Rachel Hruska McPherson launched her witty cashmere sweater brand, Lingua Franca, two months before Donald Trump won in 2016. She didn’t mean to be political.
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When Rachel Hruska McPherson founded her New York clothing company 10 years ago, she never imagined that celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart would end up wearing her sweaters.
McPherson also never expected her brand, Lingua Franca, which makes hand-sewn cashmere sweaters for women, to become political. That happened too.
McPherson sewed her way to empire with the help of the company’s most famous collection, the “Give a Damn” line. It’s a series of cheeky pullovers with progressive slogans that cast a shadow over President Donald Trump’s administration. Nifty suggestions written in lowercase letters include “melt ICE,” “I love seeing ICE crushed,” and “impeach him.”
In recent years, McPherson’s company has grown beyond its political roots. Lingua Franca launched ready-to-wear in 2020 and operates a 10,000-square-foot workshop in New York City’s Apparel District. The majority of the company’s sales come from customizable sweaters. But Lingua Franca, which was founded in September 2016, two months before Trump’s victory, experienced a homecoming as Brand focused on political engagement during his second term.
“Growing up, we kept our politics in check, but obviously this year is the 250th anniversary of our country and I think there was a lot going on, so it felt natural,” McPherson, 43, told USA TODAY.
Talk show mogul Winfrey and media guru Stewart have been photographed wearing “Give a Damn” sweaters that range from $150 to $380. Screen star Connie Britton styled the brand’s “Poverty Is Sexism” black sweater at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards.
A company born from the founder’s postpartum depression
A native of Nebraska, McPherson grew up in Lincoln, spending his childhood summers on his family’s farm with his cousins and grandparents. After attending Pius X High School, a prestigious Catholic institution in her hometown, and Creighton University in Omaha, she moved to New York in 2005 to pursue her dreams across the prairie.
In 2008, McPherson co-founded Guest of a Guest, a popular lifestyle site about the glamorous life of New York’s high society. She married hospitality mogul Sean McPherson in 2011 and the pair have two sons, Maxwell and Dashiell. After Dash was born in 2016, McPherson suffered from extreme postpartum anxiety and depression.
“When everything was changing and we were really falling into a deep black hole, I was working nonstop and trying to understand the digital landscape,” McPherson said. She has been seeing a therapist and is now taking Lexapro, a common antidepressant. The founder’s therapist recommended performing manual tasks to help her heal, as she was often online, connected to her cell phone, and constantly connected to the news cycle.
McPherson was vacationing with her family in Montauk, an upscale village in the Hamptons, when she passed by the Joanne Fabrics store. Her paternal grandmother, Rita, taught her how to embroider on the family farm.
“We spent many summers there with my cousins and I just remember it being one of the happiest times of my life,” McPherson said. She hadn’t sewn in 20 years, but she went to the store to buy a needle and thread.
Lingua Franca’s first line was an apolitical line of 2,000 sweaters sold on the luxury fashion site Net-a-Porter. McPherson designed the collection inspired by her “muse” and mother-in-law, Janet McPherson, a pioneer in women’s surfing. McPherson, now in her 80s and riding waves, is seen wearing Lingua Franca’s “Outlaw” sweater in a photo accompanying her New York Times obituary.
“We want to feel inclusive.”
After Trump was elected, McPherson took a photo of herself wearing an embroidered sweater and an ode to Barack Obama and posted it on Instagram. “It completely went viral,” McPherson wrote in an essay for Business Insider. The clothes were a gift to Anna Carter, who runs a digital telegram company with her husband, former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.
The brand’s celebrity fans include Candice Bergen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Katie Couric, Andy Cohen, America Ferrera, Reese Witherspoon, Jane Fonda, Laura Dern, Lupita Nyong’o, and more.
The lingua franca also sparked a high-profile backlash. McPherson drew criticism for the company’s anti-ICE sweater. One retailer dropped the brand following the controversy.
But the most outspoken critics of McPherson’s product line complain about the sweaters’ high prices. In 2018, she told The Hollywood Reporter, “The biggest criticism we get is the price.” In an interview with USA TODAY, she addressed the issue again.
McPherson recalled her own experience as a Midwesterner adjusting to East Coast prices. When her cousins came to visit from Kansas City, Missouri, recently, she took them to Montauk and to Round Swamp Farm, an upscale market.
The Hamptons hotspot is loved by culinary icon Ina Garten, but is hated by Bethenny Frankel after she said the restaurant doesn’t take credit for helping make it famous. Mr McPherson added that while product prices are relative, it is important to recognize and explain what people are paying for.
“This is the biggest challenge because we want to feel inclusive,” McPherson said. “We want to include people in our communities and in our conversations,” she added. “We also want to maintain our quality and the dignity of our employees, who all work with full benefits and pay…so it’s hard to do that.”
In total, Lingua Franca has donated nearly $2 million to philanthropic causes, and its factories in Portugal and Peru are pre-screened for best practices, MacPherson said. Last year, the clothing company partnered with NPR and PBS after public media suffered $1 billion in funding cuts under pressure from Republicans in Congress and Trump administration officials.
“Exorbitant prices” or are Lingua Franca prices fair?
Fashion politics expert Lori Polloni-Staudinger said pricing is relative because the products are ethically sourced and hand-sewn domestically.
“I don’t think it’s an exorbitant price,” said Polloni-Staudinger, who is also dean of the University of Arizona’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, but said she is unlikely to buy a sweater at that price.
Karen Kedrowski, a professor at Iowa State University who studies the intersection of fashion and politics, says the “Give a Damn” collection is a classy political T-shirt collection. Kedrowski said the sweater has filled a niche by using cashmere’s “joy points” and seasonal feel to make a political statement. “It’s sending a kind of multi-layered message, not only about politics, but also about personal status,” Kedrowski said.
Millions of people wear T-shirts with political messages, but Kedrowski said McPherson’s chic use of cashmere also conveys wealth to potential customers. McPherson said she has heard from customers who gave away sweaters to their daughters. That’s a blessing, she says, given the disposable nature of fashion.
Some companies have found success by manufacturing political costumes. Des Moines-based clothing company Raygun’s T-shirts are distributed throughout the Midwest, including Chicago. McPherson’s hometown of Lincoln, Kansas City. and Madison, Wisconsin.
Raygun shirts, emblazoned with slogans like “America Needs Lesbian Farmers,” are ethically made and typically retail for less than $30. Trump fans love his red “Make America Great Again” hat, which can be purchased online at the official store for $55.
In New York, McPherson hopes to continue building a community for Lingua Franca fans who can’t afford the company’s products. at the company’s West Village retail store, on social media, and in its popular Substack newsletter, “Loose Threads.”
McPherson wants something more. It’s about building a timeless brand that transcends the politics of “Give a Damn.”
This story has been updated.
