Lingua Franca Turns a Knicks Championship Into a Hand-Embroidered Sweater, Proceeds Included

Lingua Franca launched a cashmere collection with New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson and his family on October 20, timed to the Knicks' season opener at Madison Square Garden. The hand-embroidered sweaters and sweatshirts, made to order at the brand's Manhattan studio a few blocks from the arena, carry the mantra "The Magic Is in the Work" and feature Brunson, his wife Ali, his father Rick, and his mother Sandra as the campaign's models. Knicks fans at the arena can buy the sweaters in person; everyone else gets linguafranca.nyc.

Ten percent of sales go to Second Round Foundation, the nonprofit Jalen and Sandra Brunson founded in 2022 to expand opportunity for under-resourced young people through education, sport, and community. Sandra Brunson, a former Division I volleyball player turned business lawyer, says simply, "We want them to be more than what society may deem them to be." Lingua Franca founder Rachelle Hruska MacPherson adds that the collaboration's appeal goes beyond what Brunson has done on the court.

It's a smart match: Lingua Franca built its whole brand on sweaters that say something personal, and Brunson's story, a former second-round pick who became a championship point guard, is tailor-made for embroidery. Pairing a cashmere label with a championship narrative and a charitable cut is the kind of collaboration that reads as sincere specifically because none of the three parties needed the exposure.

Source: PR Newswire

Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →