by Leonore Dicker
Fashion is something adored by so many, all over the world, which means that creatives from different cultures and nations get involved every day in this chic form of art. Although I am a true believer of “the more, the merrier”, it can sometimes get tricky, especially when it comes to pronouncing names!
Have you ever found yourself wearing a gorgeous dress at a dinner party, when all of a sudden someone asked you where it was from, and you felt silly realizing that you had no idea how to pronounce that designer’s name? Welcome to the club.
In order to make things slightly easier for you, and spare you the embarrassment of having to ask around, here is a phonetic list of some of the industry’s trickiest designer names:
Ann Demeulemeester : ann deh-moo-la-mee-ster
Andrew Gn: Andrew jen
Anya Hindmarch: ahn-ya heind-march
Badgley Mischka: badge-lee meesh-kah
Balenciaga: bah-len-see-aga
Balmain: bahl-mahn
Bottega Veneta: bo-tega ven-e-ta
Bulgari: ball-gah-ree
Burberry Prorsum: bur-bur-ree proar-some
Cacharel: cash-er-rel
Carolina Herrera: caro-leena hair-era
Chanel: shuh-nel
Christian Dior: christian dee-yor
Christian Louboutin: christian loo-boo-tin
Comme des Garçons: comb-day gar-son
Dolce & Gabbana: dole-chey and gab-ana
Dries Van Noten: dreeze van know-ten
DSquared2: dee squared
Emilio Pucci: ee-mee-lee-oh pu-chee
Etienne Aigner: eh-tee-yen on-yay
Fendi: fend-ee
Gareth Pugh: gareth pew
Giambattista Valli: gee-am-bah-tease-ta valley
Gianfranco Ferré: gee-ahn-franco feh-reh
Giles Deacon: jy-els dee-kin
Givenchy: zjee-von-shee
Gucci: goo-chi
Guy Laroche: ghee la-roash
Hermès: air-mez
Hervé Léger: air-veh leh-jeh
Issey Miyake: iss-ee mee-yah-kee
Jean Paul Gaultier: john-paul go-tee-ay
Junya Watanabe: June-ya wah-tah-nah-bay
Lanvin: Lon-vahn
Loewe: low-wev-eh
Louis Vuitton: loo-ee vee-ton
L’Wren Scott: la-ren scott
Maison Martin Margiela: meh-son mar-tin mar-gel-ah
Marchesa: mar-kay-sa
Mary Katrantzou: mary cat-trant-zoo
Missoni: miss-own-ee
Miu Miu: mew mew
Monique Lhuillier: mo-neek le-hu-lee-eh
Moschino: mo-skeen-o
Narciso Rodriguez: nar-siss-so ro-dree-gez
Nicolas Ghesquière: ni-cola guess-ki-air
Prabal Gurung: prub-ble ger-rung
Proenza Schouler: pro-en-zuh skool-er
Raf Simons: raf sim-ons
Rochas: row-shah
Rodarte: ro-dart-teh
Roksanda Ilincic: rok-sand-ah ill-in-chik
Salvatore Ferragamo: sal-va-toh-reh fair-a-gah-moe
Sonia Rykiel: son-ya reek-yel
Swarovski: swore-off-ski
Thakoon: tah-koon
Theyskens Theory: tay-skins theory
Thierry Mugler: tee-ree moog-l-err
Versace: ver-sah-chee
Vionnet: vee-oh-nay
Yves Saint Laurent: eve san lau-ron
Yohji Yamamoto: yo-jee yam-ah-mo-to
Zac Posen: zac poe-zen
Anyone you feel we’ve missed? Give us a shout on our Twitter or Facebook page and we’ll get right back to you with the correct pronunciation!
