Brooches have long been maligned as “grandma style.”

In decades past, these decorative – and often gaudy – pins became known “as daytime, luncheon jewels,” Marion Fasel, a fine jewelry historian, told The New York Times. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is famous for using her brooches to send diplomatic messages. Queen Elizabeth has also been known to rock a brooch or 12 – whether it’s a giant sapphire surrounded by diamonds, a gem-studded flower basket or a sparkling silver maple leaf.

Younger people, mostly, have steered clear. But fashion, in all its cyclical glory, has come back around, and these days, the once stodgy style has a hip edge to it.

The Brooch Is Back, Baby. See How Lady Gaga and Others Put a Pin In It.https://t.co/Y6qYF74bUe

— AxisPromo (@AxisPromo) March 31, 2021

The twist, though, is that “it’s men who are in charge of making brooches cool again,” according to Fasel. Bridgerton actor Regé-Jean Page hosted Saturday Night Live in an Alexander McQueen suit that came with a pearl brooch sewn on the lapel. Jared Leto, Trevor Noah, Anthony Anderson and Timothée Chalamet are among the other male celebs ready to be pinned.

“The attitude toward brooches has definitely relaxed,” jeweler Jill Heller told Town & Country. “They’re no longer your grandmother’s accessory.”

This rhinestone pin is available from Gempire.

Where retail goes, promo is sure to follow, says Harvey Mackler, owner of Gempire (asi/55610). “Bling always wins,” he adds.

For the promotional products industry, the ability to create custom brooches and pins “that appear to be one-of-a-kind” generates interest and has a huge perceived value, Mackler notes.

This heart brooch is available from Gempire.

Tom Farrell, marketing manager of EMT (asi/52263), agrees that the custom nature of pins is paramount. “Pins allow customers to be creative and capture the unique personality of their brand,” Farrell adds. “Whether it’s a colorful team mascot, a clever phrase or a unique jewelry-quality recognition piece, custom pins allow you to tailor your message and make a genuine connection with your audience.”

These resin enamel pins are available from EMT.

Enamel pins are perhaps the cool younger cousin of the brooch. Back when brooches were losing steam, the enamel pin was having its heyday. In the ’70s, “they were used as fashion statements to express solidarity and belonging to certain societal groups. Think peace and love pins,” says Cory Dean, owner of Arrow Emblems (asi/36901). Twenty years later, they saw a resurgence through cause awareness, he adds. Pink ribbon pins, for example, were a simple visual shorthand to show allegiance to breast cancer awareness.

Pins, like this one from Arrow Emblems, are a way to show belonging and solidarity.

Brooches’ return to ascendancy hasn’t dinged the continued popularity of the humbler enamel pin, though. “Pins are widely used today for self-expression, to showcase the places we’ve been as individuals, and also to share our unique personal, athletic and career achievements,” Dean says.

Enamel pins have been a popular fashion statement among millennials and Gen Z, worn either individually or as a cluster of various styles, Dean says. Pin aficionados will affix the unisex jewelry to all sorts of apparel and accessories from hoodies and baseball caps to purses and backpacks.

“As fashion statements, pins are temporary and can be exchanged with moods and whims and social circles,” Dean says.

Pins, like this one from Arrow Emblems, are often given out in recognition of service or to confer membership to a group or club.

Pins can also exude an air of status and exclusivity. Companies will create limited-edition custom enamel pins to recognize employees, turning them into instant collectibles. “Belonging to an elite group is a common desire among groups of all ages in 2021,” Dean says.

Indeed, Farrell adds, their very collectability adds a lot of value: “There aren’t a lot of promo products that offer that kind of ROI or longevity. Pound for pound, custom lapel pins pack a big promo punch.”

One way to elevate a custom pin even further is to add a retail-style backer card, Farrell says. Not only does it give the pin a more polished presentation, it also gives the client more real estate to tell their brand story, he adds.

Adding a backing card to a custom pin set, like this one from EMT, adds polish and an extra branding boost.

Considering the variety of styles, colors, metal finishes and other embellishments available, the possibilities for custom pins and brooches are nearly endless.

“Because enamel pins have a universal appeal, we find them spanning our customer base from higher-end luxury items that are custom-packaged and presented as unique, limited-edition pieces of jewelry, more like commemorative coins, to lower-end collectible trinkets that are prepackaged for mass retail,” Dean says. “The variety of designs also span from delicate and complicated designs on hard and soft enamel lapel pins to simpler soft-rubber designs with magnetic backings for children.”

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