Duolingo is launching a campaign timed to New York Fashion Week (NYFW) that playfully addresses language mishaps in the fashion world.
The language-learning app created The Phonetic Collection, a capsule collection that turns pronunciation lessons into wearable designs. Each piece features the phonetic spelling of a well-known fashion brand.
An accompanying out-of-home campaign showing off the collection will run across New York City starting this week.
Designer Megan O’Cain, who competed on season 2 of Netflix’s reality series Next in Fashion, created pieces with familiar silhouettes featuring block letters that show how popular fashion brands are pronounced. They include a lime green purse decorated with letters spelling “air-mess” (for the brand Hermés) and a “zhee-vahn-shee” (Givenchy) jacket.
“Language is connected to so many passions, which creates diverse opportunities to engage our Duolingo audience,” said Manu Orssaud, chief marketing officer of Duolingo. “With fashion week, we found a creative opening hiding in plain sight: some of the most recognizable names in fashion are also some of the hardest to pronounce.”
By tying language learning into the buzz of NYFW, Duolingo hopes people who read the pronunciations and recognize the brands will download the app to continue learning.
A survey Duolingo conducted with market research company YouGov found that 62% of Americans are confident they can pronounce the brand Hermés, yet only 15% actually know the correct pronunciation.
Gen Z is more than three times as likely than Millennials, Gen X, or Boomers to nail a fashion name’s pronunciation, but fewer than 3 in 10 get it right, according to the survey.
“There’s something very human about avoiding a word because you’re worried you’ll say it wrong,” Orssaud said. “Duolingo is trying to remove that pressure in a way that’s entertaining, relevant, and useful.”
Duolingo is known for its buzzy marketing campaigns, most of which have starred Duo, its iconic green owl mascot. The brand gained traction as the bird showed off its snarky personality across social media platforms, matching the style in which Duo urges users to complete daily language lessons.
