Our Story

The Story of Leanzfo

Why We Started

Leanzfo was founded in London in 2026 by Francesco Leanza — a designer with a lifelong obsession with paper, ink, and the art of writing by hand.

Francesco had spent years working in design, surrounded by screens, deadlines, and an inbox that never emptied. Through all of it, one habit never left him: writing by hand. Journals kept on his bedside table, letters sent to friends across Europe, ideas sketched in notebooks he carried everywhere.

At some point, the notebooks started to matter as much as what was written inside them.

He looked for a British stationery brand that took paper seriously — one that cared about craft, sourced with integrity, and created things worth keeping. He couldn't find exactly what he was looking for.

So he built it himself.

Built from Scratch, Built with Care

Francesco launched Leanzfo with a small, considered collection: a handful of journal formats, two sets of correspondence cards, and a trio of fountain pen inks in colours he had mixed, tested, and obsessed over for months.

Nothing went to print until it was right. Every paper stock was tested by hand — for weight, for texture, for how it holds ink without feathering. Every supplier was chosen not just for quality but for values: FSC-certified mills, independent British printers, heritage print houses that still believe the process matters as much as the product.

Leanzfo is a new brand. But it was never built in a hurry.

What We Believe

We believe the written word deserves beautiful paper.

Not because paper is precious — but because writing something by hand, slowly and deliberately, is one of the last truly unhurried things we do. A handwritten letter takes time. A filled journal takes months. A card kept in a drawer for twenty years takes the right card.

We make things for those moments.

For the person who still writes letters. For the journalist who thinks better with a pen. For the couple choosing their wedding stationery. For the friend who wants to give something that won't end up forgotten.

Our Commitments, From Day One

Before Leanzfo launched, certain things were already non-negotiable.

No plastic packaging — ever. All our wrapping is recycled, reusable, or compostable. We offset 100% of our shipping emissions. We plant a tree for every order over £40. We work exclusively with suppliers visited in person and whose practices we trust.

We are a new business, but these are not aspirations. They are the foundation.

Where We Are Now

Leanzfo is based in Dalston, East London. The studio is small, the team tight-knit, and the paper archive already embarrassingly large.

Every order is packed by hand, wrapped with care, and sent out as if it were a gift. Because to Francesco, it always is.

Francesco Leanza Founder, Leanzfo London, 2026