The movement ignited on the evening of December 11, 1980, when Ettore Sottsass gathered like-minded designers and architects in his Milan living room, united by a desire to break free from modernism’s austerity. The name Memphis - drawn from a Bob Dylan lyric playing on repeat - echoed dual symbolic layers: the birthplace of Elvis Presley and the ancient Egyptian capital. This whimsical yet bold identity set the tone for a radical departure from design conventions.

At the 1981 Salone del Mobile, Memphis unveiled its debut collection of 55 striking objects - furniture, lighting, ceramics, textile that collided pastel and neon hues, geometric shapes, kitsch motifs, and unconventional materials like laminate and terrazzo. These pieces, equally playful and provocative, stood in stark contrast to the restrained minimalism of the time, ushering a new era of expressive, rebellious design.

Memphis Milano’s visual lexicon fused Art Deco elegance with Pop Art spontaneity. Designs such as Sottsass’s sculptural Carlton room divider, Bedin’s Super Lamp, Shire’s Bel Air chair, and De Lucchi’s Tahiti lamp became seminal, walking sculptures and visual declarations of postmodern theory in practice.

Though the collective formally disbanded in 1987, its electric, rule-defying aesthetic has endured - celebrated in revival fashion, collectors’ auctions, and form-building in contemporary design. Icons of the era were embraced by luminaries like David Bowie and Karl Lagerfeld - transforming Memphis into a design movement that continues to inspire and disrupt decades later.