Meet the mother-daughter duo behind YSSO, the Greek jewellery brand loved by A-listers

Some stories are woven through history, others are cast in gold. For Alexia and Stalo Kardes, the mother-daughter duo behind YSSO, jewellery is more than just an art form—it's a conversation between past and present, and a reflection of their shared Greek heritage.

Founded in 2020 in Athens, the now-West London-based brand is a family story that takes Stalo’s thirty-year background in architecture and Alexia’s corporate experience to inform both their sculptural designs and the structure of their business. Blending old-world craftsmanship with a strikingly modern flair, they have been able to balance contrasting experiences with a fresh perspective to hand-craft unique pieces of jewellery stretching from earrings and necklaces to rings and brooches.

Worn by the likes of Adele, Emma Roberts and Hailey Bieber, this collaboration of generations has resonated globally, helping them forge a new path in this industry. Proving that elements from history aren’t forgotten relics but can be transformed into statement pieces, YSSO is foregrounded by an unspoken understanding that only family can bring. Speaking with Marie Claire UK, daughter Alexia shares the beauty of working together and how their dynamic shapes every gold-plated creation.

What was the turning point that made you decide to turn your shared passion into a full-fledged brand?

I’ve been watching my mother study or create jewellery my whole life. I’ve grown up surrounded by conversations about craftsmanship, materials, and art.

Despite this, I started my career as a corporate lawyer, after studying mathematics, but was always chasing that creative outlet. While working at a corporate law firm here in London, I was always wearing my mother’s designs and would constantly be complimented on them. I slowly realised that there was a space to bring these pieces to life and I realised that jewellery has the power to transform an outfit in its totality. This was when YSSO began as an idea: creating expertly crafted jewellery for women buying for themselves.

After long conversations with our workshops and years of trial and error, we began cementing the concept of the brand and opened our own e-commerce website – seeing totally organic traction was something that basically moved the brand from a passion project to a fully-fledged business that we could see the potential of scale. Eventually I realised that what is ‘good design’ is quite objective, that if you create something that meets the needs of the zeitgeist that essentially touches people organically – it transcends culture and geographies.

Stalo, as an archaeologist and art historian, and Alexia, as a former corporate lawyer, both come from different professional backgrounds. How do your experiences complement each other in the creative and business aspects of YSSO?

Stalo’s experiences studying in France and in Greece as an archaeologist, whereas I have spent the majority of my professional life in the UK, provide for a clear mix of cultural influences from an intellectual but also lived point of view. We have grown up in different periods, and worked in different types of roles, both non-jewellery related. In essence, we are self-taught in this industry, and we are navigating our experiences from a customer-centric point of view.

Nothing really prepares you for entrepreneurship therefore having such a variety of backgrounds between us is really something that is a strength as we approach everything with an inquisitive point of view.

What’s a piece of advice from one of you that has really shaped the other in your journey together?

Great question. Since YSSO is so deeply rooted in our very personal journey, there have been so many moments of advice exchanged. If I had to pick one, my mother’s advice about patience and staying true to our vision has really shaped me, while my perspective on modern brand building and creative partnerships has influenced how she sees YSSO evolving.

How has working together changed or deepened your relationship as mother and daughter?

Whilst we have always had a close relationship, working together, and collaborating on building our brand has certainly deepened it – like nothing else could have. Starting a business is one of the most powerful shared experiences of our lives.

We have learned to embrace each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Whilst running a business has many challenges, we have learned to lean on each other even more.

Each piece is handcrafted in Athens using traditional Greek jewellery-making techniques. What are some of the most intricate techniques that define YSSO’s craftsmanship?

We have developed our own proprietary techniques, but also style, while working with our workshops. For certain designs, we ensure that we do not over-polish our pieces and retain the textural detailing of each design. This delicate work requires precision and patience, which involves hand-designing even the smallest of details. And, of course, our adjustable rings and cuffs are shaped by hand, allowing for that perfect balance of structure and movement.

Do you ever have creative disagreements? If so, how do you navigate them while maintaining a strong personal and professional bond?

We actually don’t have creative disagreements, which is a weird thing to say but it’s true! There’s a natural understanding between us—Stalo brings her deep knowledge of jewellery-making and art history, and I often push what is possible in terms of design.

Our roles complement each other rather than clash. If anything, we build on each other’s ideas, refining and evolving them together. There’s a deep respect at the core of our process, which keeps everything flowing – we eventually seem to have the same taste, so that is quite helpful in progressing the creative elements of the brand.

The jewellery market is competitive. What sets YSSO apart from other brands in the space?

There are multiple things that give YSSO its individuality in a market that, as you say, is extremely crowded and competitive.

We strongly believe that jewellery is more than just a token of love, it’s instead a very personal object that women, since the dawn of time, have been attracted to for reasons deeply personal and meaningful. What, I think and hope, makes us stand out is the ability to be able to produce designs which are non-seasonal, yet with a point of view, and which carry with them the traces of us as the designers, and the workmen that made them. I believe that if we create pieces that resonate with us personally, we are bound to find an audience in the world that will also resonate with us.

We also actively avoid ‘market research’ when it comes to our design process. We create design ideas totally without any order or methodology whatsoever. As a consequence, we have a substantial design archive and we choose which pieces to launch using intuition but also historical data. Our barometer is asking the question ‘Would I wear this?’, and if the answer is yes, then we will launch a design. We are not afraid to judge our own designs from a very unattached point of view.

Finally, I think that we are more than a jewellery brand, we are here to create conversations with our audience and build a community around the shared values of craft, expression and the love of Greece!

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