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When pro golfer Michelle Wie West’s daughter joined the legions of fans attending Taylor Swift’s concerts, she participated in what has become one of the Eras Tour’s most iconic traditions: trading friendship bracelets.
In doing so, she kicked off a chain of events that catapulted a Pennsylvania jewelry company into the spotlight — and added a bit of extra sparkle to the pop star’s wardrobe.
West was collaborating with jeweler Kendall Junck on a collection for the latter’s company, Wove, shortly after the concert in question.
“Michelle had a little bracelet she wore that her daughter made,” Junck told Business Insider, explaining that the golfer suggested the brand make a truly bejeweled version of the accessories that are traditionally made of string and plastic beads. “So I was like, ‘Okay, don’t pitch any other ideas, Michelle,’” Junck recalled. “‘That is what we’re running with.’”
What Wove brought to the market was a luxury variation on summer camp style. The brand’s diamond-encrusted tennis bracelets retail for at least $5,680 — though price varies based on buyer customization.
“The photos on our vision board in early meetings showed bracelets I had made for the concert and ones that other Swifties traded with me during the show [I attended],” Junck told Business Insider. “They were all little plastic pieces with an invisible string in between. We just took the design and made it diamonds.”
Among those who received a customized bracelet was Swift herself. West is friends with Swift’s beau, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. After telling Kelce about the Eras Tour-inspired piece, West gifted the athlete a bracelet with the letters “TNT” for “Taylor ‘n Travis.”
Despite successfully handing the present off, however, Wove CEO Simone Kendle said that the brand wondered if their bracelet would appear in photos of the celebrity couple.
“Our operations manager always sends us pictures of Taylor in the box on Sunday nights, and she’s been wearing jackets and long sweaters,” she told Business Insider. “Our team is like, ‘Oh my God, please just make it hot outside so we can see her wrists.’”
Their wish came true during a Jan. 28 game, during which a Wove team member caught sight of Swift wearing their product. The popular Instagram (META-3.69%) account Taylor Swift Styled also identified the bracelet, on a post that garnered more than 40,000 likes.
Within 24 hours, Wove’s sales increased by 477% and their success has continued since — particularly because Swift is now often spotted wearing the product. Most recently, she wore it to both the US Open and a wedding held at Electric Lady Studios.
“We are a small business based out of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, so to see Taylor, who’s also from Pennsylvania, wearing the bracelet, it’s just such a heartening moment,” Kendle told Business Insider.
In many respects, friendship bracelets were the signature accessory of 2023. Inspired by the lyrics to the Swift song “You’re On Your Own Kid,” fans made so many bracelets that Michaels Stores (APO+0.04%) reported a 40% increase in jewelry sales last summer.
“The largest jewelry category sales increase was more than 500% in Taylor’s home state of Pennsylvania,” John Gehre, the chief merchandising officer of Michaels Stores, told USA Today (GCI-4.14%). “The largest single-stop sales lift was more than 400% in Detroit.”