Loom Bands
Forgotten Trends · 2011
Published
Rainbow Loom turned small coloured elastic bands into bracelets, charms and other linked creations. Choon Ng’s kit used rows of grooved plastic pins to hold the bands in place while a hook pulled one loop through another. A simple clip secured the finished chain when it came off the loom.
Why It Mattered
The loom gave a fiddly hand-looping activity a clear system that children could learn, repeat and expand into more complicated patterns. Its rapid popularity produced tutorials, trading and countless competing kits, turning tiny elastic bands into an international craft craze.
Linked elastic bands
- The patent defines a Brunnian link as one closed loop doubled over itself to capture another loop.
- Choon Ng developed the rubber-band crafting system around 2010–2011, with commercial activity recorded from 2011.
- Repeated links form chains used for bracelets, necklaces and other wearable items.
The kit
- A base holds pin bars in selected arrangements, and flanged pins keep elastic bands positioned.
- A hook reaches through a pin groove to lift a lower band; a clip secures the finished ends.
Patent enforcement
- The USITC opened investigation 337-TA-923 on 1 August 2014 after a complaint from Choon's Design.
- The products at issue were children's hobby kits for linking elastic bands into articles such as bracelets.
Associated With
Cheong Choon Ng / Choon's Design - associated person, creator or operator
Defining Feature
Elastic bands looped across grooved pins with a hook and secured by a clip
Status
Active - Rainbow Loom products remain active; the retained U.S. patent record lists the core patent as active
Primary Records
Image Sources
- All one image sources are not yet verified — editorial review required.
Rights Notice
Images are included for historical and archival reference.
Rights holders may contact Forgotten Archive through the publishing account to request a credit correction or removal.
Gallery
Credit
Molly new / Wikimedia Commons; resized for display
Caption
Handmade loom-band bracelets turned small coloured elastics into a visible badge of the 2014 craft craze, with patterns shared and worn together.