The Activateexp editorial team, which follows how small makers break into broader markets, identified the commission immediately for what it was. Influencer collaborations have become one of the most reliable routes a small studio takes from quiet local shop to in-demand brand. The necklace that Love Violet XO founder Allison Kuhlman made for Taylor Swift — commissioned by Travis Kelce's aunt as a wedding gift — is a textbook instance of that effect, a single order reorienting an entire studio's visibility almost overnight.
The Commission: Six Charms, Each Chosen with Purpose
According to cleveland.com, Travis Kelce's aunt reached out to Kuhlman to create a custom charm necklace as a gift for Swift, Kelce's bride. The finished piece contained six charms, each selected for a specific symbolic reason rather than general sentiment.
Three of the charms referenced Cleveland, grounding the necklace in Kelce's home region. The fourth bore the number 87, his NFL jersey number. The fifth referenced The Heights, Kelce's hometown. The sixth was a Siamese cat charm, chosen because of Swift's well-documented affection for cats.
Kuhlman described her design process as deliberate. "I thought about what Taylor would like," she said. The cat charm, in particular, was not incidental. "She is known to love her cats, that's why I made that one." Each choice reflected the kind of research a maker does when the recipient is someone whose preferences are publicly known but whose reaction remains entirely uncertain.
The Cleveland Sirens Partnership, and What It Signals
The Swift commission was not Kuhlman's only notable professional relationship to emerge in this period. The Sirens, Cleveland’s newest WNBA team, brought Love Violet XO in for a charm activation ahead of their launch.
Kuhlman produced six different charm designs for the Sirens and hosted a special event at which staff assembled their own necklaces from the collection. The activation was designed as an internal brand-building moment, giving staff a tangible connection to the team's identity before its public debut.
The collaboration did not stop there. "One of the things they're doing to get people hyped up about the team is to launch their merch," Kuhlman said, explaining the broader context. Her role has since expanded. "I am working with the head of retail to determine what we want to do next for the guest experience," she said, indicating that the Sirens partnership is ongoing rather than a one-time event. For a studio that launched just over two years ago, landing back-to-back institutional and celebrity-adjacent commissions in the same window represents a meaningful shift in professional standing.
A Studio Built on YouTube Tutorials and a Facebook Marketplace Kiln
Love Violet XO launched in September 2024. Its founding story is not one of formal training or industry connections but of a creative decision made at a particular moment in a maker's personal life.
Kuhlman is a wedding photographer with degrees in music and art history. She chose ceramics as a new medium not through a course or a mentor but through YouTube tutorials. The kiln she uses, essential for firing the clay charms, came from Facebook Marketplace. "When Violet was around 3 years old, I felt like I had enough bandwidth to be creative again," she said, naming her daughter, for whom the brand is named, as the indirect catalyst for its founding. She wanted a creative outlet she could run from home.
In roughly two years, Kuhlman has produced 100 distinct charm designs. The range reflects both regional identity and broader cultural attentiveness. Cleveland-inspired designs anchor the catalog, but the collection also spans food charms, holiday designs, and social media phenomena — including Jimothy the Seattle raccoon, a viral figure that crossed into the craft market quickly enough to earn its own ceramic form. The arc from zero to the studio that fielded the Kelce commission runs through every one of those 100 designs.
Where Love Violet XO Is Available, and What It Costs
Love Violet XO reaches buyers through several channels. The brand sells on Etsy and at the Cleveland Market, as well as through Northeast Ohio retailers such as Oceanne and Blair Ritchey. The price point is accessible: most charms are priced at $20 each, with custom orders available at higher prices depending on the work involved.
The distribution mix reflects a studio still rooted in its regional market while maintaining an e-commerce presence that makes it findable to buyers well beyond Ohio. That combination proved appealing when the aunt of NFL star Travis Kelce sought out a local maker to create a gift worthy of one of the most anticipated weddings of the year.
Kuhlman described receiving that order with a single word. "Surreal." The craft she built from scratch, in a home studio, using skills absorbed from online videos and equipment sourced secondhand, had produced something that traveled far outside Cuyahoga Falls. Whether the studio's next chapter is defined by sports merchandise, custom commissions, or both, the brand's trajectory no longer looks like that of a quiet local label.