With a range of glasses that will captivate anyone, Paolo Zardini Lacedelli, creator and designer of the Italian Kindani collection – together with Manuel Celentin – tells ÓpticaPro how he turned one of his greatest childhood passions – the elephant – into the main inspiration for his recent bold project. We learnt about the origins and future prospects of a brand ahead of its time.
How did you come up with the idea for Kindani and why the name?
I’ve been working in the optical sector as a designer for 30 years and I wanted to create a collection. Collecting elephants has been a passion of mine since I was little. My friends gave me the gift of adopting a baby elephant from Kenya called Kindani and I named the collection after her.
What makes this collection so special?
We started selling it in Italy in October 2023 with 16 women’s and 10 men’s models. Not only with common colours, but also with patterns of flowers, peacock feathers and acetate leaves. In the men’s collection, we’ve added wooden details. In the women’s collection, we plan to add gold leaf and other details. It’s a luxurious, modern collection, without exaggeration and with unique packaging. For the next ones, we’re planning some additions also linked to the ecological aspect and now, with Mario Torre’s help, we’re organising distribution around the world.
What inspired you to create the glasses?
All the experiences I have creating unique shapes. We have an iconic model, the Lexie, whose shape is the face of an elephant and which, at the same time, conveys luxury. I haven’t created extravagant or strange shapes, but beautiful, easily sellable and wearable ones.
Read the full interview in issue 254.
