Wolford Stockings

During the 1990s, the magazine 20 Ans queried Emmanuelle Alt, “What are your top 10 fashion favorites?” We all wanted to know. At number two on her list of favorites: "Des collants noirs en microfibre Wolford (à cause d'une sublime campagne de Newton)" or in English, “Black stockings by Wolford (because of the sublime campaign by Newton).” And by Newton, Ms. Alt meant Helmut Newton, of course, the famed photographer whose fashion work is ironically best known for the nudity. Helmut Newton’s photographs dramatically cast long-legged Amazonian models in black and white. They titillate us with provocative poses — they wear their sexuality on their sleeves. Or maybe "sleeves" is not the right place...

We all know that sex sells and when it came time to sell luxury pantyhose, Newton was the perfect photographer for the job. The Wolford campaign features leggy blond beauties dressed in nothing more than black bras, Wolford stockings, and shiny black pumps. Their faces were hidden, their perky posteriors were not. Who could forget the image of a pair of leggy beauties embracing by the sea? Or the one of the blond bobbed femme fatale clad in a Wolford bodysuit, thigh-highs, and those now familiar black pumps, face hidden once again, holding a gun behind her back...

No matter how erotic an ad campaign is, $45 is still a lot of money to spend on a pair of stockings but Wolford has legions of devoted fans who readily buy in bulk for the season. The sex brings them into the store and the quality keeps them coming. Wolford pantyhose are insanely comfortable and at the same time iron-clad, justifying the steep price tag.

Wolford stockings are so iron-clad that women who never even noticed the Newton campaign in the 90s proudly proclaim, “I wore Wolford before anyone knew about Wolford.” Legions of women proclaim this, in fact, which translates as, “I wore Wolford before my friends knew about it and at the time they thought I was nuts to spend $45 on a pair of pantyhose... but now they do it too.”

And so does Emmanuelle Alt.

Wolford advertising campaign by Helmut Newton images © Wolford. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

[Lori]

They last forever and fit really well.

[kellina]

Lori, which type are your favorite(s)?

[dara]

i so enjoyed reading this eloquent article on wolford tights...thank you for incorporating the company's history with these brilliant helmut newton images. I too love wolford tights...I even find the store itself intriguing especially the door handles...they actually feature legs as handles. i think emmanuelle alt and the late helmut newton would also enjoy that. at any rate, another great article, kate!!!!

[Lee]

Kate, as always, so fun & informative. I love these images, esp. the first - the way the word "up" is arranged ;-)

[Kate]

That "Up" image is so cool!

Ok, so my favorite Wolford stocking is called "Satin De Lux", in black. It is very opaque, but with a luxurious sheen and has a seam sewn up the back. Divine!!