Reverie by Caroline Hu spring/summer 2027: sheer white and nude tights with small black ants, look by look

Caroline Hu showed her spring/summer 2027 collection for Reverie by Caroline Hu during Paris Fashion Week. The 12 images in the WWD gallery, all courtesy of the brand, are shot in a room with dark wood panelling, marble pilasters and herringbone parquet. In 6 of 12 images the legs wear tights or stockings: sheer white or nude, almost always scattered with small black insects that look like ants, sometimes cut off above the knee by a wide band. The shoes are sheer ballet flats and pointed slippers, some with the same ants on the toes. We went through them one by one.

The collection: a fairy tale in a decaying castle

Tianwei Zhang writes in WWD that the collection, presented in a show format, was inspired by a 2,000-word fairy tale Hu wrote herself: a girl leaves home, enters a decaying castle and becomes trapped in a strange world. "I use things as metaphors for the environment I'm in and for what's happening around me," the designer explained during a walk-through.

According to WWD, the story becomes patchworked fabrics "punctuated with ant-like beadwork", pannier dresses with Sophie Hallette lace, lines from the tale hand-embroidered onto the garments, and the image of a girl holding an apple while riding a flying horse. Hu cited "Interview With the Vampire" as a reference for the atmosphere: "I wanted the finished work to look romantic and beautiful, not simply broken or ruined." The tale has an open ending, like her own moment: "I'm waiting for all kinds of things, including opportunities." WWD also notes a more practical side, with tailoring, outerwear and trousers.

The insects on the legs echo the beadwork WWD describes on the clothes: in the photos the same small black ants climb the white jacket in look 1, the coat in look 9 and the tights. From the photos it is not possible to tell whether on the tights they are printed, embroidered or appliquéd.

Sheer white with ants: looks 5 and 11

The clearest pair is in look 5: a white dress with a torn, asymmetric chiffon skirt, lifted at the side, over sheer white tights. A dozen small black ants climb from the ankle up to the knee, a few on one leg, more on the other. The shoes are white ballet flats in a sheer fabric gathered at the edge, with the same ants on the toes.

Look 11 is the only image with two models, seated side by side. On the left, a white ruffled dress with fringed panels, sheer white tights with an ant just below the knee and white lace heels. On the right, the same dress in powder pink, nude tights with a trail of black ants running down the thigh and calf, and black and silver pointed pumps.

Looks 5 and 11: the ants on sheer white and on nude. Photo: courtesy of Reverie by Caroline Hu, via WWD.

Stockings above the knee: looks 3 and 8

In two looks the leg stops above the knee. In look 8, the photo at the top, an embroidered black cropped top, a black mini skirt with a pale tulle ruffle and a very long open train of tiered tulle leave the legs in full view: nude sheer stockings, ending mid-thigh with a wide flat band in the same colour, without lace. The ants are here too, on the band and all the way down the leg to the ankle. The shoes are black and silver ballet flats. From the photo it is not possible to tell whether the band holds them up on its own or whether they are worn with something else.

In look 3 a huge ivory satin bow on the shoulder, a long black coat and a short white skirt with ruffles. The visible leg wears a pale stocking, sheer and slightly pink, with a band above the knee; beside it hangs a grey tube with a black hem, perhaps a trouser leg (from the photo it is not clear). The black ballet flats are embroidered in white with handwritten words, "dream", "always": lines from the tale, like the ones WWD describes on the clothes.

Looks 3 and 8: stockings that stop above the knee. Photo: courtesy of Reverie by Caroline Hu, via WWD.

Nude under the lace, white under the black: looks 1 and 7

Look 1 opens the gallery: a white jacket with patchwork and black beaded ants, cropped trousers wrapped in black lines and ending in ivory lace frills below the knee. Below the frills the legs are in sheer nude tights, with a small black ant on the ankle, and the shoes are pointed white slippers, flat, in a lace that looks crumpled.

Look 7 is the darkest image: a white sleeveless top over a full skirt of black tulle and organza in layers. Underneath, the legs are white and opaque, the only ones in the collection, with a clear line at the ankle: perhaps a sock over tights, or two layers of different weight; from the photo it is not possible to tell. The shoes are the same black flats with handwritten white embroidery and loose threads as in look 3.

Looks 1 and 7: nude under the lace, white under the black. Photo: courtesy of Reverie by Caroline Hu, via WWD.

Where the legs disappear

In the other six images the legs are hidden or almost. In looks 6, 10 and 12 the dresses reach the floor, with trains of chiffon, tulle and embroidered linen. In looks 2, 4 and 9 only the ankles show, above the pointed white slippers or the sheer ballet flats with ants: they look bare or in very light nude, and from the photos it is not possible to say. We left them out of the count. There are no fishnets, no socks and no coloured tights.

How to read these legs now

No source names the brand or the denier of the tights. Three practical takeaways:

• Decorated sheer white. A light sheer white tight with a small motif scattered here and there, not in a regular pattern, reads as romantic rather than bridal. To choose the transparency there is our guide to denier; for another tight with a single decoration on the leg there is MM6 Maison Margiela.
• The band above the knee. A nude stocking that stops mid-thigh with a wide flat band, in full view under a short skirt and an open train, makes the end of the stocking part of the look. For stockings that show their top through a slit there is Marie Adam-Leenaerdt.
• Tights and ballet flats in the same idea. In look 5 the ants on the tights continue onto the sheer ballet flats: the shoe and the tights are thought of together, in the same pale colour.

For the rest of the season there is our Paris Fashion Week round-up.

The photos

Numbering follows WWD's Reverie by Caroline Hu spring/summer 2027 gallery, 12 images credited as courtesy of the brand; look 11 shows two models. The photos in this article come from that gallery, with credit. The count of 6 of 12 images with tights or stockings is ours, from the photos.