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'I'd love to go back to a time without text messages and Snapchat filters'

Stefano Ottone, co-founder of luxury eyewear brand Glassing, on loving the simpler life

What is your best childhood memory?
Just like most kids, I absolutely hated going to school, so when our summer holidays rolled around, I'd be so excited. Planning our vacations coupled with the excitement of knowing that school would soon be over were some of my favourite memories as a kid.

If you could move anywhere in the world, what place would that be?
I know [co-founder] Alessandro would say New York, but I would move to Nepal. It's a beautiful, simple country - perfect for cutting out the noise and squabbles of the city.

The biggest learning point or experience in your life to date.
It was our first season in Ibiza, just after we'd started our company, and we had a clear idea of what we wanted to do; we were doing very well. I went to Italy to produce the classic aviator shapes, which sold faster than we could count at the store. So, without thinking too much, we ordered 20,000 pairs. We had to sell them all, and eventually, we did - but it took a lot of time. That was a very important learning curve in my life: learning to be more discerning in our decisions.

What is the one skill you'd love to learn right now, and why?
I've always been fascinated with cooking, although I've never learned it or tried it. I love the fusion of flavours and cuisines, and would love to learn to whip up such magic in the kitchen myself.

What advice would you give your younger self, if you could?
There are going to be a lot of problems and a lot of people will try to bring you down, but give it your everything to stay focused and not lean towards giving up at all.

If you could go back to any era in time or witness any major event in history, which one would it be, and why?
If I could, I would really like to go back to a time without the Internet and all this current-age technology. Things were much simpler back when I was growing up, when you could have a real conversation with someone sitting in front of you, rather than just through text messages and snapchat filters.

Your greatest fear.
Throughout the years, there's always been some fear or the other that nags my mind: whether what I'm doing will be productive, whether things will go in the right direction, etc. But my greatest fear would be to lose the people I love - my family and friends.

If you could trade lives with one person for an entire day, who would it be and why?
I would trade lives with Richard Branson. He is the perfect role model, has genuine knowledge and comprehends situations and work in a way that's quite different from everyone else. He chose to stand out at a time when that wasn't the norm, and that just makes me respect him even more.  

Favourite movie character of all time?
Terminator. He's the guy who coined my favourite quote, "I'll be back." It's such a brilliant movie and, growing up, it was the coolest movie too.

If you were President of your country, what is the first thing you'd do?
I would definitely invest more in the youth of my country.
- Staff reporter