How a fellow Bosslady inspired us to create the “Stitch” collection.
After the 2016 election I, like many, was at a loss and scared for the future of our fellow people and planet. Even though I had participated in the Women’s March, and was becoming active with phone trees and messages to legislators, I still felt hopeless. Then, this very new and very small sweater company (Lingua Franca, created by the one and only Rachelle Hruska MacPherson ) caught my attention. The joy I felt was instant, not only because they were putting clever phrases on their sweaters that very much resonated with me, but they were creating "resistance sweaters" (their words) with embroidery. That was something I could get behind (and in!).
When you think of embroidery your first thought might be of stuffy needlepoint pillows on your grandmother’s couch. When we think of embroidery, our brain goes to the somewhat punk and modern subversive cross-stitching. Though the medium of needlepoint or cross-stitch has been around since 600 B.C., and has long been considered ‘women’s work’, it has also functioned as a method for female rebellion, a medium for secret codes, a tool for community building and ally-identification. There’s nothing stuffy or mainstream about that, and that’s exactly the point. That’s why it has resonated so much with us here at AMANDA PEARL, and why Amanda was inspired to create our “Stitch” earrings and necklace (a longtime subversive cross stitcher herself).
“Inspired by the typically “feminine” cross-stitch, which has become a mechanism for quiet social protest and a vehicle for the assertion of feminism. These pieces might look subtle, but that doesn't mean they're not powerful, and a great every day quiet statement.”
Here are some of the ways that we wear and pair our Stitch Earrings and Necklace.
Hmmmm how should I pair the Stitch pieces with the following sweaters that are on my wishlist?
