How To Pronounce Designer Brands: Part Two

Last weekend, I posted the first part of my “how-to” tutorial post with regards to pronunciation of designer brands. Today, it’s Part Deux, with mostly French brands, and one Brit brand thrown into the mix.

First up, as requested by one of my loyal readers Jeremy Bear, is this very brand. Most commonly mispronounced “Ball-Main” as though it’s a compound word in English by merely putting “ball” and “main” together, when it’s actually “Bahl-Mah“

Versions I’ve heard, “Lahn-Vahn”, “Lahn-Veen” and “Lah-Vohn”. And what is it actually? “Lohn-VAH”. Don’t believe me? Listen to the brand’s Creative Director Alber Elbaz himself pronouncing it in this video.

 Ahh, Burberry, a brand that you might think is SO simple to pronounce because it’s British and in English. But remember the scenario that I told you about last week about someone’s friend who corrected her but in the end turned out wrong too? Yes, they were actually referring to Burberry. Lady X said “Boo-Berry”. Lady Y corrected X and said it’s not it, it’s “Ber-Bear-Ree”. While we do in fact pronounce berry (as in the fruit) as “Bear-Ree”, it isn’t how you’re supposed to pronounce this brand. Instead, try “Ber (like the 2nd syllable of the word “slumber”)- Ber-Ree (say these last 2 syllables quickly so that it sounds like “Bree”). So it’s “BER-Ber-Ree”. 

And for the main line, Burberry Prorsum (and no, it’s not “pour-some” as though they’re 2 separate words) but “Pore-Suhm” (“Suhm” is supposed to sound like the “some” in “awesome”)
“BER-Ber-Ree Pore-Suhm“.

For those who like this brand’s watches and fine jewellery, it’s not “car-tier” as though they’re 2 separate words in the English Language, but “Car-Tee-Yay”

shoe lovers should ought to learn how to pronounce properly.

First up, the brand with the iconic Red Sole.

Firstly, let’s talk about the first name. It’s not Christian as in the religion but “Krysh-ti-awh” (and make sure you say “ti-awh” quickly one after the other so that it sounds like one syllable). Now, the designer’s surname. It isn’t “Loo-boo-tin” or  even “Loo-boo-tawn” (as commonly pronounced by the Americans), but “Lher (like the last 3 letters in “slur”) – ber (as in the way you’d pronounce the ‘ber’ in “liberate”) – TAH“Say it all together: “KRYSH-ti-awh LHER-Ber-Tah”

If you haven’t seen Part One of this “pronunciation tutorial”, it features Loewe, Louis Vuitton, YSL, Jean Paul Gaultier, Balenciaga, Givenchy, and Hermès, read it here 

Stay tuned for Part 3! Meanwhile, leave a comment of the brand(s) you want covered in the next post!

Note to Jeremy: I will be covering the other brands that you have suggested in your comment on last week’s post in the upcoming weeks too so stay tuned! 😉