We live in a time when glasses are no longer just visual aids. They are an "accessory" and sometimes even a "statement" . They no longer fulfill their original function but are now committed to trends. And yet there are manufacturers who have stuck to their entrepreneurial side. They are and always have been concerned with the matter. For generations. In the very country where so much hype comes from, which has washed away tried and tested things. From the melting pot. From New York.
The year is 1899. An immigrant from Eastern Europe sets foot on American soil on Ellis Island. His name is Hyman Moscot. Like so many who sought their fortune and future in the new world at that time, Hyman brings his skills and an idea with him. He makes glasses and sells them from a handcart on Manhattan's famous Lower East Side, or more precisely on Orchard Street.
By 1915, he had found so many loyal customers for himself and his products that he was able to open a shop, initially on Rivington Street. After his son, still a teenager, also supported his father's business, Moscot moved to Orchard Street in the mid-1930s, where Hyman's business roots lie. Now he was here to stay.
In the decades that followed, the company developed. Generation after generation joined the company and continued the family legacy. Today, Moscot is run by the fourth and fifth generations, Harvey and his son Zack.
What is the reason for their success? What has kept them going? What sets them apart from other manufacturers of glasses and frames – up to the present day?
Harvey Moscot, the fourth generation in the company, emphasizes the importance of glasses as a visual aid. For him, it is first and foremost health care. He has dedicated himself to this professionally, through training and studies in the field of optometry. Just like lenses, frames also require precision in design and production in order to ensure the best possible visual result and experience for customers. To this day, Moscot implements this customer service claim down to the smallest detail in its own laboratories and workshops. Expertise is paramount. Unfussy. Natural.
At the same time, and to this day, great importance has always been attached to being the "neighborhood optician" at the end of the day, with close ties to one's own customers. This bond often goes back generations. Zack, who is the fifth generation to do so, explains that it is something very special for him to sometimes serve customers whose grandparents were already customers of Moscot.
Zack is a committed designer. It is important to him to preserve the language and heritage of the brand in addition to continuing to develop classic models, as well as new ones. He expresses pride in the quality that the company has offered with its products for generations.Moscot models are indeed classic. Many have been in the range for decades and are characterized by a timelessness that is not boring at all, but leaves room for the face, the person and the personality. The person is always visible with and behind the glasses; they dress him without disguising him. Moscot glasses serve as a visual aid. And they decorate in a natural way, sophisticated and polyglot, true to their origins.
If you take a closer look at the extensive range of frames, you will find that they are divided into two collections, "Spirit" and "Originals" . The "Spirit" collection contains all classic frames, perhaps a little more refined than those in the "Originals" collection. Not subject to any fashion, from any era, they encapsulate Moscot's self-image, as it has always been, preserving it and carrying it into the future by developing it with new influences. The "Originals" are models that are clearly inspired by designs from decades of the last century - or come from that era.
Over the decades, the family and its company produced frames that not only gradually gained a loyal, international circle of fans, but also became famous in the faces of celebrities and on the screen and enjoyed a certain "cult status" .
The most notable of these is the "LEMTOSH" model, which has been almost inseparably linked to Johnny Depp since the film "Secret Window". The "MILTZEN" model, named after the first name of an uncle in the family, was already appreciated by Truman Capote, and this frame from the 1930s found its way into the temple of pop culture on the face of Andy Warhol. The "TINIF" model, hand-made from a combination of metal and acetate, embodies Moscot's ability to produce glasses that do not deny their historical approach, only to assert their place in modern New York and the world in the next moment.
These glasses are a perfect reflection of the family-run company that produces them. They are a part of New York, they are an institution. And they come from a local optician's shop. To this day, no one at Moscot has forgotten the company's beginnings. Hyman's handcart from the early days on Orchard Street is like a logo and still adorns the inside of the temples. Harvey Moscot sums up these firm roots in the Lower East Side, Manhattan, the company's presence on Orchard Street: "We're born in Orchard, we'll die in Orchard."
The circle of people who appreciate Moscot glasses has long been in the millions, and regardless of the celebrities, these are primarily demanding eyewear customers around the world. They all get more than just a pair of glasses. According to Zack Moscot, they get a piece of New York, a piece of history, a piece of family.
His father Harvey emphasises the importance of glasses as a visual aid for those who really need them: "It's the first thing you take on in the morning and the last thing you put away at night." At Moscot, they want to do justice to this importance as best as possible. For five generations now. To this day.
Author • Hauke Sieverts
Photo • Moscot
Published in Heritage Post No. 51