In 2022, a fashion style called "dopamine dressing" became popular. The first was a fashion blogger who posted a short ** of dopamine outfit on social **, she wore multiple sets of colorful and visually striking clothes in turn, and she showed a cute smile under the wide-angle lens, which was quite infectious. For a time, this style not only appeared in many fashion brand shows, but even broke the boundaries of fashion, interpreting what is "beautiful and delicious" in various forms such as coffee, tea, and meals.
The dopamine style interprets "beautiful and delicious" in many forms
It is widely believed that "dopamine dressing" is based on the book "Wear the Best Life" by fashion psychologist Dawn Cullen. According to Cullen, wearing "optimistic" clothing releases a lot of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that promotes positive emotions, and dopamine dressing is a style of dressing that creates a sense of pleasure through colorful, vibrant outfits.
Dopamine outfit from the movie "Barbie".
In 2020, a doctor came to Karen's psychological clinic and was depressed after years of treating patients. Cullen noticed that she was wearing pajamas, which, in Karen's opinion, tended to be worn in calm, low-intensity activity and even a little melancholy. If a person has already developed feelings such as depression, pajamas can only make this mood even more depressed. So Cullen asked the doctor to choose more yellow in whatever outfit he was wearing. Not long after, the doctor came in for a follow-up appointment and said he was feeling better. Obviously, in Karen's diagnosis and treatment, color has the best effect.
What exactly is the relationship between color and dopamine? Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is closely related to a person's pleasurable mood. Color is an external stimulus that can stimulate dopamine, but since everyone has a different preference for color, there is no conclusion on which color will stimulate dopamine. And color is just a means of stimulating pleasant emotions, and there are many other parts of clothing that can heal emotions, such as smooth or soft materials, pleasing silhouettes, etc. It can be said that any clothing that can bring a good mood to people is a dopamine outfit.
Color is an external stimulus that can trigger dopamine.
The emergence of dopamine dressing is the result of changes in people's aesthetic styles. In the past few years, minimalism, Morandi color matching and other modernist-based fashion styles have taken turns. Those who like these styles love their calm, subtle, restrained, and high-end temperament, but those who don't like them will find them too boring, depressing, and lacking in human touch. The same is true of design history, where in the thirties of the 20th century, the modernist architect Mies van der Rohe proposed the concept of "less is more". Decades later, the postmodernist architect Robit Venturi mercilessly "scolded" back: "Less is boring!" "At the end of the day, dopamine dressing is just another provocation from postmodernism to modernism.
In the 80s of the 20th century, the Memphis Group, which was born in Milan, Italy, was not the same?
Memphis Group designers Sautersas and Zanini designed glassware.
In 1981, Italian postmodernist designer Ettore Sottezas met with a group of young architects and designers at home to discuss the formation of a design team, and the record player looped Bob Dylan's song "Trapped in Mobile Town by Memphis Blues Again", inspired by this, everyone simply named the design team "Memphis", which is also the origin of the name of the Memphis Group.
From the 50s to the 70s of the 20th century, a modernist style with no decoration and emphasis on smart simplicity influenced various design fields around the world, such as architecture, environment, interior, product, and plane. The Memphis Group tries to subvert this style in a "overkill" way, pursuing imperfection, rebelliousness, and coolness. Their usual tactics are to "spoof" with bright colors and playful design language, and use cheap materials such as plastic decorative panels on the surface of their products. They also sometimes use asymmetrical, distorted shapes, and use ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Victorian decorations in their furniture and product design.
Tangram table designed by Moroz.
Bel Air armchair designed by Peter Scher.
In 1981, the first Memphis Design Exhibition in Milan was a sensation, and the Carlton bookshelf designed by designer Sautersas became not only a representative work of the Memphis Group, but also an icon of postmodern design. Today, this work is also featured in the exhibition "Memphis Again: Design Innovation 1981-1985" at the Yicang Art Museum in Shanghai, which stands quietly at the entrance of the exhibition. The bookshelf resembles a large doll with open arms, covered with inexpensive, colorful decorative panels of industrial materials.
The Carlton bookshelf designed by Sottsas is like a big doll with an open embrace.
Memphis Again: Design Innovation 1981-1985" exhibition view.
Memphis: Design Innovation 1981-1985" deliberately recreates a "Karl Lagerfeld House", in the center of the room is a boxing tatami designed by Masanori Umeda, and the front wall is printed with the famous words of "Lafayette" Lagerfeld: "We wear clothes, not to die without amazing clothes, but to enjoy life better." Years ago, the founders of the Memphis Group took a group photo on this tatami mat, and later this work was collected by Lagerfeld, as well as Sottsas's Carlton bookshelf and Martin Badin's super floor lamp in this exhibition. An avid fan of Memphis style, his apartment in Monte Carlo, Monaco is known as the "Memphis Museum."
Boxing tatami mats in "Karl Lagerfeld's House".
Japanese designer Shiro Kuramata's design style is not quite the same as the design style commonly used by the Memphis Group, and many of his works are not too fancy and cumbersome. His design of the barbed wire armchair "How High is the Moon" and the acrylic resin "Rose Chair" named after "Miss Blanche" are full of oriental charm and poetry. The kyoto table on display in the exhibition "Memphis Again: Design Innovation 1981-1985" is polished and polished by mixing colorful broken glass with concrete. Between 1976 and 1990, Kuramata applied this approach to the design of walls, floors and tables in some of the stores of his friend and collaborator, fashion designer Issey Miyake.
How high is the moon in the day Shiro Kuramata in 1986.
Miss Blanche Hi Shiro Kuramata 1988.
The Kyoto table, designed by Shiro Kuramata, is made of colorful broken glass mixed with concrete, then polished and polished.
In the long history of design, the Memphis Group's existence has been as brilliant and ephemeral as fireworks. Around 1985, the central figure of Sottsas left the Memphis Group. In 1988, the Memphis Group was also dissolved. However, the influence of "Memphis" has always been there, and it continues to breathe life into design styles and people's lives, as evidenced by dopamine outfits. Because "Memphis" is not only a design movement, but also a life attitude that pursues free expression, it can be said that everyone has a "Memphis" in their hearts.
This article is selected from the 10th issue of "Aesthetic Education, Beautiful Youth" in 2023.
Not only dopamine, Memphis again