Fashion Terms — the Apparel Search fashion terminology directory
When something is eponymous, it takes its own name as its title — and that is very common in the fashion industry, where many designers use their own name to create their eponymous fashion brand. Ralph Lauren, Alexander McQueen, Vera Wang, Christian Dior, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, Kenneth Cole and Donna Karan are all eponymous labels: the designer is the eponym, the person for whom the brand is named.
What is an eponymous brand?
When something is eponymous, it takes its own name as its title. This is very common in the fashion industry. Many fashion designers use their own name to create their eponymous fashion brand.
Examples of eponymous labels:
Ralph Lauren
Alexander McQueen
Vera Wang
Christian Dior
Michael Kors
Calvin Klein
Kenneth Cole
Donna Karan
Is it ego that drives designers to use their own name, or is it clever marketing?
The definition of eponymous is something or someone that gives its name to something else. An eponym is a person, a place, or thing for whom or for which something is named, or believed to be named. For example, Elizabeth I of England is the eponym of the Elizabethan era. Many genericized trademarks such as aspirin are based on their original brand eponyms.
Fashion designers are often creating eponymous labels or eponymous brands.
It is important to note that some fashion designers create multiple brands. Some of which may use their full name and others may use variations of the name or brand.
View our famous fashion designer list to see which have created their own eponymous brand and which have not.
When clothing companies consider fashion marketing it is important to determine a good brand name. Making a proper decision when deciding on a brand label is critical for success. Using the designers name for the brand, can provide benefits, but it also can provide a negative outcome. For example, if a designer does something stupid to tarnish their own name it also has a significant negative impact on the brand. For example, do you remember, on 25 February 2011, Dior announced that it had suspended John Galliano following his arrest over an alleged anti-Semitic tirade in a Paris bar. The same day, Paris-based citizen journalism site Citizenside received video of Galliano on a similar rant in the same bar the previous December. This incident tarnished the name of John Galliano, and Dior. However, it will most likely effect the name of John Galliano longer then Dior.
Naming the label after the designer ties the brand's value directly to one person's name and reputation. While the designer is active, that is a powerful shortcut: the name promises a recognizable design point of view, which is why so many houses on the fashion designers list linked from this page trade under a personal name. The arrangement has a long tail, though — an eponymous house can outlive its founder, be sold, or be designed by successors working under the founder's name, so the name on the label becomes a brand asset in its own right, separate from the person it came from.
Fashion is the most visible home of the eponymous brand, but the pattern is general: eras are named for rulers, as the Elizabethan era is named for Elizabeth I, and some eponyms go so far into everyday use that the trademark becomes the generic word, as happened with aspirin. In fashion the name usually keeps its capital letter and its premium position — the opposite journey — which is part of why designers choose it.
A brand that takes its name from a person — in fashion, usually the designer who founded it. The definition of eponymous is something or someone that gives its name to something else; an eponym is a person, place or thing for whom or which something is named, or believed to be named.
Ralph Lauren, Alexander McQueen, Vera Wang, Christian Dior, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, Kenneth Cole and Donna Karan — the examples listed on this page. Elizabeth I of England is the eponym of the Elizabethan era, and many genericized trademarks such as aspirin are based on their original brand eponyms.
This page poses the question directly: is it ego that drives designers to use their own name, or is it clever marketing? A designer's name carries their reputation and design identity, which is the asset a new fashion brand most needs.