You may have seen these gorgeous multi-coloured wrist adornments in the last few years when they’ve become awesomely popular, but do you know the story behind these colourful strings?

Created by two Parisian women, Jenny and Delphine, who were inspired after their travels in Brazil and as the story goes, these coloured ribbons are given out to visitors in the city of Salvador, Brazil as a symbol of luck. They are tied onto the left wrist by a third party – each one tied with three knots and each knot comes with a wish made by the wearer. Once they have aged and finally fall off it is believe that your wishes have come true.

The Hipanema duo used the idea of these multicoloured ribbons and devised a way for us to wear them as a fashion accessory – taking 200-year old tradition and making it trés boho chic. Each bracelet has a few strands of coloured ribbon, pearls, beading, shells and threads that join onto a chic magnetised clasp which make it super easy to wrap around ones wrist. Every one also has a ribbon with words “Lembrança do Senhor do Bonfim da Bahia“, translated as “Remembrance of the lord of Good End, savior of Bahia, or Souvenir from the God of Bahia.” The Church of Senhor do Bonfim da Bahia became the guardian of the city of Salvador, and provider of miracles and granter of wishes. Nowadays people flock to the city and the church in search of these ribbons that provide miraculous powers and fulfilment of wishes.

Lucky for us, we don’t have to travel too far to enjoy these colourful trinkets.
So,go on, make a wish!

Images courtesy of   www.hipanema.co.uk