Target, Fila, and Wayfair can’t get enough of this radical design movement

The aesthetic of the 1980s was loud and colorful: Clothes, furniture, and advertising were splashed in cartoonish pinks, blues, and greens, along with wild patterns, such as splattered paint and zebra stripes.

This distinct look was shaped by a small but influential collective of designers called the Memphis Group. It is not particularly well-known outside of design circles. But an exhibit at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany celebrating the 40th anniversary of the group’s founding wants to change this. The show presents furniture, architectural design sketches, and artwork that illustrate the group’s enduring impact on art and design. “While the aesthetics of our current moment are different from those of the Memphis Group, there are many aspects of their philosophy that are more relevant than ever,” says Mateo Kries, the museum’s director, who curated this exhibition.

Over the next seven years, Sottsass brought together designers from around the world, including Michael Graves from the United States, Shiro Kuramata from Japan, Nathalie Du Pasquier from France, and Michele de Lucchi from Italy. These young designers were frustrated by the minimalism and functionality that dominated design over the previous decades. To them, these facets of the design industry were created by corporations eager to churn out products that consumers would find trendy and useful. They found the notion of “good taste” equally problematic, since it was often a concept that was pushed out by brands. Ironically, brands and corporations eagerly embraced the Memphis Group’s aesthetics over the following decades—of course, without embracing the beliefs that undergirded them.

In recent years, this look has made a comeback. Target now sells Memphis-inspired rugs with geometric patterns, Wayfair sells colorful Memphis bedding, and sneaker brands from Fila to Puma are bringing back chunky sneakers that capture the Memphis look.

Its popularity today isn’t surprising. Minimalism sprang from a homogenous, Eurocentric idea of beauty, whereas maximalism embraces a mishmash of global influences. The notion of a singular definition of “good taste” is horribly dated at a time when America is more diverse than ever.

Indeed, one reason Sottsass liked the name Memphis was that it conjured up two radically different cities: the one in Tennessee and the ancient capital of Egypt. It reflected his desire to take inspiration from many corners of the world and many periods of history.

In 1987, the members of the Memphis Group suddenly parted ways. “They had said what they wanted to say,” Kries says. “So they decided to move on.” The short-lived existence of the group, coupled with its abrupt ending, is perhaps the reason why its history is not widely known outside the world of design aficionados. But the designers’ work lives on, both in the aesthetics that fill our lives as well as their optimistic philosophy that overconsumption isn’t inevitable.