MOLESKINE®

Moleskine ‐ The history

THE LEGENDARY NOTEBOOK

Moleskine® is the heir of the legendary notebook used for the past two centuries by artists and thinkers, from Vincent Van Gogh to Pablo Picasso from Ernest Hemingway to Bruce Chatwin. The anonymous and essential little black notebook, with its unique rounded corners, elastic closure, and expandable inner pocket, was originally produced for more than a century by a small French bookbinder that supplied Parisian stationery shops frequented by the international literary and artistic avant‐garde. This trusty, pocket‐sized travel companion held their sketches, notes, stories, and ideas before they became famous images or beloved books.

CHATWIN’S TALE

In the mid‐1980s, the little black notebook suddenly wasn’t to be found anywhere. In his book The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin tells us the whole story of his favourite notebook, which he nicknamed “moleskine”. In 1986, the original manufacturer ‐ a family operating in Tours ‐ closed down forever: “Le vrai moleskine n’est plus” are the lapidary words he puts into the mouth of the owner of the stationery shop in Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie – also a legendary spot ‐ where Chatwin stocked up on the notebooks. The English writer‐traveller bought up all the notebooks that he could fi nd before he left for Australia, but they were not enough.

THE MOLESKINE® NOTEBOOK

In 1997, a small Milanese publisher brought the legendary notebook back to life, choosing for
it this literary name, thus restoring an extraordinary tradition. Following Chatwin’s footsteps, Moleskine® notebook begins its journey once again, this time as an indispensable complement to today’s mobile technology. Capturing reality on the move, preserving details, impressing the unique aspects of experience upon paper, Moleskine is an accumulator of ideas and emotions which are then released over time.

MOLESKINE TODAY

Today, Moleskine is synonymous with culture, travel, memory, imagination, and personal identity, both in real life and the digital world. It is a brand identifying a family of notebooks, journals, planners and innovative cityguides, adapted to different functions. With a variety of page layouts, Moleskine notebooks are partners for the creative professions and the imaginary of our time: they are a worldwide symbol of contemporary nomadism, closely connected to the digital world through a network of websites, blogs, online groups and virtual archives. With Moleskine, the ancient (and typically analogical) practice of sketching and jotting down notes fi nds unexpected connective space on the Web and in its communities.


Moleskine ‐ Company information

CULTURE, IMAGINATION, MEMORY, TRAVEL, PERSONAL IDENTITY

The Moleskine brand was born in 1997, reproducing the legendary notebook of artists and thinkers of the past two centuries. Since January 1, 2007, Moleskine has also become the name of the company that owns the worldwide trademark rights for the brand. Moleskine Srl creates, manufactures and distributes the wellknown notebooks and their various offsprings. The company grew out of the experience of Modo&Modo, the small Milanese publishing house which, in 1997, created the Moleskine® brand, thus rediscovering and reviving an extraordinary tradition. In the autumn of 2006, Modo&Modo was purchased by SGCapital Europe, with the aim of fully developing the potential of the Moleskine brand.

Moleskine Srl is a small creative company in constant growth. Today, Moleskine Srl has around 50 employees and a vast network of partners and collaborators, located in Milan, Italy. Its American affiliate, Moleskine America Inc., is stationed in New York and it was founded in early of 2008.