An all-round interview with Sandro Gonnella

Why he is known as the "eyewear couturier" The changing universe of Sandro Gonnella, creator and designer of the Ozona brand, is expressed by changing the rules of the circle, a perfect and complete geometrical figure. Creativity born out of an unstoppable need for unrestricted expression that led to three lines in which design meets the concept of tailor made.   Sandro, what is your background in the eyewear world? After graduating from the European Institute of Design in Milan, I was selected from among the best students in the Industrial Design course to join the creative team at Marcolin. There, I had the chance to work on projects for important brands, thanks to which I had my first experience of the world of eyewear. How was the Ozona brand created? When I returned to Umbria, I was commissioned by a company in central Italy to design a line of optical glasses for women, which it presented at Mido 2004. The collection was very successful and was further proof that my design was appreciated! Like all designers, I am always very restless and I didn't like being conditioned by the creative directors I worked for or having to accept the rules of the market and trends. Then, I decided that the market needed more originality and personalization. Early in 2005 I began to lay the foundations for a new way to create eyewear. This was how Ozona and the concept by which I like to describe myself as the "eyewear couturier" came into being. What does the name mean? The name of the brand is Ozona, the O zone, the area around which everything rotates. It's no accident that my studio in Perugia looks out onto a square facing one of the city's finest noble buildings and an ancient well. What are the distinctive features of your brand? Eyewear expresses the personality of the wearer and symbolizes the humanity and luxury of a handcrafted object. Therefore, the identifying element is not the logo: it's a coral sphere, the symbol of serenity and equilibrium that emphasizes individuality. How many lines do you make? We create three lines: sartorial eyewear – where the client's idea is transformed into unique eyewear. To make it there must be close collaboration between the "eyewear couturier" and the client and this is the highest level of customization and exclusiveness; unique items – where exclusiveness and unique design dominate, and the limited edition collections. What does creating tailor-made eyewear mean for you? It is a return to enhancing an accessory that is so important that it is often indispensable, but above all it is the accessory par excellence that highlights the wearer's personality. It is precisely for this reason that it must be tailor-made. Personalities are individual and eyewear must reflect this and respond to the needs of the wearer. All too often people are constrained to yield to the fashions, shapes and sizes of the moment, but Ozona makes all its clients' dreams and needs come true. It is extremely satisfying to see my clients' eyes light up with happiness when, after searching for the right eyewear for many years, they have at last found a frame created just for them. Where are they sold? First of all at my studio in the center of Perugia, where I meet clients to get to know their personality and needs before defining a project with them. In other cases, my clients invite me to their cities anywhere in the world. For the limited editions, I work with various selected boutiques. Tell us about your eyewear's relationship with social media. I use social media a lot because it shortens distances so I can keep up to date with my clients from New York City to Tokyo. Just as I can relate to clients and understand what they need in my studio, social media helps me to strengthen this relationship. At the moment I am using social media to put anyone interested in touch with the world of sartorial eyewear. Thanks to the new digital platform, Samsung Maestros Academy, there are six online video-lessons where I describe all the steps that go into creating sartorial eyewear (www.maestrosacademy.it/Sandro-Gonnella).