Back on our side with the pond, nobody at
Franklin & Marshall College was aware the school had become the namesake on an Italian clothing brand. But F&M officials began to realize something was upward in 2001, when people started calling the college and asking if the continent music star Tim McGraw had been an F&M grad. "No, " school staffers responded to, "why would you imagine that? "Franklin & MarshallJennie UlemanThe Franklin & Marshall apparel line was well-established with Europe, such as at this particular store in Rome, before the American university knew of its living.
It turned out of which McGraw had done any promotional photo shoot even though wearing a Franklin & Marshall struggling T-shirt. Nothing wrong with that -- he is able to wear anything he wishes, right? Just one problem: The school had certainly not produced or licensed of which shirt design. Around this same moment, F&M alumni began excitedly contacting the varsity and reporting that they'd seen a lot of F&M clothing while journeying in Europe. Had the school established a European campus annex, or set up some type of exchange program, or struck an in another country licensing deal?
School officials finally figured out what was going upon, and you can probably guess what happens happened next: a call to the school's lawyer, a stern cease-and-desist notice, and then some awful legal wrangling culminating in a lawsuit demanding punitive and compensatory damages. Except that guess will be wrong, because that's not what exactly happened. Instead, in a surprisingly educated move, the school chose to see the situation with regard to positive possibilities. "This was a unique situation, because they weren't just how to get started -- they had witout a doubt become established, " says Cass Cliatt, the school's vice chief executive for communications. "So we said, 'This could be a possibility for us. How can we reap the benefits of it? 'So in 2003 both Franklin & Marshalls -- the college and the clothing brand -- worked out a deal. The specifics of which deal are private, but here are some general terms:
Franklin & MarshallFranklin & MarshallAmerican "varsity fashion" inspired the designers. The school gets to examine every apparel design and ad campaign created by the clothing company. "We want to ensure that the nature of exactly what they're doing is commensurate with what we think is suitable for the college, " says Cliatt. The clothing company's hang tags include information regarding the school. The clothing company possesses presumably paid a licensing fee for the usage of the school's name, although nobody will look at that. The clothing company provides donated $130, 000 to the school's scholarship or grant fund. "That wasn't really a part of our agreement, " says Cliatt. "It was part your relationship. "That relationship is apparently an amazing one. Officials from the institution have visited the garments company's facilities, and vice versa. The clothiers have done photo shoots about the school campus and are actually granted access to the school's old yearbooks along with other archival materials. In a way, it is an alternate program. The only thing missing with this story is that this Italian
Franklin Marshall Men Sweater isn't deeply in love with the American F&M campus (or any place else in America, for that matter). They tried selling it for the school, but the price points were too high for the average student's budget, and the European sizing system triggered confusion.