The lexicon of fashion is forever evolving and constantly being used out of context.

What separates serious connoisseurs of fashion from casual enthusiasts and fashionistas is their command over the language and understanding of industry jargon. If you claim to love fashion, here are 9 words you should know so well that you could recite them in your sleep!

 

 

1. Couture

Couture is an almost criminally misused word in the fashion industry. Contrary to popular use, it doesn’t mean “fancy”. Couture is a French tradition of custom-made clothing, with extreme attention to detail and is way, way pricier than even designer clothing. Anything you buy off the rack, no matter how much it is personalised and customised after buying, is not couture. 

 

2. Lookbook

A  lookbook is a compilation of the brand’s designs for the season, carefully styled and photographed to give buyers an understanding of the brand’s aesthetics and interpretation of current trends, as well as a showcasing of what’s likely to be big in the future. It is one of the most important parts of story-telling in fashion.

 

3. Diffusion Line

Not everyone can afford designer clothes, no matter how appealing they find their design sensibilities. Some designers release a ‘diffusion line’ of their clothing, using their aesthetics to create simpler variations of their signature looks that are more easily available and affordable.

 

4. Avantgarde

Avantgarde is a term used for designers who push boundaries and create something unexpected, experimental, flamboyant and radical that goes beyond the traditional accepted tenets of fashion. Avantgarde fashion is often theatrical, not exactly practical or wearable in the real world, but simply cannot be ignored due to its artistic statement value.

 

5. Normcore

Normcore is a relatively new entrant in the fashion dictionary. It is the exact opposite of avantgarde, with its focus on mass-market, inexpensive, multi-purpose and largely androgynous clothing. Normcore is “blank” fashion, where wearers are almost indistinguishable from each other based on their clothing.

 

6. Coatigans

It’s a fusion of coat and a cardigan, usually in long and oversized silhouette. In other words, this is the softer, more comfortable and casual version of the structured formal coat. Coatigans usually come in relaxed fabrics more traditionally used to make cardigans, which is why its hybrid name. It is usually long with an oversized silhouette.

 

7. Silhouette

Silhouette refers to the basic shape and outline of a piece of clothing, particularly a dress, on the body without any add-ons or embellishment. Silhouettes are best represented in colour block ensembles.

 

8. Ombré

‘Ombré’ is the French word for a gradual change in the colour of a garment. It is usually used in reference with monochromatic clothes that go from a dark shade to a more de-saturated, paler shade of the same colour. TheOmbré technique can be used to great cool geometric or other patterns or simply to add more drama to an otherwise single-colour outfit.

 

9. TrompeL'Oeil

An artistic technique of printing or super-imposing elements where realistic imagery is used so to appear three dimensional. May be interpreted in a variety of imagery.