SPONSORED
Text by Emilly Prado
Images by Sera Lindsey
T Ngu, owner and designer of jewelry line Upper Metal Class, remembers marveling at treasures her mother tucked away in a cookie tin repurposed as a jewelry catchall. For Ngu, her parents’ decisions and perseverance—her family came to the United States from Vietnam by way of Hong Kong as refugees and lived in and out of housing projects around Los Angeles until her mother finished school and started a landscaping business—helped pave the way for her to pursue her creative dreams. Today, Ngu owns Upper Metal Class, a minimalist jewelry line she makes herself that blossomed from side hobby to full-time endeavor in 2008. Seeking and supporting community is central for Ngu, who continues to donate a portion of profits and select Upper Metal Class product sales. “I want to support people and these organizations that can better us as a whole,” Ngu says. “My mom is a catalyst for that. It’s something I’ve learned from her: Be a good person, do good things, and help people out.”
Find Upper Metal Class’s rings, earrings, bracelets, and necklaces online and in Portland at Betsy and Iya, Red Sail, and Tender Loving Empire.
A jewelry-making workshop marked the start of T Ngu’s ongoing journey. “It’s one of the things I thought I would really enjoy learning,” she says. “It was that and wanting to make something I could wear.”