To many people, postmodern design is synonymous with the Memphis Group. This Italian collaborative created the most radical and attention-getting designs of the period, upending most of the accepted standards of how furniture should look. Today, the Memphis Milano brand, which is managed by Alberto Bianchi Albrici, still produces designs created by the group between 1981 and 1988.
The Memphis story begins in 1980, when Ettore Sottsass, then a beacon of Italian postmodernism, tapped a coterie of younger designers to develop a collection for the Milan Furniture Fair the next year, determined that all the new furniture they were then seeing was boring. Their mission: Boldly reject the stark minimalism of the 1970s and shatter the rules of form and function. (Sottsass’s Ultrafragola mirror, designed in 1970, embodied many of what would become the collective’s postmodern ideals.)
The group decided to design, produce and market their own collection, one that wouldn’t be restricted by concerns like functionality and so-called good taste. Its debut, at Milan’s 1981 Salone del Mobile, drew thousands of viewers and caused a major stir in design circles.
So as a record of Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile” played on repeat, they took their name from the song, devised their marketing strategy and plotted the postmodern look that would come to define the decade of excess — primary colors, blown-up proportions, playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art. A high-low mix of materials also helped define Memphis, as evidenced by Javier Mariscal’s pastel serving trays, which feature laminate veneer — a material previously used only in kitchens — as well as Shiro Kuramata’s Nara and Kyoto tables made from colored glass-infused terrazzo.
An image of Sottsass posing with his collaborators in a conversation pit shaped like a boxing ring appeared in magazines all over the world, and Karl Lagerfield furnished his Monte Carlo penthouse entirely in Memphis furniture. Meanwhile, members like Andrea Branzi, Aldo Cibic, Michele de Lucchi, Nathalie du Pasquier, Kuramata, Paola Navone, Peter Shire, George Sowden, Sottsass and his wife, journalist Barbara Radice, went on to enjoy fruitful careers.
Some people think of the Milan-based collective as the design equivalent to Patrick Nagel’s kitschy screenprints, but for others Memphis represents what made the early 1980s so great: freedom of expression, dizzying patterns and off-the-wall colors.
Eventually, the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990s minimalism, and Memphis fell out of fashion. Sottsass left the group in 1985, and by 1987, it had disbanded. Yet decades later, Memphis is back and can be traced to today’s most exciting designers.
“As someone who was born in the 1980s, Memphis at times feels like the grown-up, artsy version of the toys I used to play with,” says Shaun Kasperbauer, cofounder of the Brooklyn studio Souda. “It feels a little nostalgic, but at the same time it seems like an aesthetic that’s perfectly suited to an internet age — loud, colorful and utilizing forms that are graphic and often a little unexpected.”
Find a collection of Memphis Milano seating, tables, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Ettore Sottsass Memphis Milano Diva Vintage Wall Mirror, Italy, 1984
By Memphis Group, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano
Located in Vienna, AT
A post-modern wall-mounted mirror, Model „Diva" designed in 1984 by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano, Italy. This mirror is a vintage original from the 1980s, made from wood and mi...
Glass, Mirror, Laminate, Wood
Diva Mirror, by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano Collection
By Memphis Group, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
Diva Mirror with plastic laminate, was originally designed in 1984 by Ettore Sottsass. Ettore Sottsass was born in Innsbruck in 1917. In 1939 he graduated...
Mirror, Plastic
$9,830 / item
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Ultrafragola Mirror/Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy
By Ettore Sottsass, Poltronova
Located in Milan, Italy
This is Ultrafragola a nice mirror designed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova in the 1970. It is a translucent white plastic frame of undulating outline, concealing pink internal flu...
Glass, Plastic
$11,508
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Ultrafragola Mirror/Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy
By Poltronova, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Milan, Italy
The Ultrafragola mirror / lamp with its sinuous shape, evocative of a wavy female hair, belongs to the Gray Furniture series, a complete bedroom and liv...
Glass, Plastic
$899
H 17.72 in W 19.69 in D 1.58 in
Colored Mirror with Irregular Shape in the style of Ettore Sottsass, Italy 2010s
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made with different colored mirrors, wood and metal. Limited production. This mirror is in excellent original condition and ready to become a piece in a home. The decorative objec...
Metal
$4,500
H 23 in W 21 in D 1.75 in
Mirror Signed by "Ettore Sottsass Produced by Glas Italia" Italy 2007
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in Jersey City, NJ
Dioniso 1 mirror of early production designed by Ettore Sottsass in 2007 for Glas Italia 2007, comprises white, orange, red, and yellow colored glass in geometric shapes that surroun...
Mirror
$8,396Sale Price / item|30% Off
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Pink ‘Ultrafragola’ Mirror Designed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in London, GB
The curvaceous pink ‘Ultrafragola’ mirror designed by Ettore Sottsass is probably the most iconic of all his many designs. Originally produced in the 1970s by Poltronova, the ‘Ultrafragola’ formed part of a series of Sottsass designs named Mobili Grigi. When illuminated, the lights within the mirror transform the white opaline acrylic shell into a stunning multi-pink display. This unique, individually numbered, re-edition piece is still produced by the same Florentine company today and is sold with a “Certificate of Authenticity”. The perfectly pink ‘selfie’ mirror!
Glass, Acrylic
$8,396Sale Price / item|30% Off
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Pink ‘Ultrafragola’ Mirror Designed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in London, GB
The curvaceous pink ‘Ultrafragola’ mirror designed by Ettore Sottsass is probably the most iconic of all his many designs. Originally produced in the 1970s by Poltronova, the ‘Ultrafragola’ formed part of a series of Sottsass designs named Mobili Grigi. When illuminated, the lights within the mirror transform the white opaline acrylic shell into a stunning multi-pink display. This unique, individually numbered, re-edition piece is still produced by the same Florentine company today and is sold with a “Certificate of Authenticity”. The perfectly pink ‘selfie’ mirror!
Glass, Acrylic
$8,396Sale Price / item|30% Off
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Pink ‘Ultrafragola’ Mirror Designed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in London, GB
The curvaceous pink ‘Ultrafragola’ mirror designed by Ettore Sottsass is probably the most iconic of all his many designs. Originally produced in the 1970s by Poltronova, the ‘Ultrafragola’ formed part of a series of Sottsass designs named Mobili Grigi. When illuminated, the lights within the mirror transform the white opaline acrylic shell into a stunning multi-pink display. This unique, individually numbered, re-edition piece is still produced by the same Florentine company today and is sold with a “Certificate of Authenticity”. The perfectly pink ‘selfie’ mirror...
Glass, Acrylic
$25,175
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.91 in
Ettore Sottsass 1st Series Ultrafragola Mirror Object 1970 for Poltronova Milano
By Poltronova, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Munster, NRW
Original 1st edition model of the Ultrafragola Mirror designed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova. Light up mirror with acrylic shell made of layered waves around the central mirror...
Plastic
$24,000
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Ultrafragola Mirror Designed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy 1970s
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in New York, NY
Original 1st edition model of the Ultrafragola Mirror designed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova. Light up mirror with acrylic shell made of layered wa...
Mirror, Acrylic
$1,726 / item
H 61.03 in W 17.33 in D 1.58 in
Modern Wall Mirror Lake 2 in Ettore Sottsass ALPI Grey Wood Veneer by Noom
By NOOM
Located in Paris, FR
"Lakes" is a nature-inspired collection of sculptural mirrors designed by French designers Maryna Dague and Nathan Baraness. The collection takes its name from the shorelines of lake...
Onyx, Travertine, Marble, Statuary Marble, Brass, Copper, Steel, Stainle...
$8,396Sale Price / item|30% Off
H 76.78 in W 39.38 in D 5.12 in
Pink ‘Ultrafragola’ Mirror Designed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, Italy
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in London, GB
The curvaceous pink ‘Ultrafragola’ mirror designed by Ettore Sottsass is probably the most iconic of all his many designs. Originally produced in the 1970s by Poltronova, the ‘Ultrafragola’ formed part of a series of Sottsass designs named Mobili Grigi. When illuminated, the lights within the mirror transform the white opaline acrylic shell into a stunning multi-pink display. This unique, individually numbered, re-edition piece is still produced by the same Florentine company today and is sold with a “Certificate of Authenticity”. The perfectly pink ‘selfie’ mirror!
Glass, Acrylic
Mirror Designed and Signed by Ettore Sottsass, 2007 Made in Italy
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in Jersey City, NJ
Dioniso four mirror of early production designed by Ettore Sottsass for Glas Italia in 2007 comprises orange, white, and black colored glass in geometric shapes that surround the cen...
Mirror