Valentino spring/summer 2027: red socks, sheer socks and pale blue tights with marabou, look by look

Alessandro Michele showed Valentino's spring/summer 2027 collection in Paris on 4 October 2026, under the iron arches of the Sainte-Geneviève Library in the Latin Quarter, as Joelle Diderich writes in WWD. In WWD's gallery we count 81 looks, and in 10 of them the legs are dressed: almost always with a sock, sheer nude, ribbed cream or red, and in three looks with opaque pale blue or white tights over marabou mules. It is a long way from the total pink of 2022. The photos below are from Getty Images; the look numbers are those of WWD's gallery.

The collection: the antilibrary

Guests were asked to bring a book to donate. Michele, WWD writes, was inspired by the "antilibrary", the term Umberto Eco coined for a collection of unread books, and compared it to the clothes sitting idle in his wardrobe: "There is something that I like in the idea of having in my closet that beautiful piece that I'm probably never going to wear." The collection swings between statement ballgowns, like a fuchsia satin column with a huge pleated pink rosette train, and an off-kilter take on bourgeois daywear: '80s power blazers with lace cycling shorts, jewel-toned satin bustiers with tasselled and embroidered skirts, harem pants tucked into sequined boots.

WWD does not mention hosiery. We counted it in the photos.

Sheer nude socks with jewelled pumps

The first dressed legs come early. In looks 2 and 8 the hosiery is a sheer nude sock, ruched at the ankle, with a pointed black pump set with stones: under a lilac lace dress in look 2, under a green dress with a feathered hem in look 8. It is the most delicate detail of the show: the sock only shows because it gathers.

Ribbed cream socks

In looks 58 and 64 the sock is cream and ribbed, again with the black jewelled pump: under an embroidered lace skirt in 58, under black lace cycling shorts in 64. In look 24, menswear, the same sock has green stripes at the top and comes with black loafers and navy shorts.

Red socks with lace-ups

The red sock is menswear: in looks 27 and 56 it goes with black woven lace-ups, under cropped grey striped and black trousers. It is the brightest colour Michele puts on the legs.

Pale blue and white tights with marabou

The only full tights are opaque and pale, and always come with marabou feather mules. In look 34 they are pale blue, under a saffron coat, with pale blue mules; in look 35 they just show at the ankle under a long lilac lace gown; in look 68 they are white, under a black coat, with pink marabou mules.

The other looks are bare-legged, in trousers or in boots; in look 37 the legs are glossy but bare.

How to read these legs now

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

• A sheer sock with a jewelled shoe. A nude sock ruched at the ankle with a precious pump is the lightest way to wear hosiery in spring. The same gesture, in black, was at Dolce&Gabbana.
• Pale opaque tights with a soft shoe. Pale blue or white, opaque tights under a long coat become a full colour; a feather mule makes them evening.
• Red only at the ankle. A red sock with a black lace-up is the easiest way to wear red on the legs; for full red tights, see London street style in red tights.

For more of the season, read our Paris Fashion Week report; Valentino's all-pink 2022, tights included, is covered in colourful tights.

The photos

The photos on this page are embedded from Getty Images and stay on Getty's servers with their credit. The count of 10 of 81 looks (2 sheer nude socks, 3 cream, 2 red, 3 opaque tights) is ours, made on WWD's gallery of the show, whose numbering we follow.