How a Millennial Is Keeping a 100-Year-Old Eyewear Brand On-Trend
Moscot uses the archives as a reference for new designs.
Photographer: Victoria Hely-Hutchinson for Bloomberg Businessweek
Zack Moscot was not yet 8 years old when he had a screaming tantrum about his professional future. “I don’t wanna join the business!” wailed the fifth-generation member of the family behind Moscot, the venerable New York eyewear company. His great-great-grandfather Hyman Moscot founded the shop in 1915, turning a pushcart stocked with ready-made glasses into an optical landmark known for its bright yellow sign and low-key style. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Zack says, looking back. “I always just created things.”
In middle school he spent weekends working the company phones as a customer-service rep. When he was in high school, his late uncle Kenny, who oversaw design for the brand, showed him “this other side of the business.” Zack studied industrial design at the University of Michigan and graduated in 2013.