Moleskine Café | Interbrand Milan

MILAN, ITALY – JULY 25, 2016 - The Moleskine Café opens today at Corso Garibaldi 65, in the heart of the Design District of Brera in Milan. This new retail format, designed and developed in partnership with Interbrand, represents a natural evolution for a brand dedicated to creating content and building cultural experiences. For this experience, Interbrand and Moleskine developed the positioning strategy ‘Inspiring Journeys’, which encompasses the brand’s strong tie to culture and travel. This strategy guides the brand in the development of its new collections and the creation of experience formats such as the Moleskine Café.

The original idea behind the concept and development of the Café is ‘My Daily Fix of Inspiration’, which comes to life within the space and in its experiential elements. The result is a reinterpretation of the classic café littéraire, a place for inspiration and the sharing of ideas and stories, which takes Moleskine into a new dimension. Moleskine Café offers a careful selection of blends, filtered, and brewed coffee. And it mixes the elements of cafés, art galleries, stores, libraries and event venues, to boost creativity and provide a space for deep thinking and relaxation.

“We are proud of our long-standing relations with Moleskine, an extraordinary brand that is able to transcend cultures, markets and, increasingly, also products. Moleskine Café takes what has always been at the heart of the brand – the creation, celebration and sharing of stories, ideas and travel – and transforms it into a place and an experience”, says Manfredi Ricca, Interbrand’s Chief Strategy Officer of EMEA & LatAm. “Growth opportunities increasingly arise from the continuity between analysis, strategy, experience and realization, and this project – which we helped bring, literally, from concept to creation – is one example.”

The Café design reflects Moleskine’s style: simple, essential lines, and a colour range based on neutral shades, which creates a relaxing environment that encourages exploration and dialogue, just like the ivory-coloured pages of their notebooks. Large full-height windows illuminate the interior and create continuity with the terrace and city streets.

“This is an important new step towards realizing the full potential of the Moleskine brand, which has always accompanied creative professions”, says Arrigo Berni, CEO of Moleskine. “It is inspired by a very specific vision: to offer our guests an innovative retail experience that combines socializing, food, creativity and shopping in one single space designed to reflect the distinctive features and essential aesthetics of Moleskine. It represents a response to the growing interest in retail formats that go beyond mere buying “.

Representing one of the brand’s growth drivers, the Moleskine Café concept is ready to be replicated in the major cities of the world.