By Jo Kim BBC Pronunciation Unit
BBC News went to see if people know how to say the names of designers.
The hyper-critical gaze of fashionistas around the world focuses on Britain
this week for London Fashion Week. But if you're planning to venture an opinion
on whether Alexa Chung's liking for long skirts will spark a wider trend, you'd
better be able to pronounce the names of the top designers.
It's what separates the dedicated followers of fashion from the casual
observers - whether you say Louis Vwee-ton or Louis Vee-ton, or even Lewis
Vee-ton.
The international nature of the world of fashion can sometimes complicate
researching fashion-related pronunciation for the BBC Pronunciation Unit. Our
policy for company names is, where possible, to recommend the pronunciation the
company itself prefers.
However, if there is a fashion house with multiple corporate offices around the
world (such as Milan, Paris, New York and Tokyo), pronunciations used within
the company itself can sometimes differ across languages.
Another point for us to consider is that many companies are named after a
particular individual's name, and the pronunciation of the name itself and the
company are not necessarily always the same.
With foreign names in general, we consider the opinion of the speakers of the
relevant languages and ask them how they pronounce it in the original language
and how they might expect it to be anglicised.
For company names, we then consult official sources, such as press offices at
the company's headquarters, to enquire about their preferred pronunciation. We
also speak to boutiques of the brands in this country to see if there are any
established anglicisations that the brands go by in the UK.
A mouthful
(All the pronunciations given below are written in BBC Text spelling; stressed
syllables in upper case, -uh as "a" in ago.)
An example of this is the pronunciation of the fashion house Balenciaga.
Balenciaga is named after its founder, Basque designer Crist bal Balenciaga. He
was widely know in Spain by the Spanish pronunciation of his name,
bal-en-thi-AA-guh (-th as in thin, -aa as in father). The company is now owned
by a French company, so a gallicised pronunciation is also a possibility.
Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren - easy, or is it?
After speaking to the corporate offices in Paris and the boutique in London, we
found the company itself prefers the pronunciation bal-en-si-AA-guh (-s as in
sit) in English language contexts.
Miu Miu, part of the Prada fashion house empire, is pronounced MYOO-myoo (-my
as in music, -oo as in boot). Other Italian designers with names that can be a
mouthful include Ermenegildo Zegna, pronounced air-men-uh-JIL-doh ZEN-yuh (-air
as in hair, -j as in Jack, -y as in yes), Giambattista Valli, pronounced
jam-bat-EE-stuh VAL-i (-j as in Jack, -al as in pal), Francesco Scognamiglio,
pronounced fran-CHESS-koh skon-yam-EEL-yoh (-y as in yes) and Gianfranco Ferre,
pronounced jan-FRANK-oh ferr-AY (-j as in Jack, -ay as in say).
Designers based in Paris include Christian Lacroix, pronounced kreest-YAA(NG)
laa-KRWAA (-aa(ng) as in French blanc, -aa as in father), Lebanese designer
Elie Saab, pronounced ELL-i SAAB (-aa as in father) and influential Japanese
designer Yohji Yamamoto, whose name is pronounced YOH-ji yam-uh-MOH-toh (-oh as
in no, -j as in Jack, -established anglicisation). The French fashion
powerhouse Louis Vuitton is sometimes anglicised as LOO-i VWEE-ton by some
native English speakers, but we recommend the company's own preferred
pronunciation, LWEE vwee-TO(NG) (-w as in wet, -o(ng) as in French bon).
American designers Anna Sui, pronounced, AN-uh SWEE, Isaac Mizrahi, pronounced
IGH-zuhk miz-RAA-hi (-aa as in father), and Ralph Lauren, pronounced RALF
LORR-uhn (-orr as in sorry), are familiar faces at London Fashion Week.
And finally, here are the pronunciations of some of our own British designers:
Jaeger is pronounced YAY-guhr (-y as in yes, -ay as in say) and Hussein
Chalayan is pronounced huuss-AYN chuh-LIGH-uhn (-uu as in book, -ay as in say,
-igh as in high).
The BBC Pronunciation Unit writes an occasional 'How to Say' column for the
Magazine Monitor. To download the unit's guide to BBC Text Spelling, click
here.
Below is a selection of your comments
I automatically say Dolce e Gabbana on the grounds that it's Italian but I
notice most British people say Dolce and Gabbana. Yet I'd say D and G. I wonder
what the people in the company in the UK say.
Paul Ansell, Northampton
Why try to say these when you can just say Primark?
Mand, Cardiff
What an amusing article. I can't wait to use my new found knowledge. Great fun
mouthing the pronunciations whilst travelling into London on the train.
Marion Wells, UK
Is it me? Does anyone really give a monkey's whether these names are pronounced
one way or another? If they were all called Paul Smith then it would be easy. I
won't be losing any sleep over it though.
John Buckland, Brighton
Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn! Do they care how my name is pronounced? I
doubt it.
Helen, UK
What about Nicole Farhi? Do you pronounce the h? That has always puzzled me!
Sarah Jones, London
Suggest that first syllable of GIAMBATTISTA is better represented by the
shorter JUM rather than the English pronunciation of JAM, and the second by BUT
rather than BAT. It sounds more Italian that way.
Alan Simons, London
Sorry ... But its much funnier when people get it wrong.
Boyd, London