INVENTARIO - KOREAN STATIONERY FAIR (2025.4.2 - 4.6, SEOUL)
인벤타리오 2025 문구 박람회
Today, I went to the stationery fair, Inventario, held in Seoul from 2nd to 6th, April.
The word "Inventario" is a Spanish word of inventory.
I'm not sure whether this fair was held annually since it was my first visit.
I recognized it through the Korean Faber Castell SNS.
I went there simply to see my favorite brand, Faber Castell.
This means nothing but I went there with my Faber Castell shirt.
I thought it'd a perfect moment to wear this!
Most booths were local stationery sellers.
From the individual businesses to the Korean big stationery companies, various sellers gathered to exhibit what they make.
Products were not confined to pens, but the fair covered more general stuffs, including notebooks, diaries, masking tapes, post cards, and things like that.
Needless to say there were tons of color pencils, markers, pencils, inks, and other types of pens.
Some global brands like Lyra and Caran d'Ache also participated in this expo!
Those two brands might not be that familiar to most Korean people if they don't have much interest in Western brands, yet these two stars graced the event with their presence.
Meanwhile, Japanese brands are very well-known to Korean people, which is partly due to Japan's close geographical distance.
Japanese brands, Pilot and Pentel, also held their booths.
It was impressive Pilot opened a huge booth and equipped various Capless fountain pens to present the feeling of their pens.
Do you see numerous inks behind me?
One could choose the color of the ink and after one finishes to choose the ink color and nib type, the clerk brings the corresponding fountain pen.
I didn't use the Capless fountain pen, but I tried another Pilot fountain pen.
The ink color was nice and the fountain pen wrote well without being choppy.
I drew characters that I like.
I finally arrived at Faber Castell's booth!
Sadly, it was a very tiny booth and there were only few pens - Castell 9000 pencils, color pencils, highlighters and markers.
I expected much more than this, so I was disapponited.
Anyway, I took a photo with my Faber Castell shirt as I wished.
It is said there were Graf von Faber Castell pens, but I couldn't find them.
I thought I've swept every place though.
Faber Castell advertised itself with its rich history and historic artists who used Faber Castell.
Since this fair was rather focused on the general people, Faber Castell didn't pay much attention to diverse pencils and fountain pens.
The Karl box was also displayed.
Only 2500 pieces were made for Faber Castell's 255th birthday in 2016.
This set consists of diverse artist pens that Karl Lagerfeld, the German creative director of Chanel, loved to use for his creation.
The nidana of Karl and Faber Castell started in 1987.
As this anniversary pencil tells, Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber-Castell married in 1987, and it was Karl who designed the bridal gown for this wedding.
I could find vintage Faber Castell pencils in another store!
There was a booth that sells diverse vintage pencils of various brands and there were some vintage Faber Castell pencils like Castell 9000, Goldfabers, and Winner pencils.
Yes, these are what I expected from this fair.
Of course, you can find more and meaningful Faber Castell's vintage pencils from my blog.
Should I take part in the fair next year? :)
I was kidding, but I hope to show my collection via something like a Faber Castell museum in the future.
Wouldn't this be a dream of all collectors?
They printed the advertisement of Castell pencils in 1920s and a catalog of A.W. FABER in 1987.
19th century A.W. FABER's pencils are also on my blog, so I hope you to enjoy them too.
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