TONGUE TIED: Designer Pronunciation Key
Parlez-vous fashion?
If you’ve been avoiding an haute couture [oat ko-tour] purchase because you fear a fashion mis-statement, then follow along for a phonetic tutorial.
No need to memorize the lot…you’ll always be able to find this list stored in our post archives, just to the right of this blog, as a long-term reference guide.
I consider it a dynamic, ever-growing list. So, if you have a pronunciation request, please send a note via the comment section below.
Go forth, child of style, and be confident with that tricky designer vocab.
A
Atelier: Ah-tell-ee-ay
Abaeté: Ah-bye-ah-tay
Alber Elbaz of Lanvin: Al-bear El-bah
Agnès B: Ahn-yes Beh
Arthur Mendonça: Arthur Men-doe-sa
Ann Demeulemeester: Ann Deh-moo-lah-mee-ster
Allessandro Dell’Acqua: Ala-sand-dro Del-la-kwa
Alejandro Ingelmo: Allay-handro In-gel-mo
Andrew Gn: Andrew Jen
Azzedine Alaïa: Azza-deen Alah-ya
Arthur Mendonça: Ar-thur Men-doe-sa
Alessandro Dell'Acqua: Ala-sand-roe del-la-kwa
Anna Sui: An-na Swee [avoid: Soo-ee]
B
Bvlgari- Bool-gah-ree
Bally: Bah-li
Byblos: Beeb-los
Boucheron: Boo-ke-ron
Baume & Mercier: Bom-ee Mer-SEE-yay
Bruno Magli: Brooon-oh Mah-li
Badgley Mischka: Badge-lee Meesh-ka
Balenciaga: Bah-len-see-ah-ga
Behnaz Sarafpour: Beh-naz sah-rah-furr
Bibhu: Be-poo Mo-ha-pat-tra
Bottega Veneta: Bo-tega Ven-e-ta
Bulgari: Ball-gah-ree
Burberry Prorsum: Bur-bur-ree Pour-some
Balmain: Bal-mah
Byblos: Bib-loss
C
Cartier: Kar-tee-aye
Cacharel: Cash-er-el
Celine: Seh-lyn
Chopard: Sho-parr
Clarins: Clarans
Cerruti: Cher-roo-tee
Chaiken: Chay-ken
Charriol: SHA-ri-yol
Chanel: Shuh-nel
Chloé: Kloh-eh
Cynthia Rowley: Cynthia Rao-li
Costume National: Kos-tume Nah-sho-nal
Carolina Herrera: Caro-lee-na Ay-reh-ra
Cesare Paciotti: Chez-a-ray Patch-ott-ee
Christian Louboutin: Krish-tan Loo-boo-tahn
Christian Dior: Krish-tan Dee-oar
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COMME des GARÇONS: Com-day Gar-soh
Christian Lacroix: Kris-tian La-kwah
D
Dolce & Gabbana: Dole-chay Gah-bah-nah
DSquared2: Dee-squared
Donna Karan: Donna Karen
Diane von Furstenberg- Dy-ann von Fur-sten-berg
Dior Homme: Dee-oar Om
Dries Van Noten- Dreeze Van Know-ten
E
Ermenegildo Zegna: Air-menah-jil-do Zane-ya
Etro: Eh-tro
Elie Saab: Eh-li Zahb
Emporio Armani: Em-pohr-yo Ar-mah-ni
Etienne Aigner- Eh-tee-yeh On-yay
Emilio Pucci: EH-mee-lio Poo-chee
F
Fendi: Fend-ee
Furla: Fer-luh
Façonnable: Fah-so-nahb
G
Georg Jensen: Jorg Yen-sen
Gareth Pugh: Gar-eth Pew
Guerlain: Gher-lahn
Givenchy: Jhee-von-she
Giambattista Valli: Jahm-battista Val-ee
Gilles Mendel: Zheel Men-dell
Giorgio Armani: Jior-jio Ar-mah-ni
Gianfranco Ferre: Jyan-franco Fair-reh
Giuseppe Zanotti: Joo-zepp-ee Zan-ott-ee
Gucci: Goo-chee
Guy Laroche: Gee La-roash
H
Hedi Slimane: Eddy Sli-mahn
Hermès: Air-mehz // Or just as acceptable: Er-may
Hervé Léger: Er-vay Leh-zjay
Hussein Chalayan: Who-sane Sha-lon
I
Isabel Marant: Ees-ah-bell Mar-awnt
Issey Miyake: Ee-say Me-Yah-Kee
Izod: Eye-zod
J
J. Mendel: Jay Men-dell
James Perse: James Purse
Jaeger-Lecoultre: Yay-ger Leh-koot
Jimmy Choo: Jim-ee Chew
John Varvatos: John var-vay-toes
Jaeger: YAY-guhr
Jean Paul Gaultier: Zhawn Paul Go-tee-ay
Junya Watanabe: Joon-ya Wah-tah-nah-bay
K
Kerastase: Keh-rah-stahs
Kris Van Assche: Chris Van Ash
L
Lacroix: La-kwah
Lanvin: Lon-vahn
Longchamp: Long-shum
Longines: LOHN-jeens
Lancome: Lan-kom
L’Occitane: Lok-si-tan
L’Wren Scott: Le-ren Skot
Lambertson Truex: Lam-bert-son Tru-ex
Louis Feraud: Loo-wee Feh-roh
Louis Vuitton: Lou-ee Veh-tahn
M
Marchesa: Mar-kay-sa
Manolo Blahnik: Ma-NO-low BLAH-nick
Madame Gres: Mah-dam gray
Mainbocher: Mayn-bo-shay
Missoni: Miss-oh-nee
Maison Martin Margiela: Maze-on Mar-tin Mar-ghel-a
Moschino: Mos-keen-o
Miu Miu: Mew-Mew
Monique Lhullier: Mo-neek Loo-lee-ay
N
Narciso Rodriguez: Nar-siss-so Ro-dree-gez
Nicolas Ghesquière: Ni-co-la Guess-ki-air
O
Olivier Theyskens: Oh-liv-ee-a Tay-skin
Oscar de la Renta: Os-car deh-la Ren-ta
P
Prada: Prah-da
Piaget: Pya-jay
Poleci: Policy
Peter Som: Peter Sahm
Pierre Cardin: Pee-ay Kah-dan
Piazza Sempione: Pi-yat-za Sem-pi-yo-ni
Proenza Schouler: Pro-enza Skool-er
R
Robert Clergerie: Roh-bear Claire-jer-ee
Ralph Lauren: Ralph LORR-uhn [avoid: Loren, as in Sophia]
Rochas: Ro-chass
Roger Vivier: Ro-jay Viv-ee-AY
Rodarte: Ro-dart-tay
Raf Simons: Rauph See-mon
S
Salvatore Ferragamo: Sal-vah-tor-ay Fer-ah-gah-moh
Sonia Rykiel: Sonia Ree-kee-el
Shu Uemura: Shoe Ooh-eh-moorah
Swarovski: Swore-off-ski
Saucony: Sock-a-nee
T
Thakoon: Ta-koon
Thierry Mugler: Tee-air-ree Moog-lay
Tibi: Tbi [avoid Tee-bee]
Tag Heuer: Tag Ho-yer
Tocca: Toe-ka
U
Ungaro: Oon-ga-ro
V
Vivienne Westwood: Viv-ee-enne West-wood
Versace: Ver-sah-chay
Vionnet: Vee-ohn-ay
Y
Yves Saint Laurent: Eve-sahn Lore-rahn
YSL Rive Gauche: YSL Reev Gosh
Yohji Yamamoto: Yo-jee Ya-ma-mo-to
Z
Zac Posen: Zak Poe-zen
For more fashion news and notes from Heather Dunhill, follow her on Twitter @heatherDUNHILL.
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