Taylor Swift wears nude tights under all her Eras Tour costumes—two pairs, in fact, for added coverage and shine. Just a few years ago, sheer nylons might have seemed outdated. However, more and more women are now wearing them as a trendy accessory.
Wiz Wakefield, 30, owns around 14 pairs of black tights and wears them daily during winter. “I prefer them relatively sheer because thicker, darker tights don’t look as appealing,” says Wakefield, a talent acquisition professional in New York. “But I don’t want them so sheer that they look inappropriate.”
Tights are making a stylish comeback, with the market growing fast, especially among young women, after years of flat sales. Once just for modesty, tights have turned into statement pieces. Models, musicians, and Hollywood stars now wear tights as pants, and the trend is spreading. Now, a legacy brand that once led the pantyhose market aims to dominate this hosiery revival.
L’eggs, the go-to drugstore brand for women, is relaunching with a new line of shapewear tights made from recycled yarns. These tights come in colors like red and brown, plus trendy patterns like leopard and lace, all designed to attract younger shoppers.
Created by a Hanes executive, L’eggs launched in 1969, quickly becoming iconic for its unique plastic, egg-shaped packaging.
Sold in drugstores and supermarkets, L’eggs provided affordable, convenient pantyhose for women entering the workforce in the 1970s and ’80s. Long before “shapewear” was a term, L’eggs offered compression and control tops. By the mid-1980s, the brand’s revenue had reached nine figures.
In the 1990s, the barelegged trend took off. By the 2000s, pantyhose became a generational marker: while some older women wore them to work, most younger colleagues chose to go barelegged. Shapewear brands like Spanx and Skims, launched in 2000 and 2018, introduced more smoothing options, making control-top pantyhose feel outdated.
For some women, nude nylons still feel out of place in modern wardrobes.
Anastasia Kenworthy, 30, a business development manager in New York, laughed when asked if she ever wears nude nylons. “Never,” she replied, noting that Taylor Swift is the only person she can think of who actually pulls them off.
“I associate them with grannies,” said Charlotte Jones, a 29-year-old project manager in London.
L’eggs is working to change that perception. Although its original egg packaging is displayed at the Museum of Modern Art, the brand’s owners aim for it to be more than just a style artifact.
Last year, Hanesbrands sold L’eggs to the private equity firm Windsong Global. CEO and chairman Bill Sweedler hired Cami Téllez as executive creative director and board advisor in January to modernize the brand. Téllez co-founded the underwear company Parade in 2019, which was acquired in 2023, and she left earlier this year. Known as a Gen-Z whisperer, she initially sent her brand’s colorful briefs to micro-influencers, turning their photos into social media flexes. Now, Téllez aims to introduce L’eggs to a younger audience.
The brand’s relaunch coincides with a pivotal moment for the tights market. According to the marketing research firm Circana, hosiery sales in the U.S. reached $1 billion in 2023, with an 18% increase this year so far. Notably, sales among 18- to 24-year-olds have surged by 76%.
Brands are noticing increased interest from a younger demographic. Nordstrom associate fashion director Linda Cui Zhang stated that colorful and patterned tights, along with knee-high stockings, have gained popularity among younger customers. They are drawn to creative styling, such as wearing socks over tights or pairing tights with sandals. In response to this demand, the department store has expanded its offerings to include a variety of textures, colors, and embellished styles.
Charlie Nichols, president of L’eggs, stated that to stay relevant, the company now refers to all its hosiery options as “tights” instead of “pantyhose.”
“One of the things we needed to do quickly is change the brand’s optics,” he said.
The brand’s first new offering, called 360 Contour tights, will be available in the coming weeks. These tights are designed to evoke modern shapewear rather than the control-top pantyhose of the past. Téllez, in collaboration with the design firm Family Office, designed all the packaging. “Each one is like its own piece of art,” she said. The new campaign imagery showcases women of various sizes, ages, and races, with some styled according to the no-pants trend, where tights are worn as bottoms.
Nichols noted that traditional nude, sheer tights continue to sell well, with sales on the rise. Téllez compared them to tinted moisturizer for your legs.
L’eggs is currently available in nearly 30,000 drugstores and grocery stores. It will debut in 1,800 Target locations next spring, along with Kohl’s and other smaller chains.
“Today, tights have evolved into a powerful form of self-expression in fashion, and we’re seeing them on the runway,” said Téllez, highlighting brands like Fendi, Miu Miu, and Sandy Liang. “We’re excited to continue bridging the gap between the runway and the streets more quickly.”
