Almine Rech Monaco presents a new exhibition by Francesco Vezzoli,  from March 20 to May 24, 2025. The exhibition revisits one of the most audacious intersections of fashion and design: Karl Lagerfeld’s embrace of Memphis in the early 1980s.

Karl Lagerfeld’s legendary aesthetic sense extended far beyond the runway. In the early ‘80s, while at Chanel, he moved to Monte Carlo, and setted in the Roccabella building designed by Giò Ponti. Eschewing traditional interior design, Lagerfeld turned to Memphis, the bold, avant-garde design collective founded by Ettore Sottsass, to furnish his apartment. This radical choice resulted in an extraordinary living space where vibrant colors, clashing patterns, and synthetic materials defined a surreal, postmodern aestheqtic.

Francesco Vezzoli, one of Italy’s most celebrated contemporary artists, pays homage to this creative moment by crafting six new embroidered portraits of Lagerfeld. These works, encased in opulent baroque frames, depict the designer in his more spontaneous and social moments, revealing a lesser-seen side of his personality—one that thrived in the energy of nightclubs, cultural exchanges, and artistic experimentation.

The exhibition at Almine Rech Monaco aims to recreate the atmosphere of Lagerfeld’s Memphis-inspired apartment. In collaboration with Memphis Milano, original furniture designs from Lagerfeld’s Monte Carlo residence will be reissued for the occasion. Visitors will have the opportunity to step into a reimagined version of one of the most eccentric interiors of the 1980s.

Reflecting on this unique chapter in design history, Vezzoli states, “It is nearly impossible to find, in the history of 20th-century art and architecture, a creative collision as all-encompassing and intoxicating as the one that exploded in 1980 when Karl Lagerfeld entrusted the Memphis group with the aesthetic vision for his living space in Monte Carlo. This exhibition seeks to celebrate that utopian and surreal union—an exhilarating, unrepeatable marriage of radical design and uncompromising vision.”

Through Vezzoli’s reinterpretation, this exhibition not only honors Lagerfeld’s fearless creativity but also rediscovers the radical spirit of the 1980s—a time when art, design, and fashion merged in groundbreaking ways.