Making friendship bracelets isn’t just for kids at summer camp anymore. Exchanging these kitschy tokens has become a way to make memories – and friends – at concerts, and businesses can latch onto to the trend as a way to give a personalized gift that any end-user will cherish forever – or at least until the string snaps.

The trend has been gaining steam since the spring when Taylor Swift’s massive Eras Tour began in March. People have been buying up beads and string from local craft stores to make bracelets which they then trade at shows. Michaels Stores, for example, has seen a 40% increase in jewelry sales since mid-April, John Gehre, chief merchandising officer at the retail chain, told USA Today.

Foxy Originals offers custom beaded bracelets, like the ones Taylor Swift fans make and trade at concerts.

Indeed, Swift has been controlling the American economy since her tour began, with ticket sales projected to gross about $2.2 billion this year. And that doesn’t even count merch sales, which some have estimated will bring the singer another $87 million. Fans have spent hours in line for the chance to buy tour-exclusive merch.

Swifties have also gotten into the spirit by making beaded bracelets featuring song lyrics or titles, then trading them with other fans at the show. While the Eras Tour has brought this nostalgic trend into the spotlight, promo pros say friendship bracelets have been growing in popularity for the last few years.

“I definitely think that the trend started before the Taylor Swift craze, because we’ve been filling orders and lots of requests for custom beaded bracelets for about two years now,” says Jennifer Ger, co-owner of Foxy Originals, a jewelry supplier. “I see the trend emerging from the pandemic. Accessories are kind of famed relics of summer camp, and they remind us of days gone by filled with nostalgia, and a bit of a more fantastical world where people used beading and handicrafts as a respite from the stressors of the world.”

Friendship bracelets have a long history. The activity can be traced to indigenous nations in Central and South America. According to folktales, the bracelet-maker would tie it onto the recipient’s wrist as a symbol of friendship.

The pastime of making, collecting and trading bracelets has endured well into the modern era. Consider the silicone Livestrong fundraising bracelets that became popular in the aughts. Taylor Borst, senior director of marketing and vendor relations at Top 40 distributor American Solutions for Business (asi/120075) remembers silicone bracelets being a hot commodity in her middle school. “People would try to get as many as they could, and they would try to get different colors, and people would just have a ton of them,” she says. “It was a status symbol. At some point we forgot what they even meant.”

There have been other bracelet fads over the years – from Silly Bandz to Alex and Ani wristlets – but beaded friendship bracelets have taken center stage in the current iteration of the trend. And they’re perfect for the promo industry: unisex, easy to style and share, and always visible because of their placement on the wrist.

Ger says she sees bracelets popping up everywhere in promo, whether it’s a gift with purchase, or for use at conferences. At concerts, she adds, brands can offer bracelet-making stations at their booth. “We’re also seeing them used as an incentive for retail,” Ger notes. “So, staff will earn badges, points and bracelets, depending on reaching certain metrics.”

Friendship bracelets are powerful because they remind people of the innocence of childhood. “Just holding them and sharing them makes everybody feel a bit more at ease and a little more playful,” Ger says. “Having something tangible that just reminds you of a play-like memory – it’s something that’s quite a nice gift to receive and share.”

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