Sixty-five years ago, Via del Pellegrino was a very different street from the one it is today. Back then, it was a street of warehouses and workshops. Today, it is full of artisans, artists, gourmet restaurants and discerning boutiques, a transformation to which the Mondello family has made its own contribution.
From Photography to Eyewear on Via del Pellegrino
The story begins in 1961 when Luigi Mondello, a photographer with a passion for art, opened his photography studio at Via del Pellegrino 98. His son Giancarlo followed in his father’s footsteps and became a photographer as well, but he was also fascinated by the connection between photographic lenses and those used for vision. In 1966, he qualified as an optician in Florence, then returned to Rome and added an optical business to the photography studio, creating Ottica Mondello.
A Family Eye for Independent Design
In 1975, Giancarlo began working with his wife, Rosaria Riccioli. They traveled the world together in search of unusual eyewear, introducing avant-garde designers such as Alain Mikli, Los Angeles-based Oliver Peoples and Belgian brand theo. Long before the “concept store” became an actual concept, they were actively seeking out independent designers and bringing back something decidedly different to Rome.
Photos courtesy of Mondelliani
Rosaria has an eye for accessories as well as eyewear, and expanded her global hunt to include bags and other pieces for the boutique. Eventually, she went from searching for accessories to designing them herself, including her own line of foulards.
Photos courtesy of Mondelliani
Her slogan of “Personalità in Vista” is a clever play on both personality and vision: personality “in sight” or “on display”, as well as the idea of letting the person behind the glasses be seen. This personal approach became so closely identified with Rosaria that longtime clients even referred to the shop as “Rosaria’s”.
That dedication was formalized more than half a century later, when she received the Maestro del Commercio/Aquila di Diamante award for more than 50 years in commerce, tourism and services.
Her son Federico Mondello joined the family business in 2005, after studying economics and spending a decade working for multinational companies as a product manager in marketing and customer experience. He and Rosaria changed the business name to Mondelliani, a name that came to encompass the whole Mondello-family sphere, a place where all the “Mondelliani” microcosms meet.
Mondelliani: Eyewear Designed in Rome
In 2008/9, they branched out from selling eyewear to designing it, first in collaboration with the IED (Istituto Europeo di Design) and then independently with their own Mondelliani collection in 2010-11.
Federico Mondello and Rosaria Riccioli, photo courtesy of Mondelliani
In addition to a long-term collaboration with designer Giovanni Botticelli, their own-brand universe now includes the design-oriented Soprattutto Mondelliani, the Mondelliani Timeless collection, as well as the Ottovolante collection launched in 2017/2018. The Ottovolante line, whose name is inspired by the Italian word for roller coaster, takes a consciously playful approach to colorful sunglasses, reading glasses and screen glasses. They have also done numerous unexpected collaborations with everyone from historic Roman clothing house Davide Cenci and American textile designer John Robshaw to Italian encyclopedia/cultural institution Treccani. The Ottovolante x Treccani project was particularly unusual, playing with the history of eyewear and the etymology and dictionary definitions of words associated with it.
From the Soprattutto Mondelliani collection, photos courtesy of Mondelliani
From the Ottovolante collection, photos courtesy of Mondelliani
Where Art Meets Eyewear
What makes this place so special is that art is not just another marketing tool to them: it’s a way of life and a birthright. Both Luigi and Giancarlo were professional photographers, and they deliberately connected eyewear with art and design, even down to using their shop windows as mini galleries. I love that they went from photographing people through a lens to working with the lenses through which we see, all the while remaining conscious of how those lenses affect the way others see us.
It seems to be a family tradition that none of them are content to simply appreciate beautiful things; sooner or later, they want to make them too. Giancarlo’s fascination with lenses prompted him to study optical lenses professionally, and Rosaria embraced her love of accessories so much that she was inspired to start designing them herself. And with Federico, Mondelliani went from searching the world for interesting eyewear to creating collections of its own.
This artistic spirit spills out even onto the street, as over the years, the Mondelliani shop windows have become mini-galleries, with artists invited to take them over and tell their own stories. Federico has described these windows as a space connecting “Eye, Vision, Street, City and World.” To me, that seems like an apt description of his family business’s evolution as well.
Photo courtesy of Mondelliani
Art, Color and the Mondelliani Philosophy
Photos courtesy of Mondelliani
The list of artists and designers who have crossed paths with Mondelliani over the years is eclectic, ranging from celebrated Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce, photographer Daniele Tamagni and designer Cleto Munari.
But for Federico, art is not just about the collaborations. He describes it as an “existential necessity” with the power to connect the everyday to the infinite. That may sound like a rather lofty idea for a shop selling glasses, until you look at the glasses. Mondelliani’s philosophy is “La bellezza è nello sguardo”, literally “beauty is in the gaze”. But the Italian sguardo also carries the sense of how we look at something: the way we perceive something determines the beauty we find in it. For an eyewear company so interested in both seeing and being seen, this motto feels especially apt.
For Federico, eyewear only makes sense in relation to the person wearing them. “Perhaps glasses are more of a frame, or better still, a highlighter for the gaze, personality and mood. I love glasses that integrate with the person, rather than those that overpower them.”
Federico takes that idea a step further, seeing an almost symbiotic relationship between the spectacles and the person who wears them: “I would define a pair of glasses as a site-specific work of art, rather than a work in its own right. If it doesn’t find its soulmate capable of wearing it, it is sadly alone and useless.”
Maybe that is what I like the most about Mondelliani, and what also makes it feel so quintessentially Italian for me. Because for all the bravura of the art and design, it always comes back to the person.
Sixty-five years later, the Mondello lens is still there. Mondelliani has simply found many more ways of looking through it.
Plan your visit
Mondelliani Prefetti
Via dei Prefetti, 11 · +39 06 679 3481
Mondelliani Pellegrino
Via del Pellegrino, 98 · +39 06 679 3481
Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m., 3 p.m.–7 p.m.
Closed Sundays and Mondays
Instagram: @mondelliani
