Pia Mance had only $900 left in her bank account in June of 2022, and she spent every last dollar on vintage pendants. From her living-room floor, she strung the charms onto 90s-style cords, creating almost instantly viral necklaces. “I made $2,000 from that,” Mance says. “Then another $1,500. Suddenly, I had enough money to hire people and start building a business.”
The 28-year-old Australian influencer turned businesswoman officially launched Heaven Mayhem in the spring of 2023, releasing a collection of antique-inspired jewelry, including her now ultra-popular, 80s-inspired statement earrings. Hailey Bieber, Sofia Richie, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and Sydney Sweeney all frequently wear Mance’s earrings and post photos of them to Instagram.
And given Heaven Mayhem’s $100 price point, the pieces are much more accessible for young women who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford copying taste-makers’ luxury purchases. This year alone, Heaven Mayhem has made close to $10 million. When Mance debuted her watch collection, in September, she sold 500 units in a single day. And just last week, Heaven Mayhem, which is available through retailers including the Webster, Revolve, Bloomingdale’s, and Shopbop, expanded to London’s Selfridges department store, which marks an important milestone.
Yet, aware of how quickly trends and social media’s attention can change, Mance has been careful to not scale too quickly. She and her four employees still work out of her home, in Beverly Hills. “I look at so many incredible brands that were huge on Instagram and then disappeared,” she says. “I have no ego. I want to grow slowly and properly. I’ll do anything to save money.”
Mance grew up in Melbourne, Australia, where she studied public relations at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology from 2015 to 2017, when she and her now husband, Cody Mance, moved to London. Cody was relocating to expand his family’s shoe brand, Naked Wolfe, and so Mance decided to finish her degree online and take advantage of the adventure. “I wasn’t going to let university stop me,” she says.
Mance modeled part-time to support herself. “But let me tell you,” she admits, “I wasn’t a successful model.” Between castings, she dabbled at working as an influencer, occasionally posting branded content to her Instagram until the pandemic hit, when that became her only source of income. “I was so hungry for it,” she says, recalling her desperation to earn enough money as an influencer. “I wasn’t making money any other way. It felt like life or death.”
“But let me tell you, I wasn’t a successful model.”
When the couple moved again, at the start of 2022—this time to Los Angeles—Mance was ready for a new project. “I realized, What will I have to show for the next six months?” she says. “I needed to create something for myself.” It was during this time that Mance started visiting flea markets and craft stores, sourcing pendants and then tying them into necklaces.
Mance knew that spontaneous iPhone photos outperformed polished, professional shoots from her modeling days, so she began taking casual images of herself and her friends styling the pendants. She taught herself business skills. “I watched a lot of YouTube videos,” she says. “Business 101 stuff: profit, loss, cash flow.”
The name Heaven Mayhem, Mance explains, was meant to capture the dichotomy of the “contemporary woman—you know, on her way home from the gym in her earrings,” she says.
In June 2023, Mance bumped into Hailey Bieber at Community Goods, a local café, during a morning matcha run. Bieber was with the singer Justine Skye, who had recently ordered some Heaven Mayhem pendants. Mance introduced herself and thanked Skye. Bieber was charmed, and by that afternoon Mance was delivering jewelry to her house.
It’s been a whirlwind ever since. Mance has expanded her roster to include watches, bracelets, and belts. When I ask her what’s next, Mance mentions laptop cases, pendants, and key chains. But really, she says, she just wants to take things day by day. “It’s all just another step forward,” she says.
Elena Clavarino is a Senior Editor at Air Mail
