One of the more amusing things about my line of work has been learning how to pronounce the names of the various designers—especially since they are largely French, which I don’t speak. On the bright side, at least my many years of German instruction enable me to pronounce “Karl Lagerfeld” with supreme confidence.

And so, I’m sharing with you my hard-won knowledge of how to spit out some of the names found in Chic Chicago so that you, too, can speak with authority about your favorite dresses.

Cristobal Balenciaga: Kree-sto-bahl Bah-len-see-ah-gah

Callot Soeurs (literal translation is ‘Callot Sisters’): Kah-low Soor

Cardin: Car-dan

Christoph Broich: Kree-stoff  Broish (same oi as in ‘coin’)

Comme des Garçons (a French phrase translating to ‘like boys’, which is funny since it’s a Japanese design house): Com deh gar-suhn

Hanae Mori: Hahn-ay Moor-ee

Henriette Favre: Hen-ree-et-tah Fah-vruh

Issey Miyake: Iss-say Mih-yah-kay

Fath: Fahth

Lanvin: Lahn-van

Madame Grès: Greh

Mainbocher: Mahn-bow-shay (Funny footnote: this is a smooshing-together of the designer’s first and last names. He was born Main Rousseau Bocher, right here in Chicago.)

Marcelle Chaumont: Mar-sell Shau-mon

Mariano Fortuny: Marr-ee-ah-no For-too-nee

Paquin: Pack-an

Pingat: Ping-gah

Poiret: Pwah-rey

Salvatore Ferragamo: Sahl-vah-tor-rey Fehr-ah-gah-mo

Schiaparelli: Skap-ah-rell-ee

Thierry Mugler: Ter-ree Mew-glare

Versace: Vare-sach-ee

Yves Saint Laurent: Eve Saint Law-rahn

And there you have it. If there are other designer names you’re curious about, comment here and I’ll post those pronunciations, too.

Class dismissed!

Meghan

Tags: Couture, Designers, Fashion, Meghan Smith, Pronunciation

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Exhibitions, History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.