We’ve seen the labels countless of times. We’ve seen the fashion shows. We’ve seen the merchandise. Known, worn and loved, luxury brands have played a vital role in society whether we like it or not. Yet, in the midst of our daily consumption of all these different brands, did we ever stop and wonder on as to how such names like Rodarte or Burberry even came to be?
Being the diligent people that we are, we decided to satisfy our curiosity (and yours now, too) and dig deep into the roots of some of the most well-known luxury brand names today. Here’s what we found:
Originally named ‘Tiffany, Young and Ellis’, the luxury jewelry house decided to change its name to ‘Tiffany & Company’ when Charles Tiffany established the brand’s emphasis on jewelry in 1853.
Rodarte may seem like a possible name taken from the fashion house’s founder, but actually, it is taken from the maiden name of designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s mother.
BCBG isn’t just a random array of letters. In fact, Max Azria named his brand such after the phrase “bon chic, bon genre,” which translates to “good style, good attitude.”
While Burberry really is the original name of the brand, did you know that it was changed to Burberry’s at one point in time as a reference to Burberry’s of London? Fast forward to 1998 when the brand decided to switch back to its original name for more effective marketing purposes.
Did you know that Comme des Garçons is actually based on a Françoise Hardy song named “Tous les garçons et les filles,” which means “All The Boys and Girls”? Directly translated into english, Comme des Garçons actually means “Like The Boys”—something we feel is very fitting for the brand, knowing how each collection creates a silver lining between femininity and masculinity.
