High-fashion and designer style is great, but how do you pronounce all those designers' names? One of the most intimidating parts for newbies diving into the world of designer menswear is just figuring out how to say all the names. Here's some basic tips and a guide so you sound like you know what you're talking about.
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One of the best tips is to know where the designer or fashion house originates. If they're French, you'll want to drop the final vowels on words, just breath the Hs and slur the words together a bit. Meanwhile for the Italians and Japanese, you'll want to pronounce those vowels at the end with gusto.
If you're looking to expand your fashion lexicon, here is your cheat sheet.
Alessandro Dell'Acqua
ItalianAla-SAND-roe del-LA-kwa
Ann Demeulemeester
Belgiumann DEH-moo-lah-MEE-ster
Bottega Veneta
ItalianBO-teg-a VEN-eta
Burberry Prorsum
UK + LatinBUR-bur-ree proar-SOME
Comme des Garçons
FrenchComb day gar-SON
Dior Homme
Frenchdee-OAR OM
Dolce & Gabbana
ItalianDOLE-chay and gab-BON-a
Dries Van Noten
BelgiumDREEZE van KNOW-ten
DSquared2
DEE squared
Givenchy
FrenchZshee-VON-she
Gucci
Italian GOO-chi
Hedi Slimane
FrenchEddy slim-MAHN
Hermès
FrenchAIR-mehz
John Varvatos
USA John var-VAY-toes
Junya Watanabe
JapaneseJUNE-ya Wah-TAH-nah-bay
Kris Van Assche
BelgiumChris van-ASH
Lanvin
Frenchlon-VAUN
Louis Vuitton
Frenchloo-E vo-WE-ton
Maison Martin Margiela
FrenchMAZE-on Mar-TIN mar-GEL-a
Moschino
Italianmo-SKEEN-o
Ovadia & Sons
USAOh-VAH-dya and Sons
Proenza Schouler
USA pro-en-zuh skool-er
Raf Simons
Belgiumrauph SIM-mons
Rodarte:
USArow-dar-tay
Salvatore Ferragamo
Italian Sal-va-TOH-reh Fair-a-GAH-moe
Versace
Italianver-SAH-chay
Yohji Yamamoto
JapaneseYO-jee ya-MA-moto
Yves Saint Laurent
FrenchEVE Sane-LOR-aunt
Zegna
ItalianZANE-ya
Born and raised in Austin, David is a dedicated writer and avid fragrance lover. When he's not trying out perfumes, he enjoys traveling and exploring new restaurants.