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THE<br />
RETURN<br />
OF<br />
MEMPHIS<br />
The postmodern design<br />
dialect from the ’80s lives on<br />
in colorful, fanciful furnishings<br />
and home décor.<br />
BY SCARLET CHENG<br />
“Bel Air” chair by Peter Shire<br />
“Tawaraya” by Masanori Umeda<br />
Memphis can mean different things to different<br />
people. For some it’s the city in Tennessee<br />
where strains of blues, soul and rock ’n’ roll<br />
were born; for others it’s the ancient Egyptian city of<br />
the dead. It can also mean a colorful design style that<br />
sprouted in Milan, Italy, thrived internationally in the<br />
1980s and is having something of a revival today.<br />
Two years ago the Met Breuer in New York helped<br />
launch the revival with a major retrospective on Ettore<br />
Sottsass, the key founder of the Memphis Group. Last<br />
year Nordstrom’s flagship store in Seattle threw together<br />
a Memphis Milano popup store, featuring various home<br />
accessories and furnishings from greeting cards and<br />
toothbrushes to colorful tables and chairs, including Peter<br />
Shire’s fanciful “Bel Air” chair. Los Angeles–based<br />
Shire was the only American among Memphis’ original<br />
members, designing for the group’s line throughout its<br />
seven years of existence. Loyal followers of Memphis<br />
design included David Bowie and Karl Lagerfeld. The<br />
latter, who died in February, bought key items in the<br />
collection for his apartment in Monaco. He had Ettore<br />
Chair by Peter Shire<br />
38 | ARROYO | 05.19
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