Women Campus | Hello beautiful!: Parlez-Vous Fashion 2.0: How to Pronounce Designer Names Like Balmain, Christian Lacroix, & More!

Moschino

An Italian label founded in 1983, Moschino is known for its eccentricity and innovation. It's possible you recognize the name from the Moschino belt that was seen on many fashion blogs! The Spring 2011 collection highlights red and blue polka dots, stripes, turban scarves, and pants suits, and sometimes all in one outfit. In my experiences in four semesters of Italian, it is an Italian professor's worst nightmare when a student mispronounces "chi." "Chi," in Italian, is always pronounced as "key." Moschino = "Moss- key- no," with stress on "key."

Monique Lhuillier

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You've probably heard celebrities praise Monique Lhuillier during their red carpet interviews. Monique Lhuillier & Company is known for its evening and bridal gowns. She is, as Meenal Mistry of Style.com says, the "queen of the night." Her Spring 2011 RTW Runway showcased gowns and cocktail dresses in slender metallics, bold colors, and some in a cherry blossom printed silk organza. Monique is said just as you would normally pronounce it. Lhuillier is somewhat of a tongue-twister: Lhuillier= "Loo-lee-yay."

Rodarte

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Rodarte, created by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, is a relatively new label that was founded in 2005. The name "Rodarte" is the Mulleavy's mother's maiden name, of Spanish origin. They designed Natalie Portman's gorgeous ballerina costumes in Black Swan and received a Critics Choice nomination for their work. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's "blog.mode: addressing fashion," says that "their dresses are characterized by an obsessional attention to detail." They are invested in "movement and swing, and the house's favored organzas and chiffons are painstakingly worked to emphasis their fluttering ethereality." Their Spring 2011 RTW collection included structured hourglass dresses with cutaway shoulders, cropped jackets, and pleaded trousers in shades of brown and gold. Pronouncing Rodarte? I will admit I never knew whether to say "ay" at the end or not but it's true—when saying Rodarte, all three syllables are pronounced. Rodarte = "Ro-dar-tay."

Sources:

http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/balmain/

http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/annasui/

http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/moschino/

http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/isabelmarant/

http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/moniquelhuillier/

http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/christianlacroix/

http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/rodarte/

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1187199,00.html http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/30/fashion/thursdaystyles/30CRITIC.html

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Jun-30-Thu-2005/fashion/2294138.html

http://blog.metmuseum.org/blogmode/2008/04/05/ethereal-nature/

http://www.rodarte.net/#bio