Moleskine

Moleskine (Italian pronunciation: [moleˈskiːne]) is an Italian manufacturer, papermaker and product designer founded in 1997 by Francesco Franceschi, based in Milan, Italy.[2] It produces and designs luxury notebooks, as well as planners, sketchbooks, leather backpacks, holdalls, journals, wallets, various accessories, and stationery.

Not to be confused with Moleskin.

Moleskine S.p.A.
TypeSocietà per azioni
BIT: MSK
Industry
Founded1997 (1997)
Founder
HeadquartersViale Stelvio 66,
Milan, 20159
,
Italy
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products
Revenue €129M (2015)
€34.81M (2015)
€27.124M (2015)
Number of employees
363 (2015)
Divisions
  • Moleskine America, Inc
  • Moleskine Asia Ltd.
  • Moleskine Germany GmbH
Websitemoleskine.com/en

Moleskine's notebooks are stylised to follow the aesthetics of a 'traditional' black notebook with rounded corners and ivory-coloured paper. They are bound in cardboard with a sewn spine that allows the notebook to lie flat. An elastic band is used to seal, and a ribbon bookmark is included along with an expandable pocket inside the rear cover, which is packed in a paper banderole.

Bruce Chatwin's name is used to sell Moleskine notebooks.[3] Chatwin wrote in The Songlines of little black oilskin-covered notebooks that he bought in Paris and called "moleskines".[4] The name Moleskine does not have an official pronunciation in any language other than Italian.[5]

History

In the mid-1990s, Maria Sebregondi pitched the idea of resurrecting the iconic notebooks to the company Modo & Modo, despite the shelves of stationery stores already being stocked with blank books at the time.[1][6] As a result, Modo & Modo trademarked the Moleskine brand and began production of 5,000 notebooks, officially reintroducing them in 1997.[7]

By 1998, Modo & Modo were producing 30,000 notebooks a year and expanded their market, distributing their products across Europe. By 2000 Modo & Modo SpA had an office with a small staff and sales of €20M ($26M) in Milan.[1] In 2004, Moleskine notebooks were exported to Japan, and from there, distribution to Asia began.

In 2006, the company was purchased by the European private equity firm now known as Syntegra Capital.[1] At that time, it was reported that the company’s small staff was unable to keep up with demand. In August 2006, the French investment fund Société Générale Capital purchased Modo & Modo SpA, and invested in its expansion. The company name changed to Moleskine Srl.

In 2011 Moleskine extended its production to new categories, creating writing, reading, and travelling collections, launched at the Milan Design Week.[8] Most of the objects in these new collections were designed by Italian industrial designer Giulio Iacchetti, and focused more on accessories surrounding reading and writing than paper goods.

By July 2012, Moleskine collections were distributed in 22,000 stores across 95 countries. In March 2013 the company announced an IPO at the Borsa Italiana. Moleskine became a joint-stock company and is now Moleskine SpA; it is still headquartered in Milan.

At the end of September 2016, the Belgian investment group D'Ieteren acquired a 41% stake in Moleskine. After having launched a public takeover offer on the remaining shares of the company, D'Ieteren crossed the 95% threshold, which gives it the right to launch a squeeze out procedure in order to gain full control of Moleskine. D'Ieteren's intention is to delist Moleskine from the Milan Stock Exchange.[9]

Products

Notebooks
Moleskine notebook

Moleskine's notebooks are based on notebooks distributed in Paris during the 19th-20th centuries, handmade by small French bookbinders who supplied the local stationery shops around the turn of the 20th century. They are fashioned after author Bruce Chatwin's descriptions of the notebooks he used.

Moleskine items are designed in Italy with most of them being printed, stitched, and assembled in China; this has been criticised by Moleskine customers.[10] Since 2008, some components have been manufactured in Volant, Cahiers and Folio hard covers in Turkey, watercolour paper in France, and some components in Vietnam.

The paper used in Moleskine products is Forest Stewardship Council certified and acid-free. Since August 2010, all Moleskine products, offered to retailers in California and throughout the world, comply with the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. After concerns in 2008 about PVC traces in some notebooks, all items are now PVC-free.

Digital

Moleskine manufactures device covers that emulate the trademarked notebooks.[11]

In August 2012 Moleskine partnered with Evernote to produce a digital-friendly notebook with specially designed pages and stickers for smartphone syncing.[12] In October the same year, Moleskine forayed into print on demand with Photo Books, a collaboration with publisher Milk that lets users upload their own photos into a Moleskine notebook-style album.[13]

In 2016, Moleskine launched The Smart Writing Set with Evernote and Livescribe. The notebook costs approximately $200 and is able to automatically transfer notes from the notebook onto a laptop or smartphone.[14]

Timepage

Timepage is a mobile planner and calendar app developed by Moleskine. It organizes events from calendars on mobile devices and syncs information, contact info, and weather forecasting. The app includes a Heat map calendar and timeline, and has included access to Uber.

Communities

The Moleskine brand is supported by worldwide communities of enthusiasts who write, sketch, paint and draw on Moleskine notebooks. Communities often share images of decorated pages through blogs, social networks or photo and video sharing sites as well as Moleskine's own service "MyMoleskine", through which customers can interact with company staff.[15]

Cafés

In early 2018, the company announced that it would be opening up Moleskine cafés in major cities such as Beijing, London, New York and Hamburg.[16] The first café was opened in Milan, where the company is originally from.[17]

References
  1. Martin, Claire (18 April 2015). "Moleskine Notebooks Adapt to the Digital World". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  2. Raphel, Adrienne (14 April 2014). "The Virtual Moleskine". The New Yorker. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  3. Shakespeare (1999). Bruce Chatwin. p. 564.
  4. Chatwin (1987). The Songlines. pp. 160–161.
  5. Cave, James (27 July 2016). "So THAT'S How You Pronounce 'Moleskine'". HuffPost. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  6. Harkin, James (6 December 2004). "Resurrecting Moleskine Notebooks". Newsweek. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  7. David Sax (8 November 2016). The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter. pp. 34–. ISBN 978-1-61039-572-4.
  8. Relaxnews (14 April 2011). "Moleskine expands into reading and travelling, presents new bags and stationery in Milan". The Independent. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  9. "Moleskine: revoca delle azioni ordinarie dalla quotazione". Trend Online. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  10. Nifty (26 November 2012). "Moleskine Monday: A Comparison and Complaint!". Notebook Stories. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  11. "Moleskine Provides the iPad Cover Up With its New Tablet Case". 2 July 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  12. "Evernote Moleskine notebook review: When digital and analog elegantly collide", The Next Web, 20 October 2012.
  13. "Moleskine and Milk’s Personalized Photo Books Are Unsurprisingly Sleek" Gizmodo.com, 2 October 2012.
  14. Alba, Davey. "Review: Moleskine Smart Writing Set". WIRED. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  15. Walters, Helen (11 May 2007). "Moleskine Blogs the Little Black Book". Business Week. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  16. "Moleskine to open cafes in London, Hamburg and New York". Digital Arts. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  17. O'Brien, Niamh (25 January 2018). "Stationery lovers can now visit Moleskine Cafés around the world". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
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