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> France has most (or a significant percentage) of the leading fashion houses and cosmetic brands. So it makes sense.

Also, I think French words (in general) have associations of "high class" and "fashionable" in the American context, so calling something by a French word is an easy way for a marketer to fancy something up (for certain classes of something).



French association with "high class" goes a long ways back, including to when Brittania was under Norman rule in the early 1000s.

Much of the loan words from Old French are considered classier compared to equivalent words from Old english

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_with_dua...


Exactly. This is most likely the cause.


There are no English words of non-French origin for many of these; it's not a marketing tactic: it's just the only way to denote e.g. boucle fabric or chenille yarn.




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