It all started with a stitch – literally. No grand plan, no big idea. One weekend designer Rachelle, was just looking to burn off some anxiety and turned to embroidery (a craft her grandma Rita taught her when she was a young girl in Nebraska). She picked up an old cashmere sweater, a needle and thread and LF was born. Today, Lingua Franca is a line of sustainably-sourced, fair trade luxury cashmere sweaters, all hand-stitched by women in NYC.