About us

I kept seeing jewelry I loved, but the prices didn’t make sense for what it actually was. Chains, basic components, simple constructions, sold as something untouchable. I have a background in jewelry making, so instead of buying it, I decided to make it myself. I bought chains, cut them, reworked them, added elements. It worked. I got exactly what I wanted, for a fraction of the price.

Then it became something else. I didn’t stop. I kept making more, experimenting, refining. At some point I realized I wasn’t saving money anymore. I was just deep in it. So I started sharing the pieces, mostly to balance things out and not let them sit unused.

That’s how SubstanceLab began. Not as a brand, but as a process that grew.

The pieces you see here are not designed around trends. I don’t believe in microtrends or in constantly replacing things just because the system tells us to. Capitalism and consumer culture rely on that cycle. Things are made to be outdated, to be discarded, to make space for the next thing.

I’m not interested in that.

I want objects that stay. Pieces that don’t expire after a season. Jewelry that holds up, both physically and visually, over time. Something you can wear for years without feeling like it belongs to a past version of yourself.

SubstanceLab is rooted in queerness, not as a label, but as a way of being. For me, queerness means freedom. The freedom to express yourself, to reject norms, to choose your own direction and stand by it. The people around me, my chosen family, embody that. They are open, sharp, unapologetic, and they don’t bend to expectations.

This brand is built for that kind of energy.

It’s not limited to queer people, but it is for people who recognize that mindset in themselves. People who don’t need permission to be who they are. People who are comfortable being seen, even if not everyone understands what they’re looking at.

The jewelry works as a signal. It doesn’t explain itself to everyone. But for the right people, it says enough. It creates recognition. Sometimes even connection.

At the same time, it’s simple. You put it on, and you feel different. More visible. More defined. Sometimes more sexy, sometimes more grounded, sometimes just more like yourself.

What I’m most proud of is not the objects themselves, but the people who wear them. The kind of people this attracts. I meet them, I talk to them, I see how they exist in the world, and it feels right. It makes sense. It feels like I’m building something with people I actually respect.

SubstanceLab is also the only space where I don’t have to perform. There’s no marketing persona here. No softened version of anything. This is a direct extension of how I see things and what I want to put out into the world.

If it resonates, you’ll know.