Rather than an inspiration, the colourful designs created by the Memphis Milano group have turned throughout the decades into an obsession for many fashion designers out there.
Only in the last decade we have seen multiple designers getting inspired by the famous group of creatives: from collections that literally moved from iconic pieces to brands replicating in their products the unmistakable graphic zigzag lines or black and white stripes reminiscent of Michele De Lucchi's tables and lamps or Girmi prototypes; from colour palettes evoking the most famous designs by Memphis Milano to prints designed in more recent years by some of the original members of the collective.
The reason why Memphis Milano is a constant inspiration is almost too easy to understand: the crazy textures, clashing colours and patterns, symbols of the optimism and ebullience of the '80s, immediately put you in a good mood. Yet the latest trend is not literally borrowing from these designs, but getting inspired by subtle details.
Kim Jones' A/W 22-23 collection for Fendi, showcased during Milan Fashion Week, featured some designs with a print on a pale pink or dark blue background, inspired by a motif originally created by Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi in the mid-80s when he was in his Memphis Milano phase (Jones saw Silvia Venturini's daughter Delfina Delettrez wearing a blouse of her mother from the 1986 collection in question and took it as a starting point for this collection).
Jones' print in pale pink and black evoked in some ways the dynamic geometries and shades of Depero's sketches for the costumes of the Ballet Russes' "Le Chant du Rossignol" (View this photo), but also called to mind Ettore Sottsass' architectural scarves.
One ingenious trick featured in this collection was carving the double FF's logo of the maison in the heels of the shoes, a detail that may have been inspired by the Fuji cabinets (1981) by Arata Isozaki, with their carved out spaces.
There were echoes of the Memphis squiggles (a famous design element in prints by the group, but also in interior pieces including lamps or cabinets) also in a coat on Emporio Armani's runway.
So, while the designs of the Memphis Milano group may not be an innovative inspiration, their richness is guaranteed to provide great ideas not just for what regards garments, but also for original solutions that can be adapted for accessories (the carved heel / Arata Isozaki connection is new, for example). So, if you want to get inspired by Memphis Milano, try this approach focused on details and on subtle references.
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