How to Pronounce Fashion Designer Names

Stumped about how to pronounce Prabal Gurung or Thankoon? Unsure about how to say Elie Saab or Marchesa?  Is the last n silent in Lanvin and Balmain (hint, yes it is!)?

With awards season underway and fashion weeks happening all over the world, make sure you sound like a pro when you mention Lupita Nyong'o on the red carpet in Dior Couture or Rihanna's latest Vogue cover in Louis Vuitton.

Here are some tools to help you out:

Pop Sugar has a handy video that runs down the names of current designers in alphabetical order - and it includes the phonetic spelling!
 

If that was too fast, try these sites from Harper's Bazaar ...

Just a few examples from Harper's Bazaar

...and Valet 

Samples from Valet

The Chic Spy is my personal favorite - it includes audio clips so you can hear someone say the name (correctly).

(Just a screen shot - go to the site to play the audio files, or click the embedded link below)

And for those of you who need pronunciation on-the-go, download the Speak Chic app to your mobile device.

Haute & Cool: On Shirley's Radar

On my radar for summer:
es·pa·drille/ˈespəˌdril/

1. "Espadrilles are normally casual flat, but sometimes high heeled shoes originating from the Pyrenees. They usually have a canvas or cotton fabric upper and a flexible sole made of rope or rubber material molded to look like rope. The jute rope sole is the defining characteristic of an espadrille; the uppers vary widely in style.
   
   "The term espadrille is French and derives from the Occitan & Catalan name for the shoes, espardenya, which derives from espart, the Occitan/Catalan name for esparto, a tough, wiry Mediterranean grass used in making rope. Espadrilles have been made in Pyrenean Occitan a and Catalonia since the 14th century at least and there are shops in the Basque country still in existence that have been making espadrilles for over a century. Traditional espadrilles have a canvas upper with the toe and vamp cut in one piece, and seamed to the rope sole at the sides. Often they would have laces at the throat that would be wrapped around the ankle to hold the shoes securely in place. Traditional espadrilles are worn by both men and women."
   -From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



2. Espadrille
   A canvas shoe with twisted rope soles, originally worn in Spain, but popular for beach and sportswear for visitors to Spain and France from the 1920s. Expensive designer versions have been made, but the original style, impractical in wet weather, is the disposable summer footwear of choice for many Europeans.”
   -From Berg Dictionary of Fashion History (M & later F) Period: 1920s onwards

Disposable? Not so happy about that…impractical in wet weather…really?

In any case, if you were me, you’d pick some up! Where: at the Columbia College Bookstore or that other store that has the red bulls-eye for a logo! Just look at these beauties!




Fashion musings by Shirley Bennett.

Berg Fashion Library Database - New!

The Library has added Berg Fashion Library to our list of databases available to Columbia College Chicago students.

You can scroll through the slideshow of designers...

...explore fashion and textile by Place...

...or by Time...

...and Search the image collection ...

...and Browse by topic...

... all through the Berg Fashion Library!