Have you ever been in situations where you’re too embarrassed to change the way you pronounce certain names? You know that you’re wrong but couldn’t bring yourself to change it as that would be admitting a fault. Or you refused to change your pronunciation because that self-righteous side thinks that the other person has lost it…
I came across this blog post on the pronunciation of designer brands and decided to produce my own version, mostly for fun and partly for referencing purpose. I used to make many mistakes, granted that I’m not Italian or any European, or from the royal lineage. To demonstrate what I mean, I would call Louis Vuitton as “Louise (literally with the S) V-Tawn” or Moschino as “Moss-Chee-No”, just to name a few. To date I still make mistakes and doing some research while putting this guide together has definitely shed some new light to my lack of luxury brand awareness!
Are you ready?
#1. Acne: Ahk-Nay. Say what? I’ve been calling it acne, as in skin acne.
#2. Balmain: Balh-Mahh. I called it Bell-Main. Ok, totally unrefined, I know.
#3. Burberry: Burr-bur-ee. Not Burr-berry.
#4. Christian Lacroix: Kris-ti-on Luh-Qua. Not Christian La-Crocs. Crocs are not allowed here!
#5. Christian Louboutin: Kris-ti-on Loo-boo-tan (as in tonne), not Loo-boo-tohn (which I’ve been calling it)
#6. Comme des Garcons: Kohm day Ga-sohn
#7. Elie Saab: Ee-lee Sahb. Definitely guilty of calling it “Air-lee”
#8. Erdem: Ur-dem
#9. Edun: Ee-done
#10. Givenchy: Jee-Von-She. Mom called it Gah-Vin-Chee in the past. Sorry mom!
#11. Hermes: Er-mez. I’ve heard Herms, Her-mez, Her-miss
#12. Herve Leger: Air-vay Le-jer. For some reason I thought it was Herv-Lager. Ok laugh. Laugh hard!
#13. Lanvin: Lahn-van (silent n).
#14. Loewe: Loo-eh-vay. Ok, I’m guilty of saying Low-we
#15. Louis Vuitton: Loo-ee Vee-tawn (silent n)
#16. Marchesa: Mar-kay-zah. I called it Mar-sheh-sa. I’m learning!
#17. Moschino: Mos-kee-no
#18. Olivier Theyskens: Oh-liv-ee-ay Tay-skins
#19. Proenza Schouler: Pro-en-zuh Skool-er. Not Pro-en-zuh Show-ler
#20. Rochas: Row-shas. Why did I call it Ro-kas?
#21. Rodarte: Row-dar-tay. Not Row-dart
#22. Ralph Lauren: Ralf Lo-ren (as in a girl’s name)
#23. Sonia Rykiel: Sewn-yah Ree-key-el. Not Ry-cal
#24. Saint Laurent: San Law-hon
#25. Tibi: Tih-bye. Really? I’ve been calling it Tih-bee. I know you’re guilty too haha!
#26. Versace: Ver-sah-che. Not Ver-sage
There you have it! Hope you had a good laugh and found this guide useful!
x
Referenced from Popsugar Fashion, The Everygirl and i-D.
Disclaimer: I can’t vouch on all of the above pronunciations to be 100% right.