Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and friendship bracelets: What does this trend mean?

In July, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce went to see Taylor Swift perform at Arrowhead Stadium with a friendship bracelet in hand.

The friendship bracelet Kelce brought with him was a little different than the ones Swifties (Swift fans) exchange during her concert. This one had his number on it, CNN reported. Now the two are at the onset of what seems like a budding love story.

Trading friendship bracelets has even been adopted by the Chiefs players.

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“The Kansas City Chiefs took part in a Swiftie-approved pre-game day activity this weekend: handing out friendship bracelets to each other,” Billboard reported. The Chiefs’ TikTok shows different players trading bracelets ahead of the game with the caption “We’re all BFFs over here.” The official account for the NFL commented “besties” on the video.

Videos have circulated of Kelce making friendship bracelets, too.

Those unfamiliar with why Swift is associated with the practice of trading friendship bracelets may be wondering: What’s the deal with the friendship bracelets?

Well, it starts with one of the Grammy Award-winning singer’s songs on the “Midnights” album: “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” according to CNN Business.

A few of the lines of the song read, “Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned / Everything you lose is a step you take / So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it / You’ve got no reason to be afraid.”

This inspired Swifties to string beads onto bracelets and exchange them with strangers they met at the Eras Tour concerts.

The friendship bracelets have sparked bonding and friendship among concertgoers.

Taylor Swift fan Gabby Deikmeke attended the Arlington, Texas, Eras Tour concert and told Today.com, “When we were waiting in line to go in, I started chatting with people. Everyone was wearing them on their wrist, so then you’re like, ‘Oh you want to trade? Which ones do you have? What eras do you like?’ And then you kind of pick out a personal bracelet depending on if they have a favorite song or favorite era from Taylor.”

Bracelets traded at the Eras Tour typically have a Swift reference. Sometimes that may be matching the color scheme of a particular era (purple for “Speak Now,” black for “Reputation,” gold for “Fearless,” etc.), other times the bracelets may have an album name, song lyric, Swiftie inside joke or name of one of Swift’s cats (Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson and Benjamin Button).

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This trend may even be connected to a rise in jewelry sales.

Referring to Swifties as a “large and loyal bunch,” chief merchandising officer of Michaels Stores John Gehre wrote in an email to USA Today, “Overall, sales in our jewelry category, including jewelry-making kits, are up more than 40% chainwide since mid-April, when the friendship bracelet-making trend began to take off.”

As the bracelet-making tradition blossomed, Michaels began to offer bracelet-making classes across the country, resulting in more than 22,000 bracelets made, per USA Today.

“While we may not have anticipated that lyric would spark such a huge trend, we were quick to identify it, anticipate what our customers would need from us, and ensured our stores were well stocked with the best supplies for Swifties to get creative and join in,” Gehre’s email said.