Early last month Harvard University released photos for their new men’s fashion line. Needed a minute to digest that? I did.

Women’s Wear Daily described the pieces in the line as “short-sleeve plaid shirts, Liberty print wovens, seersucker shorts, regimental stripes, sporty knits, patterned jackets and fancy pants — all in a contemporary, tapered fit.” Read between the fashion jargon and the line seems like a cross between J.Crew and Abercrombie & Fitch — with a much higher price tag. And for the record, nowhere on the outside of the clothes does the word Harvard appear. Crimson isn’t even the dominant color in the line. It all failed to make any sense to me.

Apparently the line is targeted towards alumni and fans of Harvard. Fans of Harvard? Really? These people exist? To all you Harvard fans out there I suggest you become fans of your own alma mater, because this is just a little sad. And okay, let’s say these Harvard fans exist — wouldn’t they just buy Harvard apparel at the bookstore?

In case you’re wondering, as I was, Harvard has no fashion major. Just in case this whole thing was already failing to make sense, this just makes things hazier. Harvard just forged ahead of the rest of the Ivies (and the big fashion schools like RISD, FIT and SCAD) to start a fashion line for no apparent reason.

So Harvard designed an expensive fashion line (items can cost as much as $495), which neither utilizes the creativity of the students nor directly promotes the school. I thought of the failing economy and Harvard being one of many victims of the recession — maybe the university decided to be somewhat innovative and start a fashion line.

Then again, in a recession who is really spending $495 on a sports jacket designed by a university as opposed to a well established designer? If a person has that money to spend to support the school, then they could just do it in the form of a donation. If Harvard was so hard up for money that they really had to push the merchandising of their name, couldn’t they have done in a way that made slightly more sense? Even opening a Harvard apparel store in Times Square would have made more sense.

So I got to thinking, what if in the midst of this recession, Cornell decided to profit off the bright minds in Human Ecology and made all the Fiber Science & Apparel Design majors abandon their design league projects and design Cornell inspired clothing?

Harvard pulled their inspiration from photos of students lounging around Harvard Yard in the sixties. So let’s say Cornell pulls their inspiration from students lounging on the Arts Quad on a sunny day …

Would Cornell’s fashion line poke fun at the stereotypical sorority girl outfit of leggings, American Apparel v-neck and zip up? Would our fashion line be inspired by the look popular in Mann Library of heather gray sweatpants and red windbreakers? Or perhaps it would be inspired by all the boys in Olin Café wearing sweaters and designer jeans clearly picked out by their mother?

Doesn’t this all seem illogical? I am fully aware that fashion often revists the past, but that is the job of budding designers — not universities with no clear motivation. Good try Harvard. I will be eager to see what happens to this design (mostly to see how long it takes to fail).