Ever confidently said “Hermès” in front of someone who knows fashion, only to realise you’ve been saying it wrong your entire life? Duolingo has entered the chat.
For New York Fashion Week, the language-learning app created The Phonetic Collection, a seven-piece fashion capsule that turns designer names into pronunciation lessons. Think a lime-green bag spelling out “air-mess” for Hermès and a jacket reading “zhee-vahn-shee” for Givenchy. The collection was designed with Megan O’Cain, a former Next in Fashion contestant.
And apparently, we really needed the lesson. Duolingo and YouGov found that 62% of Americans are confident they can pronounce Hermès correctly but only 15% actually do. Jacquemus was the fashion name people felt least confident pronouncing.
The collection is being shown during NYFW, with a pop-up where visitors can even bid their Duolingo streaks instead of money to get their hands on pieces.
Fashion education, but make it wearable.
So… which fashion brand have you been confidently pronouncing wrong?
