He is born as an ARTIST; in 1998 he took part in the sculpture and engraving course at the Academy of Fine Arts in Perugia and began to create his sculptures and paintings which he exhibited in Italy and the United States. Later he enrolled at the European Institute of Design in Milan and discovered his soul as a Designer.
DESIGNER by profession; during his studies he designs various objects for Girmi, Telecom, Algida and the Modena Ceramics Consortium. For the graduation thesis in 2003, he created the Monkey prototype, an outdoor blower extractor, in collaboration with Cifarelli spa, presented at Eima 2003. In 2003 he began his collaboration with Marcolin spa, a leading company in the production and design of eyeglass frames. of Treviso. Later he designs eyeglasses for a company in Central Italy for which he created a line presented at Mido '04. He also deales with coolhunting for Italian and foreign clothing companies; he is a consultant for Italian and foreign designers of accessories and clothing. He worked in the field of aeronautical design and lighting and furnish accessories; he has worked as a consultant, cool hunter and designer for various companies.
INNOVATOR and Lover of Beauty; in 2006 he founded Ozona, a brand of tailored eyewear frames. In 2010 he obtained the Special Mention to Who is on next during Pitti Uomo, for the entrepreneurial choice based on a radical artisan vocation, and in the same year the Minister Meloni included him in the Young Blood, yearbook of Italian talents awarded in the world, while in the 2010 and 2011 he was named among the emerging designers of Vogue Talent.
In 2011 he participated in the LIMITED / UNLIMITED exhibition in Altaroma which sees the designers united by the theme of research and craftsmanship to underline the new values of luxury with “Silver scratch” - sartorial eyewear with handmade acetate, wood and silver frames.
In 2014 speaker at TEDxIED "There is an Italy that moves, acts, is the protagonist of change" and at the Festival of the Soft Economy of Symbola, Foundation for Italian qualities "MADE IN CITY: the new craftsmanship of ancient crafts that return to meet the future." Guest at the exhibition "Craftsmen Designers Makers: Made in Italy with Love" in Seoul for 130 years of bilateral relations between Italy and Korea, an exhibition that explores the relationships between design and traditional craftsmanship and new digital processes and new manufacturing technologies in Italian fashion between tradition and innovation.
Transfer of knowledge as a vocation; Sandro Gonnella was visiting professor at IED Milan and professor of fashion design at the Academy of Fine Arts of Perugia - ABA. It is thanks to the digital academy Samsung Maestros Academy brings sartorial eyewear close to new young talents to support the future of a new generation of Italian artisans.