Difficult Designer / Brand Pronunciation

[cosmocat]

Rei Kawakubo

1. There is no R sound in Japanese. R sounds like L:
2. U sounds like the u in chute: "oo"
3. O is flat like in open

l-eh-ee
Kah-Wah-Ku-Bo

Is the best I could do phonetically.

Its the other way around, there is no 'l' sound and any ls are pronounced 'r' so it is pronounced exactly as written-'re-ee' (can't do phonetics).

 

[maskedmannequin]

heh This topic was mildly useful...I've been wondering lately how Lacroix was pronounced. And erm...along these lines, I KNOW how Poiret (as in Paul) is pronounced, but i just can't seem to get it out..>!?

 

[Diorling]

Im surprised no one has asked about Jean Paul Gaultier...Or maybe I was the only one having problems, I used to avoid saying it until Madonna said it on Truth or Dare and thanks to Will & Grace I stopped butchering Hermes.

 

[Nemova]

Hey i was watching this vid on louisvuitton's website.. and jacobs pronouced it as being "Loo eee Vwee ton"

so yah :S:S:S:S:S ?? confused ay

Also my friend said "Guck key" once for pronouncing Gucci.. and also another said "Ver say see" for Versace... not very cultural conscious huh!!!

Gucci - Goo-tchee

Versace - Ver-sa-tchee

 

[Deleted 2]

Well, so far I seem to have gotten most of them right, but here's one I haven't a clue about: FENDI.
Is it Fahn-DEE, or something really obscure?

 

[Nemova]

It is exactly how it reads. Fan-dee.

 

[Deleted 2]

Thank you! I suspected that, but I simply avoided conversations about it until now!

 

[Nemova]

You're welcome.

 

[gallianoke]

Is it so difficult to pronounce a brand?

 

[brian]

It is exactly how it reads. Fan-dee.

i thought it was FEN-dee? (as in "fender")

 

[brian]

i finally know how to pronounce louboutin

i was totally wrong about the -in ... it's pronounced like "lanvin" ...

 

[gallianoke]

i thought it was FEN-dee? (as in "fender")

It is FEN-dee, not FAN-dee...

 

[gallianoke]

I think that the belgian names are rather difficult to pronounce if you are not from belgium or holland...

 

[LesYeux]

Perhaps I'm crazy, but being a Canadian, I'm having a lot of trouble with [font=&quot]Chloé. Usually, if someone's name was Chloe it would be said as Kloe-ee... Is it pronounced like that, or is it pronounced like Kloe-ay? Or am I totally wrong?
[/font]

 

[kit]

Perhaps I'm crazy, but being a Canadian, I'm having a lot of trouble with [font=&quot]Chloé. Usually, if someone's name was Chloe it would be said as Kloe-ee... Is it pronounced like that, or is it pronounced like Kloe-ay? Or am I totally wrong?
[/font]

You are right .

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Its the other way around, there is no 'l' sound and any ls are pronounced 'r' so it is pronounced exactly as written-'re-ee' (can't do phonetics).

I asked a japanese friend and the R is pronounced like a spanish rolled R "rrrrrr" and the "wa" in kawakubo is the stressed syllable.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

I actually do know the answer to that one! I was watching a biography on Yul Brynner and they mentioned that his wife was very different from him... How she was interested in the major designers of the time. Among them bel-ansi-a-aga.

I think that is correct, that is how Harold Koda says it, with a stress more on the "bel" then anything else.

 

[AlexN]

^Except without the extra "a"

 

[Nemova]

i thought it was FEN-dee? (as in "fender")

Sorry, I misspelled it. It is like in Fender.

 

[Metroicon]

Gucci - Goo-tchee

Versace - Ver-sa-tchee

It's not Ver-sa-tchee, but Ver-sa-tche.