Founded in 1981 - dissolved in 1988
Memphis is the name of the Italian designer group from the 1980s, founded by Ettore Sottsass. Later, international names also joined the young designers. Memphis made furniture, utensils and textiles from modern materials. The group was inspired by Art Deco and Pop Art and combined these styles with futuristic elements. It went against the rational approach of modernism to the design process in order to arrive at a postmodernist style. Memphis is recognizable for the colourful, contrasting and geometric shapes and patterns that are still associated with the visual language of the eighties and nineties.
In 1988 Ettore Sottsass left the group, ending Memphis Milano. Meta Memphis was created in 1989, a play on words on the Greek 'metamorphosis', with the aim of challenging artists to design objects for the home. In 1997 the group continued under the brand name Post Design.