If you’re a lily-livered liberal or Carole Caplin, this is no doubt sounding like something you’d be interested in without your even knowing what it looks like. For the rest of you hard-bitten cynics about to flip the pages to divine what Crampton, Betts, Coren et al have been up to this week, then hold on a minute because really there’s something in this talismanic stuff, I swear.

A talisman, after all, can be anything that is imbued with meaning. I’d give you wedding rings as an example here, except that for more than 50 per cent of the married population the significance hasn’t been that successful. All those crystals people are wearing round their neck or praying to might be a better example, or there’s my friend Kevin’s Uncle Peter who tried to convince me that I needed my runes reading (in Harvey Nichols café, of all places). Even better, I recently met someone who swore their life had changed since they started wearing a St Christopher. For my part, I still haven’t removed what is now a dirty grey piece of string from around my wrist that was blessed by a Buddhist monk in Bhutan five months ago.

"Talismanic jewellery is prevalent right now because of its beauty and also because of the need for more protection from the world we are living in," says LMFF, whose real name happens to be Caroline. The jewellery is based on the principle of amulet protection, which means (in Brazilian terms) that you surround yourself with saints and religious iconography to ward off evil. The religious side of it hasn’t put off LMFF’s fans, who include models and singers, though Caroline won’t give names. "People either think they are cool or they are drawn to the deeper meaning behind them – anything from peace and family protection to angelic influences."

Still sounding wishy-washy? Well, consider the charitable aspects: LMFF (the name comes from Caroline and her husband’s nickname for their young daughter, Isabella) was inspired to help the children in the favelas after her husband returned from Rio with tales of hardship and horror. "When we saw how beautiful the ethnic jewellery was we thought we could help them to trade in a beneficial way. People love the stuff." LMFF wants to expand her business – thereby expanding the horizons of street kids in Rio. If that isn’t good karma, then I don’t know what is.

www.ladymissfoofoo.com (020-8567 1758; coolhunter@thetimes.co.uk

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