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When it comes to hosiery, there’s no designer more daring than Emilio Cavallini. Don’t expect boring, opaque black or monotone, sheer nude. Instead, try colorful tattoo and flashy studs. The legendary Italian label took ordinary tights to a new height during the label’s fall 2013 presentation that took place Feb. 24 to 26 at the Javits Center in Midtown.
The collection, which was inspired by Cavallini’s passion for the art world, can stand as a master artwork on its own. Split into six distinct styles, it provided the variety that customers look for.
“This collection goes all around the world,” said Francesco Cavallini, vice president of the company. “It fulfills every woman and her individual needs.”
Contemporary options included patterned black-and-white styles that tap into a popular fall trend and crazy printed tights in exotic animal prints mixed with bold florals. For something a bit more classic, Cavallini incorporated original styles from the label’s launch in the ’80s and charming openwork styles. The most recent portion of the collection was dedicated solely to evening tights. Think luxuriously sexy options with crystals and burlesque-inspired designs featuring delicate embroidery.
But the main standout of the collection was not the women’s hosiery. Cavallini is best known for his “mantyhose,” a term that refers to the male equivalent of female pantyhose.
“The category really grew organically,” Cavallini said. “When we launched our e-commerce site, we began to notice that tights in size medium-large were quite often being purchased by men.”
In response, the label decided to revolutionize the male hosiery world altogether by taking a pair of traditional pantyhose and altering it to fit the needs of a new customer group. Namely, a different yarn is used for more breathability and a higher level of elasticity is applied to ensure flexibility.
“Men wear them with shorter pants and shorts or with worn-out jeans with holes in them,” said Lisa Cavallini, the president of Mostlytights LLC, Cavallini legwear’s distributor in North America.
“On the practical side, they add a layer of comfort and warmth, especially in the winter,” she said.
CAS freshman Dextor Choi tried on a pair of mantyhose to determine their practicality.
“They’re unbelievably stretchy and it doesn’t feel compressive, which wasn’t what I was expecting,” Choi said. “I would even wear these for sports activities like bicycling.”
Emilio Cavallini’s entire fall 2013 collection, priced from $20 to $52, will be in department stores such as Bloomingdale’s and Henri Bendel. Check out their e-commerce website shop.emiliocavallini.com for more information on all things hosiery.
Marina Zheng is a staff writer. Email her at [email protected].