Maxhosa Africa spring/summer 2027: diamond openwork tights with sneakers and knee socks, look by look

Laduma Ngxokolo showed the spring/summer 2027 collection of Maxhosa Africa on 28 September 2026 at the South African ambassador's residence in Paris, the label's first appearance on the official Paris Fashion Week schedule. According to AFP and Forbes Africa there were 54 looks; the gallery WWD published with images courtesy of the brand shows 46, and in 9 of them the legs are covered: 5 in patterned openwork tights, 4 in socks. We went through the photos one by one, in gallery order.

The collection: knitwear and Xhosa patterns

Maxhosa is a knitwear label. Reuters writes that the clothes are made at the brand's two knitting factories, in Johannesburg and East London, and that its geometric patterns "evoke traditional Xhosa beadwork"; it describes matching geometric-patterned knit ensembles of pleated skirts and button-down shirts, and a "catwalk of woven straw mats". Ngxokolo told Forbes Africa: "Knitwear is our strongest language." AFP mentions a wool dress with knitted tassels bearing the names of the continent's countries, and a black-and-grey outfit with a huge outline of Africa on the front. The eyewear was by Kenyan artist Cyrus Kabiru, and the live music by South African singer Sjava.

Ngxokolo told AFP: "I've been fighting to sit on the table for 16 years now." He also told Forbes Africa it was the first time the brand had shown its own footwear. None of the sources we read mentions tights or socks: what follows comes from the photos.

Diamond tights with sneakers: looks 6 and 28

The Maxhosa tights carry the same motif as the knitwear: a pale diamond openwork that, from the photos, looks knitted in rather than printed. In look 6 they are pale pink, under a black and white knit vest and shorts, with pink and silver sneakers and a small green check bag. In look 28 they are white, under a triangle top and a blue wavy knit skirt, with silver sneakers and a tassel hanging from the hand.

Looks 6 and 28: openwork tights with sneakers. Photo: courtesy of Maxhosa Africa, via WWD.

Look 15 repeats the idea with white openwork tights under a ruffled white and aqua knit skirt, with white sneakers.

With ballet flats: looks 27 and 40

Two looks change shoes. Look 27, the photo at the top, wears the white openwork tights under a pink knit polo dress, with white perforated ballet flats. Look 40 is the only dark pair in the show: sheer black with a small diamond motif, under a black and white knit polo and shorts, with black ankle-strap ballet flats.

Looks 27 and 40: the same tights in white and in black. Photo: courtesy of Maxhosa Africa, via WWD.

The men's socks: looks 24, 33, 36 and 45

The men's looks show their socks with knit Bermuda shorts. In look 24 they are white openwork, pulled to mid-calf, with a white polo, white shorts and silver sneakers; in look 36 they are black, ribbed and up to the knee, under a blue shirt and shorts, with blue, red and silver sneakers.

Looks 24 and 36: socks with sneakers. Photo: courtesy of Maxhosa Africa, via WWD.

In look 33 the sock is aqua, matching the shirt and shorts, with colourfully patterned loafers; in look 45 it is patterned turquoise, with a second ribbed brown sock showing above it, under striped knit shorts.

Looks 33 and 45: the sock in the colour of the outfit. Photo: courtesy of Maxhosa Africa, via WWD.

The other looks are bare-legged or in long trousers, with sneakers, loafers, sandals or pumps.

How to read these legs now

No source gives the yarn or the denier. Three practical points:

• Patterned tights with a sports shoe. Maxhosa pairs its most delicate openwork with sneakers, not heels: a way to wear it in the daytime. Another pale legwear idea of the season, with a flat shoe, is Jil Sander's white stirrup stockings.
• The same motif above and below. The diamond on the tights echoes the one in the knit. If the outfit already has a pattern, tights with a similar, smaller design hold the look together; a different one breaks it up.
• The sock in the colour of the outfit. On the men the sock picks up the colour of the shirt and shorts, as in looks 33 and 45: with shorts it bridges the outfit and the shoe. For the knee sock as the statement, see Kiko Kostadinov.

For more of the season, read our Paris diary and the look-by-looks of Hodakova, Vivienne Westwood, Celine, Kiko Kostadinov, Torishéju and Julie Kegels.

The photos

The numbering follows the WWD gallery of Maxhosa Africa spring/summer 2027, 46 images credited as courtesy of the brand; image 1 is the wavy-striped knit dress and image 46 the fringed black outfit. According to AFP and Forbes Africa the show had 54 looks: we have not seen the ones missing from the gallery. The photos in this article are from that gallery, with credit, and the look numbers are the gallery's. The count of 9 (5 with tights, 4 with socks) is ours, from the photos.