writes, was a "runway set with mirrors, inspired by Luciano Fabro's Cubo"; for W Magazine the models "paraded inside a semi-transparent mirrored box", with their reflections that "multiplied across the surfaces and mingled with those of the audience".

Inside, underwear was the outfit. "Lace-trimmed bras appear under tailored waistcoats and low-cut dresses, boxers become shorts and slips turn into real dresses", Wondernet writes. Chiuri, quoted by Mediaset Infinity, described lingerie as "among the things we wear, the one closest to our body", and explained the choice of Carrà this way: "besides having a great sense of fashion, she had a great perception of her body". To 10 Magazine she said that "fashion is shaped by the body" and that "for me, Fendi is about this lightness".

On the legs, the most attentive account is Moda & Motori Magazine's: "The knee socks on show accompany the lingerie under soft overcoats", and "the knee sock is a particularly effective detail to observe. It interrupts the continuity of the leg and makes visible a choice that usually stays hidden under trousers". Mediaset Infinity notes "sheer knee socks" and "sandals with a sock"; W Magazine, describing the pistachio silk bralette and boxer-short set, lists "fishnet knee socks, and jeweled thong sandals, because why not?".

The fishnet knee sock with a jewelled sandal

The formula is the same for the whole first part of the show: a piece of lingerie on top, a knee sock below, a jewelled sandal on the feet. The black fishnet knee sock appears under the mint-green silk boxer set with its bra, worn with a black overcoat, and under a cream slip trimmed with lace. It returns with a short black bodysuit, legs bare up to the knee, and with a dark green fur jacket open over a slip. Under a long dress worked in camel and black diamonds, it is fishnet again.

The fishnet knee sock with a jewelled sandal: under the mint-green silk boxer set and under the cream slip.

The sheer version follows the same logic. A pink bra and boxer set, with a cardigan, is worn with sheer black knee socks and sandals; a yellow fur jacket with a bra, shortly after, with the same knee socks. Later, a yellow chiffon top with black shorts and a black fur jacket over a slip end the same way: sheer black up to the knee, open sandal. The top of the knee sock always stays in view, a few centimetres below the knee.

The sheer knee sock: with the pink boxer set and with the yellow chiffon top and black shorts.

Fishnet under the black bodysuit and under the green fur: the legs stay bare from the knee up.

The ribbed black sock with a heel

The second rule runs through the whole show, from the first look to the last. A ribbed black ankle sock goes into a lace-up stiletto sandal, often in leopard print, or into a pointed pump with studs. It opens this way: a white top with lace-hemmed black shorts and, on the feet, black socks and leopard sandals laced at the ankle. The nude slip, the rust slip, the black dress with a slit, the black knit dress: all end with the sock and the leopard heel.

The ribbed black sock with a leopard lace-up sandal: in the opening look and with the black slit dress.

In the second half the shoe changes and the sock does not: the sheer lace trousers with zigzag motifs and the black studded dress are worn with black socks and black pointed pumps, the upper edged with studs. The white and black silk dresses with fringe, the leather jacket over the lamé skirt, the black lace bodysuit and the leather shorts end the same way. The sock also appears in the men's looks, with derbies and with sneakers.

The ribbed sock with a pointed pump: under the sheer lace trousers and under the black studded dress.

Fishnet under lace

There is a third version, less obvious: fishnet covering the whole leg under the transparent dresses. A long black lace dress, open at the front, shows the leg in fishnet down to the jewelled sandal; the same under a floral lace dress on a dark ground and under a rust chiffon slip. Here the hosiery does not interrupt the leg, as the knee sock does: it doubles it, sheer over sheer.

Fishnet under lace: with the long black lace dress and with the sheer lace dress.

The fishnet knee sock under the diamond dress and the sheer knee sock with the black fur, always with a sandal.

With jeans and with trousers the rule breaks: the foot stays bare in a flat sandal, or goes into a sneaker with a sock. The knee sock belongs with lingerie, slips and short dresses; the ribbed sock with everything else.

How to read these legs now

Three pairings from the show can be repeated right away. The first is the black fishnet knee sock with a sandal and a short skirt or silk shorts: the top must stay in view below the knee. The second is the ribbed black sock inside a pointed pump or a heeled sandal, with a calf-length dress or cigarette trousers. The third is the sheer knee sock, 15 or 20 denier, with shorts: the easiest version to wear in daylight. For deniers, our guide explains what changes. The context of the week is in the Milan Fashion Week report; Dolce&Gabbana's sheer sock with a jewelled sandal and Elisabetta Franchi's tights as a second skin are Milan's other two answers to the same question.

The photographs

The images in this article are those of the official gallery of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, 71 photographs in the order of the show, the last being Maria Grazia Chiuri's bow. The link to the full gallery is below.

Photos: Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, official gallery of the Fendi spring/summer 2027 show.