Kenneth Cole Productions and Lingua Franca reunite for a limited-edition First Amendment capsule of hand-embroidered sweaters and T-shirts, with ten percent of proceeds benefiting the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Kenneth Cole Productions and Lingua Franca are back with a second collaboration, and this one is a direct defense of the First Amendment. The limited-edition unisex capsule — launching Wednesday and available exclusively on kennethcole.com and linguafrancanyc.com — features hand-embroidered sweaters and T-shirts stitched with phrases like “Free the Speech,” “Unmute Yourself,” “Shut the Hate Up,” “Speak Even If Your Voice Shakes,” and “Read Between the Lies.” Ten percent of proceeds from each piece will benefit the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which documented at least 124 journalist and media worker deaths in 2024 — the highest annual toll since the organization began keeping records in 1992.
“At a time when freedom of speech feels more important than ever, we hope these messages inspire people to stand up, speak out, and use their voices for good,” Kenneth Cole, chairman and chief creative officer at Kenneth Cole Productions, said in a statement.
The capsule is the brands’ second joint effort, following a 2024 collaboration built around mental health awareness, which raised funds for Cole’s Mental Health Coalition through cashmere crewnecks embroidered with “i have issues” and “almost-normal.” The follow-up expands that conversation from internal struggle to public expression.
The styles
The sustainably sourced collection includes three pieces: the Maxime Sweater in a black-and-white combination at $290, a unisex cashmere crewneck in black, white, and gray at $380, and a unisex T-shirt in black and white at $95. All are hand-embroidered in Lingua Franca’s New York studio, where the brand’s more than 50 embroiderers are paid above minimum wage — a labor standard founder Rachelle Hruska MacPherson has maintained since the label launched in 2016.
Language as advocacy
MacPherson first picked up a needle at a therapist’s suggestion as a way to manage anxiety, and has since built Lingua Franca into a platform where craft and cause intersect. “Language has always been at the heart of Lingua Franca, stitched by hand and worn with intention. This collection with Kenneth Cole is a reminder that free speech isn’t abstract, it’s personal, powerful and worth protecting,” MacPherson said.
Cole’s four-decade track record — from AIDS awareness campaigns in the 1980s to the 2020 founding of the Mental Health Coalition — makes the CPJ partnership a natural extension of Kenneth Cole Productions’ identity. The CPJ released a report in May 2025 finding that press freedom in the U.S. is “no longer a given.”
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