A Jewish immigrant sold eyeglasses from a pushcart on Orchard Street. A hundred and eleven years later, his family still does.                                                                                                       
It starts in 1899. Hyman Moscot arrives at Ellis Island from Belarus, his name simplified by immigration officers from Muschot to Moscot. He settles on Manhattan's Lower East Side a neighborhood dense with other Eastern European immigrants, all of them starting over. He begins selling ready-made eyeglasses from a pushcart on Orchard Street, speaking only Yiddish, serving a community that looks like him.

By 1915, the following is loyal enough to warrant a store. 94 Rivington Street. Windows filled with hand-painted signs, posters, drawings of giant eyes and glasses. The first MOSCOT shop.

That store is still running. The family still owns it.

 Five generations in, MOSCOT is now led by Dr. Harvey Moscot (CEO, 4th generation) and Zack Moscot (Chief Design Officer, 5th generation a formally trained industrial designer who joined the business in 2013). The frames look essentially the same as they always have. That's the point.

The frames that built the brand.

The Lemtosh, introduced in the late 1940s a rounded, full-acetate frame that became the calling card for generations of creative people. Johnny Depp wore it in Secret Window. Harry Styles wore it everywhere else. King Charles III, Paul McCartney, Jeff Goldblum the Lemtosh finds the same kind of person across every era.

The Miltzen, introduced in the 1930s — named for Uncle Heshy, who everyone called "Miltzen." A round, full-vue frame that Andy Warhol picked up himself, walking into the Rivington Street shop. Sienna Miller, Sam Smith, and generations of Lower East Side artists followed.

The Nebb. The Zolman. The Aidyn. Each one named, each one with a history that pre-dates almost every other brand in the industry.

What MOSCOT actually is.

Not a fashion brand that makes eyewear. Not a luxury conglomerate with an eyewear division. A family that has been making eyeglasses in New York City for over a century through immigration, through the Depression, through every shift in fashion and culture the 20th and 21st centuries have produced.

30+ flagships worldwide. London, Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Melbourne, Florence, Barcelona, Vienna. The Union Square Global Flagship opened in 2025 for the brand's 110th anniversary. And still, the original address on the Lower East Side.