Amazing : Taylor Swift superfans mean business with Tortured Poet soap, Eras yarn, Kelce cookies…

The official Taylor Swift online store is chockablock with earrings, hoodies, vinyl and other merchandise promoting the star’s latest record-breaking album, The Tortured Poets Department.

But there’s also a parallel industry devoted to selling crafty products inspired by Swift’s music and style — and it’s thriving.

“We’ve made soaps inspired by all of Taylor Swift’s albums. So of course we’re excited to introduce this one: Tortured Poet!” says Duane Swenk in a TikTok video. It’s been up for about a week, and has already been viewed more than 300,000 times.

Swenk is the spokesperson for his family-run soap and candle business, the Sparta Candle Co. — and a big Swiftie. Wearing a beard, beret and The Tortured Poets Department T-shirt, he’s showing off a soap in the shape of a cup of Earl Grey tea. It comes with a detachable saucer.

This soap has notes of black tea, bergamot and lemon,” Swenk goes on to say in the video. “It’s a perfectly moody scent to pair with Taylor’s incredible new album.”

Months before The Tortured Poets Department dropped, Duane Swenk’s daughter, Jennifer Swenk — who serves as the Sparta Candle Co.’s CEO and founder and is also a devoted Taylor Swift fan — was hunting for hints about it to turn into potential product concepts. When she browsed through the upcoming song titles, she saw one called “So Long, London.”

Jennifer Swenk said the combination of London and the overall poetry theme of the album gave her the idea for the soapy tea cup.

“I felt like poetry goes hand in hand with having a cup of tea,” she said.

Taylor Swift’s music evokes fanciful forms and scents for Jennifer Swenk. But Ashleigh Kiser is thinking in colors. Her company, Sewrella Yarn, has created a line inspired by Swift’s Eras tour, in which the pop star performs songs from her entire catalog.

“Something that is more of a love song, like the Lover era, those were very light, very pastel, very kind of ethereal colors,” said Kiser of matching Swift’s hits with yarn hues. “While the Evermore era got darker, more moody, more complicated colors.”

Kiser said she loves the way Swift inspires a sort of virtuous circle of creativity in fans.

“There were customers of ours who were buying the yarn that was inspired by the tour. And then they were going and knitting a sweater or a top or whatever their project was. And then they were then wearing that to Eras tour concerts,” Kiser said. “So it’s like the music informs the yarn which informs the project. And it just keeps going.”

I’m just scrolling Instagram, getting to pull inspiration from many different places,” said Henegar.

Henegar said she doesn’t mind when other makers incorporate her artistry into their own Swift-inspired products. “It’s nice if they can just credit me on their Instagram posts,” she said.

While Cookie in the Kitchen, Sparta Candle Co. and Sewrella Yarn mostly serve customers through their websites and/or brick-and-mortar stores, many small businesses focusing on Taylor Swift-oriented products look to Etsy and other arts ands crafts-focused online marketplaces to reach fans.

“I mean, talk about bringing people together, and talk about really amplifying creativity,” said Etsy trend expert Dayna Isom Johnson of Swift’s impact on the platform.

Johnson said entrepreneurs on Etsy aren’t just coming up with sales concepts ahead of the artist’s album releases and tour dates. They’re also quickly responding to what Swift sings, says and wears.