Lingua Franca

Activism

Lingua Franca was first started in 2016 by Rachelle Hruska MacPherson following the first election of President Donald Trump. She used her sweater business to advance left-of-center activism by stitching the phrase “Give a Damn” onto the sweaters sold, which later became the brand for the products. Following President Trump’s second election in November 2024, MacPherson announced on the company website her “post-election thoughts” claiming Trump was a “hubristic con artist with only yes men in his corner…[with] the power to erase centuries of progress.” ^{1  4}

Lingua Franca has used the revenue from its products to fund activist projects.  ⁵ These include the Emerge Project, a collaboration between Lingua Franca and organizing group Emerge to train female candidates to run for office on the Democratic ticket; ² and the Resistance Series, a feminist organizing project to organize protests and advocacy against specific policies by the second Trump administration that the company labels as anti-feminist.  ³

Sweaters sold by the company commonly have left-of-center phrases stitched on such as “Time’s Up,” “I Miss Barack,” and “I Am An Immigrant.” Lingua Franca has sent proceeds from its projects to several left-of-center organizations including the Women’s March, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Women’s Rights Project. ⁵

Lingua Franca previously partnered with U.S Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to create a sweater design for promoting the release of Sen. Gillibrand’s children’s book and to raise funds for the First Book Org group. MacPherson hosted Gillibrand at a Lingua Franca store where the senator shared her plans to run for president in 2020. ⁵

In 2019, Lingua Franca and MacPherson partnered with activist Diana Weymar to release and promote a new line of sweaters with alleged quotes from President Trump stitched onto the fabric. MacPherson hosted a show for Weymar to display her sweaters at a Lingua Franca store. ⁶  Similar slogans embroidered on Lingua Franca sweaters have included “I didn’t vote for him,” “Healthcare > billionaires,” “Tits up,” “Love Trumps hate,” and “Abortion is healthcare.” ⁷

Celebrity Partnerships

Lingua Franca has partnered with several actors, activists, and artists including Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Lopez, Martha Stewart, and Zooey Deschanel . ^{8  1} In 2018, Meryl Streep appeared with Tom Hanks on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” wearing a Lingua Franca sweater. ⁹

In 2025, Lingua Franca also partnered with the Broadway musical “Hamilton,” placing quotes from the musical on the brand’s sweaters. ¹⁰

Controversy

In August 2025, a story in the Free Press alleged that Lingua Franca had refused to release a brand of sweaters with the phrase “Proud Zionist” stitched onto the front after it was requested by pro-Israel activist Alison Himel. Following the story’s release, the company argued that it was due to “technical and stock issues,” but Himel claimed it was due to anti-Israel bias.  ⁷ Later, Himel alleged to have received an email from Lingua Franca stating, “After careful internal discussions, and given the current political climate in the Middle East, we’ve made the difficult decision not to produce sweaters that directly reference this ongoing conflict.” ¹¹

Leadership

Rachelle Hruska MacPherson is the founder and CEO of Lingua Franca.  ¹² In 2020, the success of her brand led The Cut to name MacPherson as a pioneer in the “resistance socialite,” a group of luxury entrepreneurs and business owners who use their companies to promote left-of center social change. ¹³ MacPherson has also been featured for her activism in ELLE fashion magazine and by the Poetry Society of America. ^{14  15}