With Paris Fashion Week, the mecca of couture fashion, set to kick off September 28, we’ve highlighted a glossary of terms from leading-language learning app, Babbel, which will help get you to talk the talk ahead of the big week.
For example, ‘Haute couture’, which completely differs from fast fashion, involves long, slow processes focused on attention to detail and quality craftsmanship. ‘Fast fashion’ refers to pieces of clothing that are rapidly produced in high volumes, to make them quickly and cheaply available to customers. Fast fashion pieces usually replicate catwalk trends and high-fashion designs.
Aside from these two more commonly known terms, there are many brands now starting to portray themselves as ‘sustainable’ and ‘ethical’. However, this brings to light a new issue, called ‘greenwashing,’ which implies that fashion brands using messaging about sustainability can be misleading and deceiving.
The language around fashion is constantly evolving, below is a list of terminology from Babbel.
Babbel’s Fashion Week Terms
Haute Couture – The business of making expensive clothes of original design and high quality.
Origin – French
Meaning in original language – French for “high sewing” or “high dressmaking” or “high fashion”
Appliqué – Decorative work in which one piece of cloth is sewn or fixed onto another, or the activity of decorating cloth in this way.
Origin – French
Meaning in original language – In French, the word is used as an adjective which means “hard-working,” “meticulous” or “applied” depending on the context
Epaulettes – Ornamental shoulder pieces on an item of clothing, especially on the coat or jacket of a military uniform.
Origin – French
Meaning in original language – Shoulder pad — comes from the word “épaule” which means “shoulder” in French = épaule (“shoulder”) + -ette (“diminutive”)
Avant-garde – Innovative, pioneering, especially when extremely or obviously so.
Origin – French
Meaning in original language – Avant (“before, in front of”) + garde (“guard”). Same meaning as in English
Broderie Anglaise – A whitework needlework technique incorporating features of embroidery, cutwork and needle lace that became associated with England, due to its popularity there in the 19th century.
Origin – French
Meaning in original language – English embroidery
Filigree – 1. A delicate and intricate ornamentation made from gold or silver (or sometimes other metal) twisted wire.
2. A design resembling such intricate ornamentation.
Origin – French
Meaning in original language – From French “filigrane” – same meaning as in english – comes from latin “filum” (thread) & “granum” (grain)
Jacquard – An apparatus with perforated cards, fitted to a loom to facilitate the weaving of figured and brocaded fabrics.
Origin – French
Meaning in original language – Named after Joseph M. Jacquard (1787–1834), French weaver and inventor. By extension, “jacquard” also refers in french to a colourful fabric with geographical patterns.
Minaudiere – A small decorative case for carrying small articles (as cosmetics or jewelry).
Origin – French
Meaning in original language – Same as in english: borrowed word
Bon chic bon genre – An expression used in France to refer to a subculture of stylish members of the Parisian upper class.
Origin – French
Meaning in original language – Good style, good class
Greenwashing – Disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image.
Origin – English
Meaning in original language –
Fast Fashion – An approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers.
Origin – English
Meaning in original language –
Atelier – The private workshop of a professional artist in the decorative arts.
Origin – French
Meaning in original language – Workshop
Prêt-à-Porter – Designer clothes sold ready to wear rather than made to measure.
Origin – French
Meaning in original language – Ready to wear
Ethical Fashion – Garment design, production, and distribution that focuses on reducing harm to people and the planet.
Origin – English