In 1994, the small Italian design company Modo & Modo asked Maria Sebregondi to create products for a new generation of travellers who were keen to explore the possibilities of the post-Cold-War era of freedom and adventure.

The company had already begun to publish a line of books on travel and culture, and was thinking about T-shirts with literary slogans – but Sebregondi was looking for something rather more substantial.

The following year, she read Chatwin’s book and remembered buying the same type of notebook in Paris herself in the early 80’s. Why not recreate something similar for this eager, restless audience, a way for them to record their experiences and impressions, and keep them safe whilst on the move?

The name Moleskine seemed a perfect fit. Its origins in French, firstly as the name for a hard-wearing cotton material with a brushed surface (like a mole’s skin) and then for the leather or oilskin covers of Chatwin’s notebooks, had all the elements of heritage, utility and “the poetry of the streets” that Sebregondi was seeking. Moleskine was registered as a trademark in 1996, and the first notebooks went into production the following year.