Fashion designers are upgrading friendship bracelets –- the accessory made popular during the superstar singer’s record-shattering Eras tour – with gold and diamond versions that cost as as $5,000, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The usually no-frills bracelets, made from multicolored thread tied into different patterns or beads with letters strung on stretchy plastic strings, became fashionable after Swift’s 2022 hit song, “You’re On Your Own, Kid” — which includes the lyric “make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it.
Luxury designers like Christian Dior, Cartier and Carolina Bucci have quickly jumped on the trend to offer high-end versions.
Swift — whose global appeal has been credited with boosting the worldwide economy by $5 billion, according to market research firm QuestionPro — was seen wearing a custom diamond friendship bracelet designed by Michelle Wie West for Wove Made in January while watching her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs win the AFC Championship Game.
The customizable bracelet reads “TNT” in gold charms – for “Taylor and Travis” – and was gifted to Swift by the Chiefs tight end. It retails for $6,000.
“From that point on, sales skyrocketed,” Wove Made CEO Simone Kendle told The Post. “It was a lot.”
Within the first week of Swift wearing the bracelet in public, Wove Made saw site traffic spike 5,000% and jewelry sales increase nearly 2,500%, according to the jeweler.
Wove Made custom makes each bracelet, and designs range from diamonds and rubies to black diamonds and gunmetal.
Besides the luxe look, the trend has two main appeals for customers.
The first is community: wearing a friendship bracelet is a clear stake in the Swiftie fanbase.
And the bracelets are usually gifted by customers to close friends or loved ones.
“The friendship bracelet culture really does have something meaningful behind it,” Kendle said.
The CEO said each customer has a message behind their bracelet, whether it is an anniversary gift, a “push present” for a new mom or matching sterling silver bracelets – the more affordable $300 variety – for two friends.
The luxury friendship bracelets also remind customers of fond childhood memories.
“The best way to have fun [with jewelry] is to reference something from childhood,” Bernard James, who has been designing jewelry for 12 years, told The Post.
His eponymous jewelry brand sells 14k gold friendship bracelets with customizable charms for $1,090.
James said he wasn’t even aware of the Swiftie trend until he saw a sudden jump in bracelet sales a few months ago.
Swift has spearheaded these high-end bracelets into the limelight – but traditional kids’ bracelets have found success among the Eras Tour craze, too.
A pre-order sale for so-called Sticki Rolls bracelets, which feature hundreds of collectible miniature stickers, lasted two days before they were sold out, Josh Loerzel, president of Sky Castle Toys, told The Post.
The bracelets go for $7.99 a pop and are being promoted on social media, including YouTube videos of girls decorating their cell phone cases, laptops, Crocs and even toilet seats.
The posts have garnered 100 million views on all its social media channels since June 8.
Yet Sticki Rolls aren’t even in stores yet.
