NYT Fashion

JC2 recently came across five loanwords from French in a New York Times article.  Actually, it turns out all five were in fact loanwords, but only four of them were from French.  The last one, ersatz, originated in German.  

Why are there so many French loanwords un the Fashion Industry?

JC2 student responses:

The purpose of this paragraph is to provide reasons for the use of many French loanwords in the fashion industry. Paris admittedly has a great influence on fashion since it is one of the fashion capitals of the world. This results in many fashion terms originating in French being used in English. Apart from this, French loanwords make the fashion industry appear glamorous to people from all over the world, hence they are used for fashion advertisements. Last in order, French is well-known in industry since it has a lot words that do not have English equivalents,

– Kimberly Michela

Why are there so many French words in fashion?

Fashion has always been associated with the French language. In many languages, most fashion vocabulary comes from the French language. Fashion is an important subject in French culture and social life.

The association of France with fashion and style is widely credited as beginning during the reign of Louis XIV when the luxury goods industries in France came increasingly under royal control and the French royal court became the arbiter of taste and style in Europe. Paris, France's capital city, acts as the center of the fashion industry and holds the name of the global fashion capital. Furthermore, most of the well-known major fashion brands are from France. Hence, many French words are used in fashion.

– Nadya Liuna Lo

In the fashion industry, many French loanwords can be found. The reason why lies in the history of French fashion.

In the 20th century, the French made a transition in fashion into what they would then call haute couture or ‘high fashion'. This transition would then be a status icon all around the globe. Because of this, many of the world's now-leading designers would head to France to be taught by the living legends of fashion. As English is one of the most used languages in the world, it would only make sense that a lot of English-speaking designers would start integrating the phrases they learnt in France into their daily conversations.

– Neo Oliviero Martin