Memphis

Italy

Corporation

Produzent

Ettore Sottsass, Michele De Lucchi, and others founded the Memphis Group in Milan, Italy, in 1980. The name was inspired by a Bob Dylan song. In 1981, this creative collective presented its first collection of furniture, lighting, and glass, ceramic, and metal objects in the Arc 74 showroom during the Milan Furniture Fair. The objects and illustrations on display attracted attention from the design world and beyond. The challenging, postmodern designs – the unusually garish colours, confusing surfaces, and non-traditional shapes – questioned the accepted relationship between product and function. The founding of Memphis was also a response to the reluctance of many companies to try something new. With their own collection, the designers strove for self-determination by refusing to work as anonymous designers doing the bidding of foreign companies. At Memphis, the designers themselves decided which projects to take on. They established a new international style, which not only influenced the design world but also fashion and graphic design. In 1982, the group – whose new members included Martine Bedin, Andrea Branzi, Michael Graves, Hans Hollein, Shiro Kuramata, Issey Miyake, Nathalie du Pasquier, George James Sowden, and Matteo Thun – organized a second exhibition in Milan. Designer Karl Lagerfeld’s Monte Carlo flat, outfitted with Memphis furniture, was extensively covered in the press, which further heightened interest in Memphis’ innovative objects and sparked many attempts at imitation. In 1988, Sottsass dissolved the group; the brand was taken over by Ernesto Gismondi, who had supported Memphis from the start. To this day, the company produces and sells both their early models and new designs. Albus, Volker, ed., "13 nach Memphis: Design zwischen Askese und Sinnlichkeit", exhibition catalogue, Museum für Kunsthandwerk (Frankfurt am Main: Prestel, 1995). memphis.it/en, accessed 15.09.2026. Radice, Barbara, and Rodney Stringer, "Memphis: The New International Style" (Milan: Electa, 1981). Radice, Barbara, "Memphis: Research, Experiences, Results, Failures and Successes of New Design" (London: Thames & Hudson, 1995).