Stack Your Magic: Lo & Co’s Gemstone Jewelry Shines This Holiday Season (Win!)

This holiday season, sparkle meets soul with Lo & Co, the Aurora, Ontario-based jewelry brand crafting meaningful gemstone pieces designed to inspire, empower, and layer beautifully. Founded by Lauren Francis, Lo & Co is known for its stackable bracelets, signature “Make Your Own Magic” parties, and small-batch craftsmanship that celebrates intention as much as style. From the Courage Libra Bracelet to the shimmering Northern Lights Necklace, each piece is handcrafted to tell a story—making it the perfect shop-local gift under $100 for someone who loves jewelry with heart (and a little magic). We caught up with Lauren to talk about the meaning behind her latest collection and how Lo & Co is redefining modern, mindful accessorizing. —Noa Nichol

Your Make Your Own Magic bracelet parties feel like a modern ritual — what was the spark behind that idea and what’s the perfect party soundtrack, snack and vibe for a Lo & Co get-together?

Make Your Own Magic Activations! They are everything to Lo & Co for so many reasons! It’s invoking the energy of summer camp, meets personal style, married with bespoke jewelry story telling all while bringing a present moment awareness to your event. When we make something with our hands our brain and body tells our mind we are safe and we are calm. This is the secret sauce to the success of our events: the nervous system reset that is hidden in a beautifully styled and unique activation is the icing on the cake and why people keep coming back for more.

The genesis of our Make Your Own Magic Experience occurred when we hit the point in the business of direct to customer custom pieces becoming too overwhelming to keep up with. This bottleneck in 1:1 custom pieces was a beautiful gift as it gave me the opportunity to dream bigger! How could Lo & Co still create a bespoke curated custom feel AND scale?! Make Your Own Magic was the answer and we launched very quickly into work with brands such as Bondi Sands, Essie, Reitmans in a way to collaborate on a custom gemstone bead bar that would travel to events in order to help the brand tell their story through the activation that allowed their guests to leave the event with something memorable. We were able to scale in a way that felt authentic and very on brand all the while staying true to our Stacked Story roots.

We love setting the tone for these activations by curating a play list with our collaborators. In 2024 you can bet that Taylor Swift was on repeat as we hosted and facilitated these experiences.

Drink of choice is always a glass or splash of prosecco to set the vibe! There is something about a glass of bubbles that pairs so well with the mystical gemstones our guests are working with. Our Make Your Own Magic Experiences have travelled across the country and sharing our passion for gemstones with our guests has been a dream come true.

The Courage Libra Bracelet pairs malachite and freshwater pearl — tell us the story behind that pairing—how do you translate gemstone meanings (growth, patience, courage) into wearable design?

The Courage Libra! From day one our designs have been inspired by little and big life lessons. As a life long entrepreneur I have always had a sense of where I want a business or concept to go; but haven’t always had the road map to get there. This is where courage comes in! You just need to jump, to start and to trust that you can do hard things when you are confident in the direction you are going.

Malachite is the stone of transitions, protection, grounding and courage. It’s not only beautiful to look at, but its actual molecular make up is energetically on another level. I dare you to hold a piece of the stone or wear our Courage Libra without feeling something. It’s cold, it’s weighty, it lifts and shifts! It’s a powerful gemstone that has the ability to help us move through transitions with grace. Malachite is a force and it needed something to temper its power; this is where we paired it with the freshwater pearls. It’s the balance, the half and half, the courage, the beauty and ease all coming together to inspire and remind us that we can do the things that scare us and we can do them with your hair done and the confidence that you know you will feel once you make the move, The Courage Libra is a wearable reminder of just how powerful you are.

Stacking is everything at Lo & Co—what’s your signature “stack recipe” for holiday party glam versus a pared-back daytime look? Walk us through the exact pieces you’d layer.

We call this concept The Anatomy of The Stack! At Lo & Co we are huge believers in mixing The High with The Lo! Daytime, night time, glammed up or running errands; anything goes as long as it tells your story. The Anatomy of a stack for us always involves mixing metals, shapes and sizes of the bracelets we are wearing to create interest and individuality.

A go to Holiday Glam Stacked Story would include: 6mm 14K Gold Filled Bracelet, The 14K Gold Filled Libra in Freshwater Pearl, Stranded, The Light Bracelet, The Courage Queen all paired with a passed down tennis bracelet from my Nana, Gold Tiffany Hardware Link Bracelet and green silk cord with a teeny bezel set diamond.

A go to Pared-Down Daytime Stacked Story would include; Clear Abundance, Goldie Locks, Love Locks, Sterling Silver 2mm Beaded Bracelets x 2 and The Libra 14K Gold Filled and Opalite

You make everything in small batches in Aurora—how do you keep the collection feeling both artisanal and holiday-ready when demand spikes? Any sustainability or local-maker choices you’re especially proud of?

Being a brand that takes in our small batch and bespoke quantities seriously is a balancing act! Keeping our production streamlined with help from our amazing supplier in Concord Ontario means that we can increase style quantities when we see and feel that our community is resonating with a style. We batch make 4/6 months ahead of each season based on what we feel the style, trend and quantity forecast will be.

Have we made mistakes? YES! We have pulled all nighters in the workshop when we have not anticipated how popular a new style will be. We have left money on the table when demand surplused our ability to source specific stones used in styles that sold out much quicker than anticipated resulting in having to mark a style sold out before it was even supposed to drop.

I am beyond proud of our production relationship with our supplier; we’ll call her S. Lo & Co has been able to work with S’s team in such a way to synergistically create a revenue stream for many of the amazing women on her team. Our partnership has carried both of our businesses through challenging times such as COVID shut downs and slower winter retail seasons.

If a reader needs a meaningful, under-$100 gift that still looks luxe, which piece do you always reach for and how would you style it with a festive outfit or winter coat?

Gifting is such a beautiful part of our story! Our go to style suggestions are Clear Abundance, The Light Bracelet, The Glow Bracelet, The Clarity Heart Necklace, Northern Light Necklace. These styles all feel festive and can be worn year long as reminders of light and love.

Festive Stacked Stories will always be right when you add one of our clear quartz styles such as The Light Bracelet or Clear Abundance. They shine in the dark and mix in with all of your other styles to create the perfect dance of shine and light on your wrist.

Styling accessories in the winter can be as easy as rolling up the cuff of a jacket to allow a sparkle of your Stacked Story to peek out and nestled in between your cuff and your gloves.

Win! A $200 Lo & Co Gift Card!

Congrats Alexandra S. of Thornhill, ON, who will receive a $200 Lo & Co Gift Card! Please note: if you are the winner, you will receive a DM (direct message) in Instagram directly from @vitadailymedia. Please be wary of fake accounts, which often use similar handles with an extra or missing letter, number or symbol. We will never ask for a payment or for your credit card number, and we will never ask you to click through a link. If you are unsure whether you have been contacted, via Instagram, by us or a fake account, email us before responding.