Noir Kei Ninomiya spring/summer 2027: black and white socks with studded shoes, look by look
Under Makoto Azuma's flowers, Noir Kei Ninomiya put socks almost everywhere: black with black studded shoes, white with white ones, in 35 of 37 looks.
Kei Ninomiya showed the spring/summer 2027 Noir collection in Paris. In the gallery WWD published with images courtesy of the brand, we count 37 looks, and in 35 of them the socks are visible: black with black studded platform shoes, white with the same shoes in white. In the other two the legs are hidden by the dress. Only one look adds a sheer pair of tights. We went through the looks one by one, in the order they walked.
The collection: a "petal rebellion"
Backstage, Lily Templeton writes in WWD, Ninomiya explained the collection as a "petal rebellion", and called the blooms coming out of his silhouettes "a kind of armor of peace". The flowers were made with floral artist Makoto Azuma, with whom the designer had worked before. WWD describes pearl-strung fringes that "swayed like weeping willows", playing cards in plexiglass worn as harnesses and "something of a punk-rock Alice in Wonderland", and notes that under the ephemeral constructions was "one of Noir's most straightforward collections on the clothing front": motorcycle jackets, blazers and shirts softened by pearls, bows and ruffles.
A Shaded View on Fashion points out that the flowers are real, so "this armour is fragile", and that below the crowns "black and white hold the ground". That is exactly what the legs do.
The shoes: Grenson and Haruta
WWD singles out the shoes as the easiest part of the collection to adopt, made in collaborations with Grenson, from the UK, and Haruta, from Japan. In the photos they have thick soles and uppers covered in studs, some with a Mary Jane strap, and on the runway they always come with a sock in the same colour: black with black, white with white. No source says who made the socks.
Black socks: looks 3 and 13
The black sock is short, just above the ankle, and goes with the black studded shoe. In look 3 it sits under a black tulle skirt and a strapped leather biker jacket; in look 13 under a black skirt with gathered ruffles and an eyelet belt. The same pairing returns in 21 looks, almost all black.
Looks 3 and 13: black sock, black studded shoe. Photo: courtesy of Noir Kei Ninomiya, via WWD.
White socks: looks 10 and 16
The white sock is the same short sock, often slouched at the ankle, with the white studded Mary Jane. In look 10 it is under a white tulle skirt, with the body wrapped in green stems; in look 16 under a black tiered skirt: here the white sock does not follow the outfit, it follows the shoe. We count it in 14 looks.
Looks 10 and 16: white sock, white studded shoe. Photo: courtesy of Noir Kei Ninomiya, via WWD.
The tights and the ruffles: looks 1 and 22
Two looks go further. Look 1, which opens the show with the pearl fringes, is the only one with tights: sheer black, with the black sock and studded shoe on top. In look 22, the photo at the top, the black sock is covered by black tulle ruffles that climb to the knee like leg warmers, under a black jacket with chains and a puffball skirt.
Looks 1 and 22: tights plus socks, and tulle ruffles. Photo: courtesy of Noir Kei Ninomiya, via WWD.
In looks 8 and 31 the dress reaches the floor and the legs are not visible.
How to read these legs now
No source gives the yarn or the denier. Three practical points:
- The sock follows the shoe, not the dress. Black with the black shoe, white with the white one, even under a black skirt as in look 16. It is a simple rule for showing socks with a heavy shoe.
- A sock over tights. Look 1 puts a short sock over sheer tights in the same colour: with a chunky shoe the sock fills the shoe and the tights keep the leg dark.
- Ruffles at the ankle. The tulle ruffles of look 22 do the job of a leg warmer. For the sock as the statement with a flat shoe, see also Kiko Kostadinov and Maxhosa Africa; with a heel, Paris street style with socks and heels.
For more of the season, read our Paris diary and the look-by-looks of Hodakova, Vivienne Westwood, Celine, Torishéju and Julie Kegels.
The photos
The numbering follows the WWD gallery of Noir Kei Ninomiya spring/summer 2027, 37 images credited as courtesy of the brand; look 1 is the pearl-fringed dress and look 37 the white ruffled plastic dress with flowers at the hem. The photos in this article are from that gallery, with credit, and the look numbers are the gallery's. The count of 35 (21 with black socks, one of them over tights, and 14 with white socks) is ours, from the photos.
