Moleskine

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Inside view of a Moleskine ruled notebook; the elastic band is visible on the right, as is the bookmark in the centre.

Moleskine (pron. mol-a-skeen’-a) is a popular brand of notebooks, planners, diaries, sketchbooks and albums manufactured by Moleskine Srl, an Italian company based in Milan. Moleskine notebooks are typically bound in oilcloth-covered cardboard, with an elastic band to hold the notebook closed, a sewn spine that allows it to lie flat when opened, cream colour paper, rounded corners, a ribbon bookmark, an expandable pocket inside the rear cover, all packed in a paper banderole.

Contents

[edit] History

Notebooks with same features as the present Moleskine notebooks were a popular standard in 19th and 20th century Europe, handmade by small French bookbinders who supplied the stationery shops of Paris. As documented by many art collections and museums, in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, these nameless notebooks became a prominent creative tool for avant-garde artists who enjoyed drawing and writing outdoors, putting down impressions on paper, painting from life in the streets and cafés, and capturing extemporary scenes, ideas, and emotions.

Among artists who used similar black notebooks were Oscar Wilde, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Henri Matisse.

The present Moleskine notebook is specifically fashioned after Bruce Chatwin's descriptions of the notebooks he used in his travels. The name itself of “Moleskine” is a nickname that Chatwin uses in one of his most celebrated writings, The Songlines (1986). In this book Chatwin tells the story of his original supplier of notebooks, a Paris stationer who in 1986 informed him that the last notebook manufacturer, a small family-run firm of Tours, had discontinued production that year, after the death of the owner. “Le vrai Moleskine n’est plus” are the lapidary words Chatwin puts in the mouth of the owner of the stationary shop in Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie.

In 1997 a small company based in Milan named Modo & Modo Spa decided to bring this kind of notebook back to life, establishing the Moleskine trademark and starting production of Moleskine notebooks with 5000 pieces. In 1999 Modo & Modo Spa started distributing outside Italy, in US and Europe. In 2004 Moleskine notebooks arrived in Japan and from there Moleskine started distribution in the rest of Asia. Perhaps due to their link to the literary and cultural heritage of the Moleskine notebooks, bookshop retailers and design stores everywhere are the main distribution channel.

In 2006, according to an article in The Daily Telegraph, the company’s small staff was unable to keep up with demand [1]. In August 2006, the French investment fund Société Générale Capital purchased Modo & Modo Spa and started investing on its expansion. The company name changed into “Moleskine Srl”. According to an article in the German magazine Brand Eins, Moleskine notebooks are now distributed in 53 countries, through 14,000 stores, 65% of which are bookshops [2].

[edit] Moleskine production

Moleskine notebook

Moleskine items are designed in Italy. Most of them are printed, assembled and stitched in China. Since 2008 large formats for Volant, Cahiers and Folio hard cover collections are manufactured in Turkey. Watercolour paper is supplied by a specialised French manufacturer. Moleskine srl claims to invest considerable resources in the research of ever new potential suppliers, according to criteria of quality, price, logistics, fairness. Details printed on the external label band indicate production details. Each item has a quality control number connected to a specific production lot number. The localization of production in China has been criticized by members of the community of Moleskine users. See controversy.

Moleskine notebooks are made with acid-free paper. Paper for Folio collection is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified. According to Moleskine Srl all suppliers are selected after careful screening about quality standards. Labour and environmental fairness criteria are included in specific clauses of all suppliers’ agreements.

[edit] Communities

Moleskine is a brand supported by worldwide communities of enthusiasts who write, sketch, paint and draw on Moleskine notebooks. These communities often share images of decorated pages through blogs, social networks or photo and video sharing platforms. In November 2009 about 52 dedicated Facebook groups and 1700 Flickr groups tagged “Moleskine” can be reported online, together with dozens Moleskine-themed blogs run by artists, illustrators, graphic novelists, travel writers. These communities have grown independently from Moleskine srl, even though they are becoming a growing focus of attention for the company, as Business Week reported in may 2007 [3]. According to official statements, Moleskine srl highly values the opinions of Moleskine users, replies personally to everyone through customer care and is in direct contact with various Moleskine communities [4].

[edit] Controversy

Production based in China has generated criticism among some Moleskine users [5]. According to official statements by Moleskine srl [6], production is mostly based in China because of quality and tradition in the Chinese paper industry, with a unique combination of automated and handmade manufacturing. All Moleskine suppliers are ISO 9001 certified and most of them are ISO 14000 certified. Specific clauses in the supply agreement bind each producer to a given set of strict labour standards.

[edit] Cultural activities and special editions

Moleskine supports the lettera27 Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting the right to education and access to knowledge everywhere on earth and especially in the world's most deprived areas. One of main project of lettera27 is Wikiafrica, aimed at “africanizing” Wikipedia, filling the digital divide with new African content. Moleskine provides financial support to the lettera27 Foundation mainly through Detour and myDetour, two travelling projects with special notebook exhibitions displaying works by artists, writers, architects, designers, film directors, and musicians from around the world. Authors donate their notebooks to the lettera27 Foundation, that manages the travelling archive and partners with the Detour and myDetour events. Detour exhibitions have been held in London, New York, Paris, Berlin, Istanbul, and Tokyo, involving artists such as Ron Arad, Takagi Ayako, Yves Béhar, Han Bing, Dave Eggers, Mike Figgis, Naoto Fukasawa, Massimiliano Fuksas, Martí Guixé, Kenya Hara, Nicholas Hlobo, Toyo Ito, Christian Lacroix, Ross Lovegrove, Joep van Lieshout, Mamoru Oshii, Cristina Lei Rodriguez, Kuhen Malvezzi, Shintaro Miyake, Renzo Piano, Karim Rashid, Lou Reed, Sigur Rós, Tom Sachs, Studio Sanaa, Karim Said, and Takayashi Yoshinari.

myDetour is a parallel project involving yet unknown talents and all the fans of the Moleskine notebooks in the world. It has taken place in New York, Paris, Berlin, Istanbul, San Francisco, and Tokyo. myDetour 5x5 took place in Milan, Florence, Parma, Naples, and Rome. The notebook archives created for the Detour and the myDetour events are also on permanent display online.

The Hand of the Architect is a cultural project in support on the non profit Foundation FAI (National Trust for Italy). Celebrating the persisting importance of freehand sketching in the AutoCAD era, a special exhibition and a publication were created with a collection of drawings of international renown architects who donated their freehand works for this project. Among participating architects: Renzo Piano, Tadao Ando, Bolles+Wilson, Alessandro Mendini, Mario Botta, Alvaro Siza, David Chipperfield, Guillermo Vazquez Consuegra, Massimiliano Fuksas, Richard Meier, Boris Podrecca, Vittorio Gregotti, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Zaha Hadid, Emilio Ambasz, Italo Rota, Gae Aulenti, Andrea Bruno, Jo Coenen, Juan Navarro Baldeweg, Michael Graves, Kengo Kuma, Gustav Peichl, Dominique Perrault, Paul Chemetov, Moshe Safdie, UNStudio, Eduardo Souto de Moura, and Bob Wilson. The drawings were collected in a Moleskine publication and were then auctioned at Sotheby’s on may 14, 2008. Revenues supported the restoration of Villa Necchi Campiglio, Milan, owned by FAI.

Moleskine® has an ongoing relation with The Museum of Modern Art. In Tokyo and New York, MoMA’s stores have hosted events and displays for Detour and myDetour, the travelling Moleskine® exhibitions. More than a dozen limited edition notebooks have been created with the MoMA Department of Film and Video, celebrating international directors like Roberto Rossellini, Abbas Kiarostami, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Other limited editions have been created to record milestone events at the Museum, such as the New York Atlantic Pacific subway station project and the MoMA Bauhaus exhibition.

Dozens of special editions have been created for other NGOs, for cultural events, cultural institutions and for festivals including: Met Opera, National Gallery, Tribeca Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Frankfurt Buchmesse, Mantua Festivaletteratura, The Armory Show, Young Guns, and the Amsterdam International Documentary Festival. A special edition has also been created for the United Nations.

Moleskine is supporting young creative people and emerging talents through an extensive network of initiatives:

  • ACEVO (non-profit organization).
  • Casa del Design, Milan: structure dedicated to young people visiting the Milan Interior Design Fair (Salone del Mobile di Milano).
  • ADC: publication of the annual Young Guns series and support for various student initiatives and exhibitions (i.e. the Undiscovered Letter).
  • Brooklyn Book Festival: support and promotion of the Brooklyn Book Festival, which highlights the best in young and established writing talent.
  • Pen World Voices: support of the 2008 PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, composed of programs, readings, conversations, and debates that showcase international literature and new writers. The Moleskine included an insert with information about the program, schedule, and contributors and was distributed with a personalized letter, signed by Salman Rushdie, to welcome participants.
  • Parsons School: providing support via artistic programs, exhibitions, and "jams" with art students and faculty.
  • School of Visual Arts: providing support for undergraduate and thesis programs through the donation of customized products and promotional support.
  • Webby Awards: promotion for the Webby Awards, featuring the brightest emerging talent of the digital world.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Horowitz, Jason (2004-10-16), "Does a Moleskine notebook tell the truth?", International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  2. ^ brand eins, February 2008, "Das ungeschriebene Buch".
  3. ^ Business Week reported in may 2007
  4. ^ Moleskine communities
  5. ^ http://groups.google.com/group/Moleskinerie/browse_frm/thread/7135ef7d39fdf2e3?pli=1
  6. ^ http://www.moleskine.com/catalogue/moleskine_quality.php

[edit] External links

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