A domain name is not simply an "internet address" it is one of the most visible forces in branding and capable of being seen on every item of advertising and marketing material, - and in the fashion world branding and image is everything.
As ".COM" is the most widely recognized domain name suffix worldwide, then having a .COM domain name implies prestige and an international presence.
Short domain names are easy to remember. Longer domain names are not only harder to remember but also prone to
typing errors. This is even more true if your full company name is complicated to spell.
The UK's largest online-only fashion and beauty company "As Seen On Screen" typifies the very best in domain name choice, usage and marketing principles.
As Seen On Screen registered the domain name asseenonscreen.com in August 1999. It was of course the natural first choice of domain name. However it is long, not easy to see the individual words at first glance and prone to mistyping.
As Seen On Screen registered the short 4-letter domain name acronym ASOS.com in February 2000. Gradually and understandably the company's identity changed to be the same as its domain name acronym namely "ASOS".
ASOS is a UK company with headquarters in London and has registered the co.uk variants (asseenonscreen.co.uk and also asos.co.uk) however it is the .com version namely ASOS.COM that is the domain name which is promoted. ASOS Limited is a highly successful online company with sales in excess of $165 million per annum and winning many awards including the Online Gold Award (OLGA) for the Best e-commerce Site 2009 – eCommerce Awards for Excellence 2009.
Some four letter brands are the surnames of the designer founder: Christian DIOR, Hugo BOSS, Marc ECKO, Gimmo ETRO, Bernard GANT, Jack IZOD, Bernard RAWE , Madeleine PAUW etc.or top couture jewellery retaillers AHEE named after the founder Edmund T. AHEE. They were fortunate to be born with short catchy 4 letter surnames on which to build their brands. And sometimes it is the first name which becomes the brand such as RAFE handbags and shoes designed by RAFE Totengco.
In the case of ODLO the brand name is the amalgamation of the first two letters of the first name and the two letters of the surname Odd Roar Lofterød.
Similarly the fashion brand ISLO is an amalgamation of the first two letters of the first name and the two letters of the surname Isabella Lorusso.
Tthe sneakers and other stylish shoe types company VANS was inspired by the middle name of the founder Paul Van Doren.
Some names are dictionary words like POLO, and NIKE (the Greek godess of victory) and some names are acronyms Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, Donna Karan New York and French Connection UK etc... and some are invented.
For example the brand name of BRAX was created in 1950 by the German company Leineweber - the name was influenced on the one hand by the English company DAKS (for whom products were made by Leineweber under license) and on the other hand by braka the Latin word for trousers.
The classic British luxury brand DAKS established in 1894 created the word DAKS from the words 'Dad' and 'Slacks'.
The footwear brand name GEOX, was created by combining the Greek word “GEO” (earth, on which we all walk), and the letter “X” symbolizing technology.
YOOX is an Italian internet mail order retailer of men's and women's multibrand designer clothing and accessories - their name YOOX is said to be composed of the male Y and female X chromosome letters linked by OO, the symbol of infinity or “the ‘zero’ from the binary code, the fundamental language of the digital age.
MEXX the international fashion company that designs clothes and accessories for men, women and children was created from combining two popular clothing brands - "Moustache" for men and "Emanuelle" for women. The two brand names were merged to form: M (from Moustache) + E (from (Emanuelle) + XX (an abbreviation for "kiss kiss" ) to create MEXX.
The name of the cult clothing company BAPE (Bathing Ape) founded by Tomoaki Nagao is derived from the Japanese saying "A Bathing Ape In Lukewarm Water" which is said to be a reference the comfortable lifestyle of today's Japanese youth.
Another Japanese brand is MUJI originally founded in Japan in 1980 with more than 700 MUJI stores around the world. Mujirushi Ryohin, MUJI in Japanese, translates as “no-brand qua"
And of course it is not just fashion brands themselves but others associated with fashion that use acronym domain names. For example, the Dosso Dossi Fashion Show use the domain name DDFS.com.Here is a video of the Dosso Dossi Fashion Show at Antalya 2011. On The Red Carpet use the domain name OTRC.com
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