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.
Italian modern formica Regent chairs by Martine Bedin for Memphis, 1980s
By Memphis Milano, Martine Bedin
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern formica Regent chairs by Martine Bedin for Memphis, 1980s Pair of Regent chairs with rounded seats and backrests, made of wood covered in gray-black Formica. The frame...
Metal
Italian modern formica Regent chair by Martine Bedin for Memphis, 1980s
By Memphis Milano, Martine Bedin
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern formica Regent chair by Martine Bedin for Memphis, 1980s Regent chair with rounded seats and backrests, made of wood covered in gray-black Formica. The frame, legs and...
Metal
$5,624 / set
H 43.31 in W 17.33 in D 22.84 in
Four Post-Modern Italian Dining Chairs by Pierre Cardin, 1980s
By Pierre Cardin
Located in Puglia, Puglia
Four dining chairs by Pierre Cardin, 1980s. Absolutely rare production designed by Pierre Cardin in Italy. Back in curved cherry with a cut and a hole that makes it absolutely unique...
Brass
$2,132 / set
H 31.5 in W 17.33 in D 20.87 in
Sistina dining chairs by Tito Agnoli for Matteo Grassi, Italy 1980s Set of 4
By Matteo Grassi, Tito Agnoli
Located in Miklavž Pri Taboru, SI
Set of 4 dining chairs Sistina Saddle by Tito Agnoli for Matteo Grassi. Made in Italy in the 1980s. Tito Agnoli originally comes from the Peruvian capital Lima, but studied at the Po...
Leather
Kentucky Chairs by Carlo Scarpa for Bernini, Italy, 1980s
By Carlo Scarpa, Bernini
Located in Antwerp, BE
Original Kentucky chairs designed by Carlo Scarpa for Bernini, 1970s. Each featuring a cylindrical walnut wood frame, brown leather seat and back, and burnished brass ferrules on the...
Leather, Walnut
$1,678Sale Price|20% Off
H 41.74 in W 18.51 in D 19.69 in
Postmodern Dining Chairs by Pietro Costantini, Italy 1980s
By Pietro Costantini
Located in Oirlo, LI
n elegant set of 6 sleek Italian dining chairs by Pietro Costantini. They’re a real example of the bold creativity of 1980s postmodern design. The chairs feature a distinctive silhou...
Wood
$3,200 / set
H 29.5 in W 30 in D 34 in
1980s Memphis Style Slipper Chairs by Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin, a Pair
By Memphis Milano, Milo Baughman
Located in Roanoke, VA
Baughman was inspired by the courageous young avant-garde designers known as the Memphis Group that burst on to the works stage in 1981 with a total disregard for the traditions and design tenants of restrained, idealized Modernism, Baughman designed a small collection of 11 colorful, post-modern pieces and convinced Coggin to put the collection into production by 1984. The unexpected designs made a splash upon their debut, with critics praising Baughman’s graceful and carefully considered take on the wild Italian ‘new design.’ The wider American audience and Coggin’s well-to-do yet conservative clientele did not take to Baughman’s experiment in exercising complete creative control. ''Only galleries bought it,'' Baughman told the NYT in the months after the collection’s release. Pieces from the 1984 Prisma collection are extremely difficult to come by. Literature: Oscar Fitzgerald, American furniture: 1650 to the Present , 2017. P 517; CH 19 Postmodern and AvantGarde Furniture...
Textile
5 Postmodern Memphis Milano Style Chairs from the 1980s
Located in Boven Leeuwen, NL
5 Memphis Milano style chairs, newly upholstered with a beautiful blue-green color fabric. Black coated metal frame and wooden back.
Metal
$4,200 / set
H 33.47 in W 16.54 in D 18.51 in
8 Memphis Postmodern Dining Chairs Manner of Michele De Lucci, Italy, 1980s
By Memphis Group
Located in Saarbruecken, DE
8 Memphis Postmodern dining chairs manner of Michele De Lucci, Italy, 1980s. Fiberglass seat. Metal frame. Solid and stabile. Perfect condition,...
Metal
Sold|$4,101
H 31.5 in W 20.87 in D 18.12 in
Giandomenico Belotti for Allias spaghetti chair 1980s Italy
By Alias, Giandomenico Belotti
Located in Den Haag, NL
Set of 6 dining chairs designed by Giandomenico Belotti for Alias (Italy) in the 1980s. The Alias story began in 1979 with the Spaghetti Chair by Giandomenico Belotti, one of Ali...
Chrome
$1,347
H 31.7 in W 17.52 in D 20.48 in
Italian Modern Matteo Grassi Vintage Grey Leather Solo Chair or Side Chair 1980s
By Matteo Grassi
Located in Vienna, AT
A Matteo Grassi vintage grey leather chair or side chair, which was designed and manufactured 1980s in Italy. The stable and comfortable high-end c...
Leather
Vintage black leather dining chairs, Italy, 1980s
Located in Leuven, Vlaams Gewest
Vintage black leather dining chairs made in italy. Good overall condition 1980s - Italy Dimensions: Height: 80cm Width: 48cm Depth: 48cm Seat h eight: 45cm Price is for the set. ...
Leather
Vintage Post Modern Dining Chairs, 1980s
Located in Leuven, Vlaams Gewest
Italian metal postmodern dining chairs with grey/white lacquered wooden frames and chrome inserts in the backrests. Unknown designer but a very striking design. 1980s - Italy ...
Chrome
Italian lacquered wood dining chairs, 1980s
Located in Leuven, Vlaams Gewest
Elegant black lacquered wooden italian dining chairs with armrests. Reupholstered in a comfy and fresh bouclé fabric. 1980s - Italy Very good condition Dimensions: Height: 110cm ...
Lacquer
Sold
H 35.5 in W 27 in D 18 in
Set of Four 'First' Chairs by Michele de Lucchi for Memphis 1980's Milan, Italy
By Memphis Milano, Michele de Lucchi
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Set of Four 'First' chairs by Michele de Lucchi for Memphis 1980's Milan, Italy Hard-to-find set of the dynamic, iconic design. Lacquered wood seats and moveable backrests...
Metal