Lito at 25: “I’m Still Inspired, Still Curious, and Still Excited”

By Karen Dybis | February 09, 2026

As she marks her 25th anniversary in jewelry, Lito Karakostanoglou is looking back at what she has built with Lito Fine Jewelry and adding and expanding its collections.

In the past two months, Karakostanoglou introduced a scarab-inspired collection, Cosmic Guardians, and added nine evil eye designs to her signature Tu Es Partout series.

“To be honest, it still surprises me that 25 years have gone by since I first started,” says the Athens-based designer. “When I look back, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I feel deeply blessed to have spent all these years doing what I truly love, and even more so to know that the passion is still there.

“After 25 years, I’m still inspired, still curious, and still excited about everything there is left to explore and create.”

Riffing on her love for scarabs and their ancient symbolism, Cosmic Guardians consists of one-of-a-kind taxidermized creations set in 18k gold with diamonds and other precious gemstones. Karakostanoglou considers the 14-piece collection both deeply personal and forward-moving, and she says it celebrates Mother Nature’s mystery and beauty through master craftsmanship.

Lito scarab necklace — *From the new Cosmic Guardians collection: Chrysina Aurigans scarab pendant (price on request) on a vintage 18k yellow and pink gold Italian necklace*

To create each unique jewel in Cosmic Guardians, Karakostanoglou learned skills (and patience) and found joy in the process of experimentation, she says. Every scarab feels powerful, intimate, and alive, which is what she wants across her jewelry designs.

“It is an evolution of one of my most iconic series…honoring the singular beauty of the scarab,” says Karakostanoglou. “The collection is my tribute to nature and to the idea that no two forms—no two women—are ever the same.”

Karakostanoglou is entirely self-taught in jewelry, coming into the industry after earning her master’s degree in advertising. She got started by creating what she called an open studio in Athens, a hybrid space that was both store and workshop.

“Over the years, the business has grown and evolved far beyond those days, but the core of my work has remained unchanged. My purpose has always been to create jewelry that invites women to embrace their sensuality and express their femininity and individuality on their own terms,” she says.

Lito brooch eye — *L’Amour Perlé brooch (price on request) in 14k yellow gold with pearls and enamel*

Her new evil eye designs exemplify how Karakostanoglou seeks to modernize the very jewelry that made her brand successful.

“I returned to this motif with fresh curiosity, finding new ways to reinterpret and abstract it,” she says. “Each piece allowed me to further explore the eye as a symbol—at once protective and seductive, ancient and contemporary—while continuing a dialogue that has been central to my practice from the very beginning.”

One of her Tu Es Partout favorites is L’Amour Perlé brooch, which has an assortment of differently sized and colored pearls along the top of a large blue enameled eye.

“Its scale and surrealist language place it somewhere between jewelry and objet d’art, echoing the tradition of surrealism where the familiar becomes slightly displaced, charged with emotion and ambiguity,” Karakostanoglou says.

“What delighted me most was how instinctively women connected with it,” she adds. “It became the most embraced piece of the collection, confirming that there is a shared desire for jewelry that feels poetic, intellectual, and emotionally resonant.”

Top: Lito Fine Jewelry’s Les Emeraudes earrings (€10,320, approx. $12,290) in 18k yellow gold with enameled green eyes and 1.22 ct. t.w. round, 0.94 ct. t.w. oval, and 0.32 ct. t.w. pear-cut blackened emeralds (photos courtesy of Lito Fine Jewlery)