s.p.a. the current moleskine logo as of august 2016 . type societ per azioni traded as bit msk industry manufacturing product design papermaking founded 1997 ; 19 years ago 1997 founder maria sebregondi co founder 1 headquarters viale stelvio 66 milan 20159 italy area served worldwide key people marco ariello chairman arrigo berni ceo products journal paper planners revenue 129m 2 2015 operating income 34.81 m 2 2015 profit 27.124 m 2 2015 number of employees 363 3 2015 divisions moleskine america inc moleskine asia ltd. moleskine germany gmbh website moleskin.com en moleskine italian pronunciation m le ski ne is an italian manufacturer papermaker and product designer founded in 1997 by maria sebregondi based in milan italy . 4 it produces and designs luxury notebooks and also includes planners journals sketchbooks leather backpacks wallets and various accessories and stationery . coordinates 45 29 43.6 n 9 10 57.3 e 45.495444 n 9.182583 e 45.495444 ; 9.182583 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 are identifiable along with an expandable pocket inside the rear cover which is packed in a paper banderole . the name moleskine does not have an official pronunciation in any other language except italian . the company claims it is a brand name with undefined national identity . 5 contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 notebooks 2.2 digital 2.2.1 timepage 3 communities 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit in the mid 1990s co founder maria sebregondi pitched the idea of resurrecting the iconic notebooks to the company modo & modo who were deeply impressed 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 in 1998 modo & modo were producing 30 000 notebooks a year and expanded their market distributing their products across the continent . by the 2000s modo & modo spa had a small staff and sales of 20m 26m in milan . 1 in 2004 moleskine notebooks arrived in japan and from there distribution to the rest of 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 . 8 in august 2006 the french investment fund soci t g n rale capital purchased modo & modo spa and invested in its expansion . the company name changed to moleskine srl . 2011 saw moleskine extend its production to new categories with writing reading and travelling collections launched at the milan design week . 9 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 . moleskine has become a joint stock company and is now moleskine spa . 7 in march 2013 the company announced an ipo at the borsa italiana . by july 2012 moleskine collections were distributed in 22 000 stores across 95 countries . products edit notebooks edit moleskine notebook moleskine s notebooks success from 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 some notable users of similar black notebooks include oscar wilde vincent van gogh pablo picasso ernest hemingway and henri matisse . they are fashioned after bruce chatwin s descriptions of the notebooks he used . the name itself moleskine is a nickname that chatwin uses in one of his most celebrated writings the songlines . 10 in this book chatwin tells the story of his original notebook supplier a paris stationer who in 1986 informed him that the last notebook manufacturer a small family run firm in tours had discontinued production after the owner s death . le vrai moleskine n est plus the real moleskine is no more is a phrase coined by chatwin to be said by the owner of the stationery shop in rue de l ancienne com die . moleskine items are designed in italy with most of them being printed stitched and assembled in china due to the quality of their raw materials and the expertise displayed as a result of their history of paper making 11 though has been criticised by moleskine community members . 12 13 since 2008 certain components have been manufactured in other countries such as large variants of volant cahiers and folio hard covers in turkey watercolour paper in france and some components in vietnam . 11 moleskine claims to invest considerable resources in the research of ever new potential suppliers according to criteria of quality price logistics and fairness . details printed on the external label band indicate production details and each item has a unique quality control number assigned which can be quoted should there be a fault . 14 all suppliers are selected after careful screening about quality standards . 11 labour and environmental fairness criteria are included in specific clauses of all suppliers agreements . 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 . 15 after concerns in 2008 about pvc traces in some notebooks all items are now pvc free . 16 digital edit device covers are available that emulate the trademarked notebooks . 17 in august 2012 moleskine partnered with evernote to produce a digital friendly notebook with specially designed pages and stickers for smartphone syncing . 18 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 . 19 timepage edit timepage is a mobile planner and calendar developed by moleskine . it organizes events from calendars on mobile devices and syncs information contact info weather and more into the app . the app includes a heatmap calendar and timeline and has included compatibility towards uber with users able to call or organize an uber driver within the app . 20 communities edit moleskine is a brand 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 . these communities have grown independently but have gained recognition from moleskine and is a growing focus of attention for them . 21 according to maria sebregondi moleskine highly values the opinions of moleskine users replies personally to everyone through customer care and is in direct contact with various moleskine communities . see also edit field notes brand references edit a b c d martin claire 18 april 2015 . moleskine notebooks adapt to the digital world . the new york times . retrieved 20 april 2015 . a b c annual report . moleskine . 31 december 2015 . p. 27 . retrieved 30 june 2016 . annual report . moleskine . 31 december 2015 . p. 118 . retrieved 30 june 2016 . raphel adrienne 14 april 2014 . the virtual moleskine . the new yorker . retrieved 20 april 2015 . how to pronounce the name moleskine . moleskine.com . harkin james 6 december 2004 . resurrecting moleskine notebooks . newsweek . retrieved 28 january 2016 . a b about us . moleskine . retrieved 28 january 2016 . horowitz jason 26 october 2004 . does a moleskine notebook tell the truth . international herald tribune . retrieved 28 january 2016 . relaxnews 14 april 2011 . moleskine expands into reading and travelling presents new bags and stationery in milan . the independent . retrieved 28 january 2015 . chatwin bruce 1988 . the songlines . penguin . p. 161 . isbn 0 14 009429 6 . a b c moleskine quality . moleskine . retrieved 28 january 2016 . nifty 26 november 2012 . moleskine monday a comparison and complaint . notebook stories . retrieved 28 january 2016 . moleskinerie moleskines made in china . google groups . retrieved 28 january 2016 . quality control . moleskine . retrieved 28 january 2016 . state of california proposition65 labeling law . moleskine . retrieved 29 april 2012 . moleskine spring 12 catalogue . moleskine . retrieved 28 january 2016 . moleskine provides the ipad cover up with its new tablet case . 2 july 2012 . retrieved 28 january 2016 . evernote moleskine notebook review when digital and analog elegantly collide the next web 20 october 2012 . moleskine and milk s personalized photo books are unsurprisingly sleek gizmodo.com 2 october 2012 . moleskine timepage . moleskine . retrieved 30 august 2016 . walters helen 11 may 2007 . moleskine blogs the little black book . business week . retrieved 25 april 2012 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to moleskine . moleskine website write and exact an interview with moleskine ceo financial reports company investors information retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title moleskine & oldid 743050568 categories companies listed on the borsa italianamanufacturing companies based in milanstationeryhidden categories use dmy dates from may 2012use british english from november 2013coordinates not on wikidatacommons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout 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