Zanzan makes eyewear the artisanal way.

Zanzan is a lesson in vintage craft as the identity. Founded in 2009 in London by Megan Trimble and Gareth Townshend, it makes vintage-inspired, artisanal eyewear — hand-polished acetate, made to outlast trends.

Its identity is the vintage frame. Zanzan makes small collections of sunglasses and optical frames in hand-polished Italian acetate, romantic and retro, under a “buy better, buy less” ethos. Vintage, made by hand. A frame with old-world soul.

(Honest notes: Zanzan was founded in 2009 (not later) by the design duo Megan Trimble and Gareth Townshend in London; the exact personal relationship between the founders isn’t firmly documented, so we keep that soft. Its signature is vintage-inspired, artisanal eyewear in hand-polished Mazzucchelli acetate. Importantly, it is designed in London and 100% handmade in Italy (Valdobbiadene) — France appears only in its inspiration story (the founder collected vintage French frames), so we don’t say it’s made in France. It is independent and founder-led. Its name, “Zanzan,” is Maltese slang (via 1960s Soho) for the thrill of wearing something special for the first time. (The official site returned an SSL error, so facts here rest on press coverage.) There’s no official brand hex, and we reproduce no frame or logo — these tones are an unofficial interpretation. This is design commentary and does not promote any product.)

Zanzan lives in a vintage-sage palette. Click a swatch to copy the hex.

Zanzan’s identity is vintage, romantic and artisanal — a sage, an ink, a dusty rose, an ochre, and a cream. The palette leans vintage sage — the register of romantic, retro, hand-polished frames. It signals craft and nostalgia rather than novelty. The honest caveat: with no published brand hex, these tones are an original, unofficial interpretation, not first-party values.

The lesson is a vintage-sage palette signals an artisanal eyewear brand. Zanzan’s world is a romantic, hand-made object. For designers, it is a reminder that a vintage-craft position — hand-polished acetate, small collections, “buy better, buy less” — can be a whole identity, and that slowness and longevity are themselves a pitch. Because a mid sage can fail as small text, keep type dark and let the colour live in the accents, palette and band. The takeaways: make it by hand; keep collections small; sell longevity; and treat any single hex as unofficial.

The register is a vintage sans — soft, humane, romantic.

Zanzan’s identity carries a soft, humane, romantic spirit — a vintage, hand-made object. A warm humanist sans captures the mood: it is gentle and characterful, the register of an artisanal brand. Set in a vintage-sage palette, the vintage sans feels soft and humane — exactly the personality Zanzan carries. It is romantic rather than clinical, mirroring hand-polished acetate. (Zanzan’s real frames and wordmark are works we describe but do not reproduce, and the exact typeface is not ours to use.) Because it is not ours to use, the honest description is “a vintage sans spirit,” shown here in a stand-in. The type behaves like the brand: soft, humane and romantic.

Zanzan stands for the vintage frame.

Zanzan is a lesson in making vintage craft the identity. A vintage-sage palette, a vintage sans and a hand-polished frame make artisanal romance the whole brand — vintage, romantic, artisanal. The craft is the differentiator. The differentiator is small, hand-made collections built to outlast trends.

Put to work, the identity is slowness as a selling point. A designer building in this spirit would keep collections small, make everything by hand in a specialist workshop, and frame longevity — “buy better, buy less” — as the whole pitch, so the brand stands against fast, disposable fashion. The lesson Zanzan teaches is that a values position can be an aesthetic: hand-polished Italian acetate and a romantic, vintage look express “made to last” more persuasively than any sustainability claim, and a distinctive, story-rich name gives the brand warmth. Being precise that it’s made in Italy (with France only an inspiration) keeps the craft story honest.

For designers and brand-builders, Zanzan offers a clear takeaway: make slowness the pitch. The lessons: make it by hand; keep collections small; sell longevity; and be honest about the story. It is also a reminder to stay accurate: it was founded in 2009 in London by Megan Trimble and Gareth Townshend, its frames are hand-polished and made in Italy, and it lives by “buy better, buy less” — the palette here is an unofficial interpretation. And it is a reminder that a values position is durable precisely because it resists scale: keeping collections small and hand-made caps how fast the brand can grow, but it also makes the promise credible, and in a disposable category that credibility is the whole point. It is also a reminder that a story-rich name does quiet work — “Zanzan,” a piece of Soho-Maltese slang, gives the brand warmth and a talking point no invented word could. Zanzan made the vintage frame the brand — proof that craft can be the difference.

Keep Zanzan’s identity on hand — save it to a board in the Made Good inspiration library.