Taylor Swift fans are collecting and selling rubbish found outside the singer’s star-studded wedding venue after she married NFL player Travis Kelce last week.
Following the lavish ceremony at Madison Square Garden on July 3, litter recovered from the streets surrounding the venue, including cigarette butts, bottle caps and even a discarded ovulation test, has been transformed into collectable souvenirs and sold to devoted Swifties.
Justin Gignac is a New York artist who is turning the collected rubbish into limited-edition memorabilia.
The unusual keepsakes, titled “NYC Pocket Garbage: Not Invited Edition (Taylor & Travis’ Wedding)”, were sold for $25 (around £19) each and quickly became a hit with Swifties.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married at Madison Square Garden on July 3
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According to his website, each item was “collected from the edge of a love story outside Madison Square Garden, as close to Taylor & Travis’ big day as you could’ve gotten without an invite”.
The tiny transparent cubes contained an assortment of rubbish, including cigarette butts, bottle caps, drinking straws, plastic cutlery and pieces of a rainbow-coloured fan.
Some packages also featured more unusual finds, including a single AirPod, a Ring Pop sweet and even a discarded ovulation test.
Each cube was labelled “New York City Garbage” and stamped “JUST&T MARRIED” alongside the couple’s wedding date, echoing the message displayed outside the venue after the ceremony.
Thousands of fans gathered outside the couple’s New York wedding venue
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GETTYMr Gignac joked fans could not choose which piece of rubbish they received, writing: “Sorry, no requests… only telepathy.
“Use your crystals, totems, and vision boards to manifest the one you want.”
The artist, who runs the TikTok account @newyorkcitygarbage, has spent 25 years collecting discarded items from New York’s streets and transforming them into collectibles.
For Ms Swift and Mr Kelce’s wedding, he arrived dressed in a tuxedo, yellow rubber gloves and carrying a litter picker to collect rubbish from outside the heavily guarded venue.
Speaking to Kiss925, he joked: “I was not invited, unfortunately, so I was not able to get any of that good, good garbage from the inside.”
The bizarre collection sold out within hours, with more than 1,300 packs purchased by fans in 30 countries.
Mr Gignac said every cube was carefully arranged and hermetically sealed to prevent any smells or leaks.
He added passers-by even mistook him for a wedding guest cleaning up after the celebrations.
The wedding also sparked extraordinary scenes beyond the venue, with thousands of fans gathering outside Madison Square Garden in the hope of catching a glimpse of the newlyweds or their celebrity guests.
Some onlookers climbed nearby scaffolding to peer over security barriers, while crowds sang Swift’s hits outside the arena in what many dubbed America’s Royal Wedding.
Fans climbed nearby scaffolding in the hope of catching a glimpse of the newlyweds or their celebrity guests
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The frenzy extended online, where one seller listed a bag of air allegedly collected from inside the venue for almost $50,000 (£37,000).
Organisers responded to the intense public interest with extensive security measures, including blacking out the venue’s windows, funnelling guests through enclosed arrival tunnels and requiring attendees to lock away their mobile phones to prevent photos or videos leaking online.