The secret bond between Naruto and Montblanc

The collaboration between Naruto and Montblanc unites two diametrically opposed stories: on the one hand, a brand born in Hamburg that has been creating writing instruments, watches, jewellery and accessories since 1906, supplying luxury items to professionals all over the world; on the other hand, there is the universe drawn by Misashi Kishimito in a manga that has shaped and moulded entire generations for more than 20 years. The collection features the maison's most iconic items, from the Meisterstück pen to leather goods - including a special orange ink and a precious decorated notebook - reinterpreted with images that retrace Naruto's adventures in a surprisingly heterogeneous mix of discordant cultures. To tell the story of the creative process behind the brand's new release and to investigate the synergies that the union of such distant worlds can trigger, we went to Tokyo, in the heart of manga culture, the home of Naruto.

In Tokyo, we met Marco Tomassetta, who will be artistic director of Montblanc from 2021, against the backdrop of an immense, vibrant and stimulating metropolis. With a 20-year career behind him and a track record studded with successes between Gucci, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton, Tomassetta told us how he decided to reinterpret the brand's historical heritage, its relationship with luxury, creativity and manga. «I am not here to change the brand but to communicate it with a new imagery, to express the archive with a new creativity. The perception I have always had of Montblanc is synonymous with luxury, sophistication, elegance. I don't want to destabilize the brand, it would mean not understanding it fully. That's why when I joined the maison, the first thing I did was to visit the archive and immerse myself in the universe of writing.» It is precisely in the writing, in the ritual celebration of an act so habitual as to be taken for granted, that the link between Naruto and Montblanc exists: each in its own sphere and with its own codes celebrates the art of creative storytelling. 

«There is no creative act that is not linked to writing. I still draw by hand, it is the instinct of a vision that starts from my soul.» Tomasetta recounted, also revealing the emotional bond that binds him to a collaboration that draws from his own childhood memories: «In the 80s and 90s, Italy was bombarded by manga and anime, I grew up with this animation in my mind, in my dreams, they formed me and I have always liked them, I started drawing precisely by drawing inspiration from the stickers I used to buy at the newsagents.» A new way of understanding luxury, with respect for history, for travel, which leads a brand to be defined as 'luxury', but with an openness to the present, to the future, to new generations. «There are things that unite every era, only the way of telling them changes, using a theme like Naruto that spans 20 years of creativity means showing how much Montblanc can open up to young people through collaborations, without giving in to compromises in terms of quality, and how fun it can sometimes be to break the seriousness of historic brands.»