Vivienne Westwood spring/summer 2027: crystal mesh tights and striped sports socks, look by look

Andreas Kronthaler showed his spring/summer 2027 collection for Vivienne Westwood, titled Body & Soul, at the Palais de la Femme in Paris, a historic Salvation Army residence and shelter, as ELLE describes it in its 4 October 2026 piece; A Hand Tailored Suit adds that the building is celebrating its centenary this year. In the gallery WWD published with images courtesy of the brand, we count 58 looks, and most legs are bare or in sandals and gladiator boots. The covered ones are few, 8 by our count, but they are some of the most noticeable on the runway. We went through the looks one by one, in the order they walked.

The collection: a nightshirt summer

Kronthaler told ELLE that the starting point was the summer just gone: "My biggest point of reference was this summer," and "Clothes, I just didn't wear any. I wore a nightshirt." The aim was for everything to be "as light as possible"; he bought fabric "as much as I could carry on my bike", and he explained the "cheat jacket", which "only has good fabric in the front". Another line from the same interview explains the backs left open or undone: "Sometimes I think the back is more important than the front. Because in the back, we are all the same."

Vanity Teen and A Hand Tailored Suit both call the collection Body & Soul, and A Hand Tailored Suit quotes the question in the show notes: "What will clothes become?" None of the reviews we read mentions tights or socks.

Crystal mesh and a sheer stocking: looks 38 and 41

Look 38, the photo at the top, is the most striking pair of legs in the show: tights in a fine mesh studded with small crystals, worn as the only thing on the legs over a blue swimsuit with red lightning bolts, under a long embroidered green coat with a fringed edge, with black cut-out cowboy boots on a high platform.

Look 41 goes the opposite way: a white satin draped dress lifted at the side shows a sheer black stocking with a darker welt at the top of the thigh, with black peep-toe pumps. From the photo the welt is visible, but we cannot say whether it is a hold-up or a stocking on a suspender.

Looks 38 and 41: crystal mesh tights and a sheer black stocking. Photo: courtesy of Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood, via WWD.

Dark tights: look 36

Look 36 wears dark brown, almost opaque tights under a sheer mauve dress, with dark peep-toe pumps. Look 44, next to it in the photo below, is the menswear counterpart: navy socks with red and blue stripes at the top, lightning-bolt swim briefs over denim shorts and black boots.

Looks 36 and 44. Photo: courtesy of Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood, via WWD.

Striped sports socks: looks 17, 23, 25, 44 and 55

The sock is the recurring piece: a sports sock with red and blue stripes at the top, in navy or white, worn by women and men. In look 23 it is navy and pulled up to the knee, under a blue satin shirt dress, with leopard slippers; in look 55 the same navy knee sock comes with a red lace mini, a fuzzy black top and silver ankle boots.

Looks 23 and 55: navy knee socks with striped tops. Photo: courtesy of Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood, via WWD.

The white version comes with the lace-up ballet shoes that run through the show, black with ties wrapped around the ankle and a navy toe. In look 17 the socks are worn slouched, one pulled up and one pushed down, under a fringed tweed mini; in look 25 they are pulled up on tattooed legs, under a white tunic lifted with both hands.

Looks 17 and 25: white sports socks with lace-up ballet shoes. Photo: courtesy of Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood, via WWD.

The same lace-up ballet shoes appear on bare legs in looks 15, 46, 49 and 54. In look 56 the legs under a leopard dress are dark, but from the photo we cannot tell tights from bare skin, and we did not count it.

How to read these legs now

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

• Crystal mesh works as the whole outfit for the legs. In look 38 there is no skirt: the tights go straight over a swimsuit. The same idea works with a short coat or a long jacket; keep the rest plain. For fishnets in general, see our guide on how to wear fishnet tights.
• A sports sock with a ballet flat. The Westwood combination is a striped sports sock pulled up, with a flat lace-up shoe: for socks with heels instead, see Paris street style with socks and heels.
• Showing the welt. Look 41 lets the top of the stocking show under a lifted dress: if you want the effect, choose a stocking with a darker welt, which reads as a deliberate line.

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

The photos

The numbering follows the WWD gallery of Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood spring/summer 2027, 58 images credited as courtesy of the brand; look 1 is the leopard print dress with gladiator boots and look 58 the yellow satin gown. The photos in this article are from that gallery, with credit, and the look numbers are the gallery's. The count of 8 (3 with tights or stockings, 5 with socks) is ours, from the photos; look 56 is not included.