Oxford University, one of the world's best seats of learning, has launched a furniture range in a bid to raise cash for the varsity, a media report said. The famous institution has put its name to a range of sofas, dining tables and interior accessories to capitalise on its links with the Harry Potter films, The Daily Telegraph reported. Items in the collection — which supposedly each tell “the long history of this prestigious university” — include a striped washbag and a rug with a marble tile pattern.
The products, which are named after famous Oxford alumni and landmarks, also include desks, trunks and leather footballs, launched at the Maison et Objet trade show in Paris last week.
“We want to introduce the brand as a home and lifestyle brand. The possibilities are endless,” said Serge Gander, the managing director of Halo Licensing, the Hong Kong—based company that bought the rights to manufacture the furniture.
The licensing deal was negotiated by Oxford Ltd, the university subsidiary that manages its logo and rights.
But the university academics are sceptical. Peter Oppenheimer, an emeritus professor at Christ Church, said: .
“Words fail me. It is vulgar, inappropriate and unauthorised by the university at large. This does absolutely nothing for the university other than cheapen its image.”
A university spokesman said: “We work with members of the university and individual colleges to ensure that only product categories that can be demonstrated to be relevant to the university, its history or accomplishments are licensed and the sale of each licensed product generates a royalty for the university.”