For quite a few years now this site has been trying to bridge the gaps between different disciplines such as architecture, interior design and fashion. This isn't a new goal since there have been quite a few pioneers in Italy in the '80s who tried to find a sort of common ground between these fields. There seemed to be indeed more maverick artists at the time, some of them interested in offering an innovative approach to design.
For what regarded interior design, there were artists more interested in creating an emotional value of some sort behind everyday objects. The pieces created by the Memphis Milano movement are perfect examples. The designers gravitating around Memphis were indeed more interested in creating pieces that focused on the relationship between human beings and the domestic habitat surrounding them considered from a cultural and expressive point of view.
The results – interior design objects from table lamps to sofas and armchairs, from fabrics to vases and teapots – were all characterised by very bizarre and often unpredictable shapes and shocking colours. Some critics called them irreverent not only for their fantasy shapes and silhouettes that at times made the function not so clear, but also for their colour combinations including neon glowing shades and zebra stripes that often clashed one with the other in what the movement's harshest critics thought was a tasteless display of vulgarity.
Yet the key behind these pieces was a complete disgregard for conventional design and a will to literally destroy the image of “pure design”.
As seen in a previous post, the Memphis Milano movement came back in fashion in Dior's Autumn/Winter 2011-12 Haute Couture collection. Then, last week footwear brand Sergio Rossi launched with a special event at Milan's 10 Corso Como its Spring/Summer 2013 collection entirely inspired by the Memphis Milano movement (some of the shoes can already be bought from the store or you can admire them also at the Galleria Memphis Milano in via della Moscova 27, Milan).
Some of the Sergio Rossi shoes are characterised by the unmistakable graphic zigzag lines or black and white stripes broken by colourful elements of Michele De Lucchi's “Flamingo” and “Polar “ tables and of his “Oceanic” lamp, or by the contrasting shades and patterns of Nathalie Du Pasquier's “Carrot” or “Onion” porcelain vase and fruit bowl or they call to mind the colour combinations of Ettore Sottsass' “Tigris” and “Alioth” glass vases.
It would be interesting to discover if there are other reasons behind this return of the Memphis Milano movement in fashion. Memphis was a reaction to years of rationalism, so it's only natural to wonder if fashion's love story with this movement was generated by a lack of new ideas or if it represents a genuine paradigm shift from pure and clean lines to more ebullient trends or if this inspiration is just a representation of the chaos and confusion we're living in at the moment.
Memphis was a radical design movement that achieved iconic status and, rather than seeing another collection being inspired by it, it would be much more interesting and refreshing to see Italy generating more innovative and influential movements as it used to happen in the '80s.
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I thought it was odd that Rossi used Memphis for design inspiration so soon after Dior.
Posted by: Dennis Zanone | December 18, 2012 at 02:38 PM
"Memphis was a reaction to years of rationalism"... my view is that much of the energy behind "memphis" (and related design positions) was a reaction to years of fear. fear that was tied to a increased awareness of post-war marketing... example: more time than i could count, growing up in Houston in the 70's, i saw multicolored shop facades, designed with the exuberance and fearlessness of the 50's, painted over in grey. This was a trend that confused me no end, those facades were not decrepit (although the wash of grey housepaint soon made them look so)...no, the problem was that they took a position...orange, turquoise, yellow...statements of emotional impact, as color always are. Colors influence how we feel. The owners of those countless strip shopping centers, banks, and food stores were afraid that looking "different" in any way had the potential to alienate or disturb some customer. They were afraid. (this was also the exact period when the book "dress for success" was a bestseller, and fixed in the popular culture a very specific, limited range of attire that "successful people" wore to their workplace.) The 70's were a period of fear in popular design, Memphis was a reaction to that. I distinctly recall people laughing at, mocking, color on buildings. "don't stand out, avoid being energetic, or you might alienate a dollar" that was the mantra i heard and saw, before alchymia, memphis, etc.
Posted by: t. grace | December 19, 2012 at 12:52 AM