Memphis Design: The Loudest 80s Movement and How to Use It Now

In September 1981, a group of Italian designers unveiled a bookcase that looked like a robot had been asked to design a traffic sign. It was covered in plastic laminate, had shelves sloping at odd angles and, according to the people who made it, meant books had to sit diagonally.

That was the Carlton, and it was the debut of Memphis, the loudest design movement of the 80s. Its squiggles and confetti, and plenty of copies of them, turned up all over 80s pop culture. Below: what Memphis was, who was in it and how to use it now without making your living room look like a sitcom set.

What Memphis was

Memphis Group, also called Memphis Milano, was an Italian design and architecture group founded by Ettore Sottsass. It was active from 1980 to 1987. Sottsass called a meeting of designers in Milan on December 11, 1980, and the collective formed in 1981. The group designed furniture, lighting, fabrics, carpets, ceramics, glass and metal objects.

The name is credited to Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again," which was reportedly played over and over at that first meeting. One member's account says the word also pulled in Tennessee, rock and roll and the ancient Egyptian capital.

Members included Andrea Branzi, Aldo Cibic, Michele De Lucchi, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Shiro Kuramata, Paola Navone, Peter Shire and George Sowden, plus journalist Barbara Radice.

The look

The signature is bold color, geometric shapes, squiggles and clashing patterns, in cheap plastic laminate and terrazzo, in primary and pastel hues. Laminate was the key material because it was cheap and faked wood and marble, the opposite of modernist purity. Sottsass also created the "Bacterio" confetti print in 1978, before the group formed, and members drew on it for laminates and textiles.

The debut exhibition took place in Milan on September 18, 1981, where the Carlton was first presented. Memphis itself calls it the most famous of all objects designed for the label. It's a Sottsass piece from 1981, wood covered in decorative laminate, and it's vaguely human-shaped. You can use it as a room divider.

How it got everywhere

Memphis didn't design MTV or TV sets, but Memphis-style patterns appeared in pop culture around it. Manhattan Design made the first MTV logo in 1981, and Memphis-style variants showed up in MTV's graphics. Pee-wee's Playhouse, which debuted in 1986, used Memphis-style set design alongside other kitsch influences. And Saved by the Bell (1989 to 1992) shows clear Memphis influence in its sets.

Once you know the patterns, you see them from MTV graphics to sitcom sets.

The end

Sottsass left the group in 1985, and Memphis disbanded in 1987. The reason usually given is a lack of sustained commercial interest. The legacy outlasted the sales.

How to use Memphis today

Start small. A vase, a pillow or a rug is enough. One designer's rule of thumb is to keep bold elements to about 20 to 30 percent of a room, which is advice rather than a law.

Pick three or four colors. More than that and you're living in a candy store.

Keep the walls neutral. The shapes need something quiet to push against.

Mix materials. Plastic, laminate and terrazzo textures belong together.

Add a light. A neon sign hung over a neutral wall does the job of three throw pillows.

Wearing it

The clothing version of Memphis is pattern. The Memphis Wave T-Shirt ($39.99) is the obvious start. For more pattern, try the Abstract Pattern Shirt 1983 ($39.99) or the Geometric Shirt 1982 ($39.99). Keep the trousers plain.

For another 80s design object that got famous for being weird, read Why Old Arcade Carpets Became Accidentally Iconic. And if you're building a room around all this, Synthwave and Retrowave Home Decors is the next step.

Questions we get

What is Memphis design? A postmodern Italian movement founded in Milan in 1980 by Ettore Sottsass. It's known for loud colors, geometric shapes, squiggles, laminate and terrazzo.

Why is it called Memphis? The name is credited to a Bob Dylan song that was reportedly played repeatedly at the group's first meeting.

Who founded the Memphis Group? Ettore Sottsass, with designers including Michele De Lucchi, Nathalie Du Pasquier, George Sowden, Peter Shire and Shiro Kuramata.

When did Memphis end? The group disbanded in 1987. Sottsass had left in 1985.

What is the Carlton bookcase? Sottsass's 1981 laminate-covered, totem-like bookcase with sloped shelves, first shown at the 1981 debut.

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