Memphis

Informal group of Italian designers established in 1981, headed by Ettore Sottsass and including Michele de Lucchi (1951- ), George Sowden, and Nathalie du Pasquier, based in Milan. It put together a series of annual exhibitions 1981-87 challenging the conventional language of ‘good design’.

With the help of a number of like-minded designers in other international centres, it set out to demonstrate that not only the post-war Italian design movement but also modern design everywhere was in crisis. The radical proposals of the designers were expressed in vibrant colours and unusual forms.

They set up a ‘shock wave’ through the international design community.