Bye bye, tights that run and sag: new brands aim to disrupt the hosiery market

Tights have been a part of our wardrobe for centuries. They started as a men’s affair, but became a womenswear staple when hemlines started rising around the 1920s. Nylon and Lycra, invented by DuPont in the 1940s and 1950s respectively, contributed to make tights even more popular by conferring strength, elasticity and sheer to the garment. Today, the average British woman spends some 3,000 pounds (approximately 3,800 US dollars) on tights and pantyhose in her lifetime, according to an Asda survey from 2016. In the US, over 400 million pairs of tights and pantyhose were sold in 2018, according to Statista.