Julie Kegels spring/summer 2027: when tights become the trousers
Julie Kegels opened Paris Fashion Week with Apple of the Day: nude tights worn as trousers, leather cuffs on the thighs, white and cream legs, in at least 25 of 42 looks.
On Monday 28 September 2026, at 2:30 pm, Julie Kegels opened Paris Fashion Week with Apple of the Day, her spring/summer 2027 collection and her first since winning the 2026 LVMH Prize. Of the 42 looks in the gallery that WWD published with images courtesy of the brand, we count at least 25 with tights, stockings or socks, and in a handful of them the legwear is not an accessory but the trousers themselves. We went through the looks one by one, in the order they walked.
The collection: falling
Kegels, a Belgian designer, built the collection on gravity. According to FashionUnited, it starts from the habit of eating a Jonagold apple every day and from Isaac Newton's apple; dresses seem to slide off the shoulders, skirts fall towards the hips and trousers have an extremely low crotch, with small weights sewn into some pieces so the fabric falls "as low as possible around the body". Her own line, quoted by Dazed, runs: "Falling short. Falling under pressure. Falling into place. Falling in love."
The materials are as heavy and as light as the theme. Hypebae lists superorganza filled with pigments, sequin fragments and small styrofoam beads, edelweiss embroideries that hang heavily and tablecloth weights on the hems. NSS Magazine adds plastic dry-cleaning covers fitted with handles and used as bags, which are visible in the photos: a garment bag is carried in looks 10 and 22. The show was invitation-only and streamed digitally, according to the Paris schedule published by Sortiraparis.
Tights as trousers: looks 9, 12 and 20
This is the idea the press picked up. The Zoe Report writes that "stockings were styled as pants". NSS Magazine describes tights worn extremely low with an exaggerated sagging inseam, a nostalgic reference to the childhood memory of tights slipping down, and Hypebae speaks of nylon stockings with a crotch so deep they seem drawn towards the ground, paired with denim, jersey and tailoring.
In the photos it is clearest in three looks, all in nude tights with a sheer finish. In look 9 they are worn under a beige leather mini, in plain view from the hip, with a seam showing at the centre. In look 12 they appear below a short, lace-trimmed jacket tied with a mint ribbon, with a ruched seam running down the centre front. In look 20 they sit under an open dark coat. In all three the shoe is a pointed pump, beige in the first and mint in the other two.
Looks 9 and 12: nude tights under a leather mini and under a short lace-trimmed jacket. Photo: Julie Kegels, courtesy of the brand, via WWD.
Nude tights return as a more traditional layer in many other looks: with the pink structured dress in look 34, under the gold coat in look 24, with the white shirt dress in look 4, and under the lace and sheer dresses of looks 28 and 30. We counted nude or skin-toned pairs in about a dozen looks.
Looks 20 and 34. Photo: Julie Kegels, courtesy of the brand, via WWD.
Cuffs on the thighs: looks 9, 19 and 31
The press we read does not mention it, but the photos show a second detail: bands wrapped around the thigh, over the tights. In look 9 they are beige leather cuffs above the knees; in look 31 two black leather cuffs sit over dusty-rose tights, with black pointed pumps; in look 19 a beige patent band wraps the thigh of black tights under a black blazer.
Looks 31 and 19: a black leather cuff on dusty rose and a beige patent band on black. Photo: Julie Kegels, courtesy of the brand, via WWD.
White and cream: looks 3, 4, 8, 11, 36, 38 and 41
Light legs are the quiet signature of the show. White tights appear in looks 11, 36 and 41: with a beige chiffon mini and mint pumps, with a pale pink satin skirt and black loafers, and with a dark mini dress and mint flats. Cream tights appear in looks 3 and 8, and look 38 pairs a grey-blue skirt with cream socks and pale cut-out flats. In look 4 the cream is closer to a skin tone.
Looks 11 and 41: white tights with a chiffon mini and with a dark mini dress. Photo: Julie Kegels, courtesy of the brand, via WWD.
Dark and coloured: looks 13, 15, 18, 27, 31 and 42
Colour comes in tone-on-tone. Look 13 has dark brown sheer tights with a lilac-silver satin skirt and ivory ballet flats, look 27 dark brown tights under a lace mini, look 15 mauve opaques with a brown asymmetric skirt and black flats. Look 18 is black opaque tights with a navy dress, and the closing look 42, a black bustier dress with an embellished bodice, ends the show in black opaque tights and pale flats.
Looks 13 and 27: dark brown sheer tights. Photo: Julie Kegels, courtesy of the brand, via WWD.
Looks 38 and 42: cream socks, and the black opaque tights of the closing look. Photo: Julie Kegels, courtesy of the brand, via WWD.
In two looks we cannot tell: in look 21 a teal-sprayed organza skirt and in look 33 a sheer organza skirt leave the legs visible, and from the photos tights and bare legs are not distinguishable.
How to read these legs now
The photos do not say the denier, so we cannot give numbers: the nude pairs look sheer, the white and dark ones more opaque. To read the scale, see our denier guide. Three practical points:
- Size decides the effect. A low crotch and the waistband that has to stay put under a short top are the opposite of a pair that is too small: our size chart explains how to choose by height and weight, and the anatomy of tights names the gusset and the panty section that become visible here.
- Match the nude to your skin. Most nude pairs on this runway are skin-toned rather than tan: if the nude is too light or too dark the line of the tights shows.
- Check the fibre. Hypebae calls the runway pairs nylon; for what that means on a label, see what tights are made of.
For more of the season, read our Paris diary and the Milan report.
The photos
The numbering follows the WWD gallery of Julie Kegels spring/summer 2027, 42 looks with images credited as courtesy of the brand; look 1 is the grey trouser look with an orange belt and red pumps, and look 42 the black bustier dress. The photos in this article are from that gallery, with credit, and the look numbers are the gallery's. The count of 25 is ours, from the photos, and looks 21 and 33 are not included.
