By Stavroula Panopoulou

The new FOVOS collection by Kakuru is not simply another creative proposal in the field of contemporary jewelry, but a deeply personal exploration of fear as a lived emotion. On the occasion of this new collection, designer Elina Kakourou speaks about the journey behind the brand, her relationship with jewelry as a storytelling medium, and the way personal experiences, silversmithing techniques, and artistic collaborations are transformed into objects filled with emotion and meaning.

Through this conversation, the philosophy of an independent Athenian jewelry brand unfolds — one that approaches jewelry not as a decorative element, but as a vessel of stories, memory, and expression.

How was Kakuru born and what did you initially want to express through the brand?

I started developing the idea of a jewelry business quite early — long before Kakuru was created, essentially during my master’s degree in London in 2008. Back then, together with a friend from Colombia, I was working on jewelry business concepts, but I still didn’t dare to imagine that I could be the one designing my own collections.

That belief came gradually, through jewelry design classes in London, completing my silversmithing studies in Greece, working in workshops and foundries, and ultimately through the need to create something of my own.

The brand was born in 2017. Initially under my own name, but it soon evolved into Kakuru — an identity that expresses more freely what I want to say.

Kakuru was and continues to be an expression of my inner self and my medium of freedom.

Your work always carries a strong emotional foundation. Why are you interested in jewelry as a storytelling medium?

From our history, jewelry was never just a decorative object. It always carried a story, a meaning, something personal. So why should this important function be reduced to a simple accessory, something disposable?

For me, it has never held that meaning, even before I decided to pursue jewelry professionally. In trying to express my inner world, I found the right form of “art” that gave me space to speak about my own stories, as well as the beautiful stories of many other people.

The new FOVOS collection revolves around fear. How did this need arise?

I have always worked with concepts, analyzing within myself the parts and “dark” areas that are difficult for me, and through jewelry everything somehow softens.

So, probably due to a challenging year I was going through and a possible accumulation of things within me, I decided that I wanted to explore fear.

I thought about how present it is in our everyday lives and how much it influences our decisions and behaviors, even when we are not aware of it.

The granulation technique, which I also wanted to work with at the same time, suddenly transformed the emotion of fear exactly as I had imagined it, and I believe it highlighted it in the most “visible” and beautiful way.

How is such an intangible emotion translated into form, material, and object?

When I begin a collection, I don’t think in terms of how, for example, the emotion of fear will be expressed through jewelry.

The process is more organic. Design and construction-wise, one leads to the other, and through this journey, things gradually find their form.

So I don’t focus so much on whether the collection, when presented, will evoke the corresponding emotion in those who see or wear it.

On the contrary, I express my own perspective and story, and from there, I really enjoy allowing each person to find their own meaning and personal connection to it.

The granulation technique plays a central role in the collection. What attracts you to this process?

I am deeply drawn to traditional silversmithing techniques and to the dedication and attention to detail they require. Today, everything moves very fast, and it is difficult to devote the time needed for a technique to truly develop in depth.

Unfortunately, I experienced this only briefly during my studies and mainly while working in a jewelry foundry.

So I try, in every technique added to each collection, to dedicate as much time as possible — as much as both I and my team can endure — in order to achieve the desired result.

Granulation is particularly demanding, and that is exactly what fascinates me. The most interesting aspect for me is the challenge of integrating these techniques into a personal design language — and this is something I continue to explore.

For the first time, you are using precious gemstones in a more prominent way. What do they symbolize within the collection?

Over the past several years, I have been working extensively with precious gemstones, mainly in custom pieces. Gradually, I wanted to incorporate them into our core collections as well.

The first attempt was made in the Peta charm collection, with a limited piece featuring tourmaline. There was significant interest, and I decided that, together with the granulation technique, semi-precious and precious stones would create a fascinating contrast between the “shine” and luminosity of the stones and the more “dark” side of oxidized granulation.

In FOVOS, the narrative expands through a short film with Effie Gousi and installations with Timothy Laskaratos. How important are collaborations to you?

I don’t know if there is anything more important after bringing a collection to life. Even if you have a clear vision of how you want it to be presented, you cannot do everything alone.

You need — or at least I need — people who, through their own artistic perspective and personality, can give it a new dimension and bring forward their own expressions, and possibly stories, whether through image, sound, or space, ultimately taking the collection further.

What is the everyday reality behind an independent jewelry brand in Athens today?

It is difficult to start and sustain a business in Greece in general — even more so when it is connected to an artistic product, which is easily affected by the market value of materials, which in turn is influenced by politics.

This creates great instability, without the ability to easily predict the future or even your next steps, even in the short term.

Creative voices in Greece — or businesses, as I have experienced over almost nine years as a freelancer — are rarely supported, promoted, or given the financial resources needed to continue.

The main reasons you keep going in your daily life are the support of family and friends, the passion that remains alive over the years even through difficulties, and above all the solidarity you receive from a community of people who have embraced your work.

What does it mean to you when someone wears a Kakuru piece?

For me, everything is like my “children”; whatever I wear reminds me of a story — whether conceptual or related to the making process.

Depending on the period and the collection, I may feel a stronger connection to certain pieces and wear them for long stretches of time.

I almost never take off my Forms cuffs, which can be personalized. Personally, I have engraved phrases and key dates on them — such as the opening of my store/workshop. The same applies to our Kakuru chain, which we assemble link by link.

And of course, now the all-over band from the FOVOS collection, made of silver and K18 granulation, which has become a piece I will most likely always combine with any other rings from the collections I wear.

Atelier address: 24 Petraki Street, Syntagma 10563 Athens

Photo credits: Panos Georgiou (cover) / Panagiotis Panathanasis (body).