This sent in from a friend via the NYTimes: Harvard University has entered a 10-year licensing agreement with Wearwolf to produce a line of "preppy clothing" to hit department stores by February of next year.
I'm not sure how I feel about this quite yet. Part of me is revolted by the idea that Harvard (and other Ivy-league schools) necessarily be associated with privilege, wealth, and social status. People might watch Gossip Girl and think that everyone who goes to such schools are similarly well-to-do and out-of-touch with reality. Sure, there is a pretty large contingent of legacy brats, elite from around the world (Manhattan, Hong Kong etc.), and otherwise snobbish young Turks at Harvard. But I, along with most of my friends, came from backgrounds firmly rooted in the middle and working classes, and we sure as hell didn't wear blazers with the Harvard insignia stitched in crimson thread on the lapels.
In fact, when I went to school there, it was downright shameful to tout the fact of your school. No one wore Harvard-branded clothing (unlike certain West Coast contemporaries) around campus or anywhere else because we're deathly afraid of dropping the H-bomb. From what I observed when I went back to visit is that this has changed in the last 5 years, but I should hope the majority of students there are still down-to-earth.
Anyway, the other part of me kind of loves this stuff in the teaser photos. That blazer, crimson thread and all, is pretty sweet. And I like that there isn't some tacky Harvard logos emblazoned on them. And, if nothing else, you could just wear it in a spirit of irony. What I really want to know is, are they going to release a line of clothing for the ladies?
From the NY Times slideshow: "John Longbrake, a university spokesman, disputed the idea that a preppy, Harvard-branded clothing line would dimish the university's efforts to appeal to students of diverse backgrounds." Learn more at the Harvard Yard Collection website.
And this is what a more realistic Harvard student wears:
