PUTTING SMART PEN TO PAPER

The success of Moleskine’s classic notebooks in a digital age has been compared to the resurgence of vinyl records or Polaroid cameras. But Moleskine knows that its future hinges on its ability to work in tandem with digital technology. A year ago, Moleskine released its Smart Writing Set, a pen and notebook that converts handwritten notes seamlessly from the page to an app. The company is now taking that idea a step further, leveraging its celebrated Timepage calendar app to work in conjunction with a new physical planner set to be released in 2017. Users can take a snapshot of the day’s to-dos, which the software will recognize and integrate with Timepage. Eventually, the tech could operate like the Smart Writing Set. “We don’t see analog and digital as antagonistic dimensions in the lives of real people,” says CEO Arrigo Berni.

To that end, Moleskine continues to ramp up its physical pres- ence. In addition to opening 40 new retail stores by the end of 2018, the company is working on building out its Moleskine Cafés, which it built in Milan in 2016 and in the Geneva airport in 2015. Inspired by the café littéraires of the 17th century, these storefronts are part art gallery and part meeting space, and they also sell Moleskine products. In addition, Moleskine is expanding the company’s limited-edition notebook selection, which features characters from Hello Kitty, Harry Potter, Marvel and DC, Game of Thrones, Toy Story, and more. Moleskine, being Moleskine, manages to give them a chic spin. “There’s an emphasis on design and creativity with everything we do,” Berni says. “As a brand, we stand for the possibility of expressing yourself in all different forms.”