Fjällräven, Givenchy and Hermes have one thing in common – they are brand names that are neither easy to pronounce nor write. The latter can be a hindrance when looking for a specific fashion brand online. The digital wholesale platform Joor wanted to know more and examined the 15 most frequently misspelled names of fashion brands using the online analysis tool Ahrefs.
Perhaps somewhat surprising for German-speaking people, the name of the Herzogenaurach-based sporting goods manufacturer Adidas is at the top of the list. On the Internet it is often called “Addidas” or “Addias”, because who knows that Adidas was formed from the name of founder Adolf “Adi” Dassler? Anyone who makes a typo is at least not alone – Adidas is misspelled online more than half a million times a month.
French names also pose difficulties, even a short and relatively simple name like that of the luxury fashion house Chanel. It becomes “Channel” or “Chanell” online more than 400,000 times a month.
Austrian crystal producer Swarovski follows at some distance, although its name is potentially more difficult – does the “w” come first or the “v” first seems to be the most common question. More than 80,000 people every month bypass this and choose “Swaroski” or “Swarvoski”.
Louis Vuitton follows in fourth place – this French luxury house is not only difficult to pronounce, but also difficult to write. Those who can at least get the first name right write “Louis Vitton”; “Luis Vuitton” are the unifiers. In total, almost 79,000 people misspell the founder’s name every month.
Italian luxury fashion house Versace is faring no better – almost 65,000 people misspell founder Gianni Versace’s last name, which became the brand name – making it “Versache” or “Failure”.
The French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, who made his somewhat unusual surname his brand name, also shares this fate: he is most often referred to as “Jaquemus” or “Jacquemis”.
Another surprise comes in seventh place in the form of the Japanese sportswear company Asics, which comes from the Latin maxim “Anima sana in corpore sano” – in a healthy body there is a healthy mind. The supposedly simple acronym often – and perhaps somewhat unfavorably – becomes “Ascis” or “Ascics”.
Designer Christian Dior perhaps could not have imagined the global fame his eponymous luxury label would achieve far beyond the borders of France. Online, the first name causes problems and the brand quickly becomes “Cristian Dior” or “Christan Dior”.
Short, seemingly simple names can be deceptive, as the Italian luxury label Moncler proves – it often becomes “Monclair”, “Monclear” or even “Monclare” (ninth place). Even the Swiss luxury brand Tag Heuer is causing difficulties due to the umlaut – it becomes “Tag huer” or “Tag heur” online and therefore ends up in 13th place.
In tenth place is the Italian luxury fashion house Bottega Veneta, whose name means “Venetian shop”. It is often rendered as “Botega”, “Botegga” or “Bottegga venetta”.
For the label of the same name by the US designer Tommy Hilfiger in eleventh place, the association becomes fatal and the name online becomes “Tommy Hilfinger” or “Tommy Hilfigure”; The number of “l”s also causes problems and results in “Tommy hillfiger”.
Another short French name is causing problems in 12th place with Lacoste. The problem here is not the silent “e” at the end (which many may also pronounce), but the vowel order, which then leads to “Locaste”, but also “La coste”, which is reminiscent of the costs of the prices associated with the items (In the 1980s, the flippant question “How much does it cost in the world?” was met with the prompt answer “It doesn’t play a Rolex.”)
The eponymous brand of the British designer Vivienne Westwood, who died almost a year ago, is often spelled “Vivian westwood” or “Vivien westwood” and comes in at number 14, with more than 16,000 people choosing this spelling every month.
Closing out the top 15 is the Italian luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana, which becomes “Dolce Gabana”. As long as this happens unintentionally, everything is fine – however, a few years ago the fashion house took legal action against a store in South Africa that called itself “Dolce & Banana”.