From notebooks to hybrid analogue-digital tools, Moleskine is rethinking how we document ideas, keep memories and boost creativity. CEO Christophe Archaimbault explains why writing by hand remains a mindful and essential practice in a screen-saturated, anxious world
Photography courtesy of Moleskine featuring Issey Miyake NOTE A NOTE
Words by Jessica-Christin Hametner
Leading a company built on paper in a digital-first world requires a particular kind of vision. For Christophe Archaimbault, Chief Executive Officer of Italian papermaker Moleskine, putting pen to paper is a form of detox. ‘When you write by hand,’ he explains, ‘you reconnect with yourself. You meet your brain at work.’
Appointed in March 2025, Archaimbault is steering Moleskine’s strategy to bridge analogue handwriting and digital innovation. ‘For me, digital is an opportunity,’ he says. ‘Writing by hand becomes a way to pause and recalibrate in a hyper-connected world.’
Under his leadership, the brand has sought to enhance creative expression – or, as the brand calls it, “unleash human genius” – as Moleskine champions the experience of handwriting in an age increasingly dominated by screens.
Photography by Cartacarbone featuring Christophe Archaimbault
This approach underpins products such as the Smart Writing System, first introduced in 2016 and updated in 2022, which combines a sleek Paper Tablet notebook, Pen+ smart pen and a mobile app that digitise handwriting and allow users to capture ideas, sketches and even sensory elements like sounds.
‘It’s not about rejecting digital,’ Archaimbault says. ‘For me, digital is a complementary tool that can enhance analogue experiences like handwriting or sketching. I am not against digital or AI, but what I am in favour of is writing. The better you write, the better you read, and the better you learn.’
With a background spanning international consumer and retail industries, Archaimbault previously held senior roles at Pryde Group, a Hong Kong-based Water Sports company, and Hoang Phuc International, a Vietnamese fashion distributor managing European brands, including Benetton and Doc Martens. These experiences continue to inform his long-term approach to brand management.
Photography courtesy of Moleskine featuring Issey Miyake NOTE A NOTE
Beyond products, and under Archaimbault’s leadership, Moleskine has explored the cognitive advantages of handwriting since 2024. Research shows that notes taken by hand are more likely to be internalised, engaging neural pathways that typing cannot replicate.
Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), confirm that brain connectivity patterns are more elaborate during handwriting, highlighting its benefits for learning, focus and memory retention, as well as reducing anxiety.
These insights inspired a series of Moleskine campaigns, from Pen & Paper in 2024 to Genius Unleashed last year, celebrating the creative and cognitive perks of putting pen to paper. ‘We’re at a point in time where digital creates so much stimulus that our brains cannot cope anymore,’ he reflects.
Photography courtesy of Moleskine
This thinking extends to Moleskine’s recent releases, including collaborations with cultural institutions, such as Musée D’Orsay and creative partnerships with the likes of Miyake Design Studio. For younger generations especially, overwhelmed by scrolling, notifications and AI-driven content, Moleskine’s more tangible approach and creative tools offer an alternative to constant overstimulation.
The resurgence of analogue practices – from vinyl records to film photography – reflects a growing desire for imperfect and authentic experiences. ‘Doodling, sketching or handwriting in a notebook becomes a way to slow down and to step out of that pressure,’ says Archaimbault.
This interest in tangibility has been especially visible among Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who have flocked to unplugged hobbies and analogue nostalgia in a bid to reclaim focus. These practices are less about rejecting technology than about creating pockets of reflection or an offline space where ideas can develop without the constant interruption of screens.
Photography by Cartacarbone featuring Christophe Archaimbault
‘The sound of vinyl, for example, is not perfect,’ says Archaimbault. ‘There is a crack, there is something that’s not pure, because that imperfection is life. Writing is a sensorial experience and I believe that’s why the younger generation loves it. We live in a world of anxiety, a world of pressure, a world that is becoming insecure. Writing is a way of bringing back something that is a way to reconnect with yourself.’
Looking ahead, Moleskine’s mission remains unchanged: to foster creativity and invite people to slow down. ‘Moleskine is not a notebook,’ Archaimbault reflects. ‘It’s a cultural project. Our mission is really to put images on paper,’ says Archaimbault. Whether through sketches, doodles or handwritten notes, each page demands presence and provides a tactile antidote to the digital frenzy.
From the first scribbles of an idea to the memories of his father, Archaimbault sees his own Moleskine notebooks as repositories of personal thoughts, dreams and ideas that, over time, accumulate into a story that’s uniquely his. ‘A good Moleskine is a used Moleskine,’ he concludes. ‘Its value lies in being filled.’
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