Manfred Lamy, long-time managing director and owner of the Red Dot winning writing instrument manufacturer “Lamy”, deceased
He ensured that Lamy became an icon in design and made the company’s fountain pens real classics: Manfred Lamy, the son of the firm’s founder C. Josef Lamy. The marketing specialist died on 17 January 2021 at the age of 84.
Minimalist, highly functional fountain pens
In 1962, at the age of only 26, Manfred Lamy joined his father’s company as marketing manager. In 1973, he became the sole managing director. The Heidelberg native made a significant contribution to Lamy’s rise to become one of the leading design brands in the writing instruments sector. It was he who developed the design philosophy that the company still follows today.
With the legendary “LAMY 2000”, which was created in collaboration with the German industrial designer Gerd A. Müller, he achieved a breakthrough on the market in 1966. The new fountain pen is revolutionary in every respect: it is made of a sophisticated material combination of matt-finished stainless steel and Makrolon, which was an absolute novelty at the time. The fountain pen dispenses with material excess and design gimmicks. Following the Bauhaus idea of “form follows function”, the focus is on practical utility. The modern classic is still available in various versions. For example, Lamy presented its icon almost half a century after its market launch as a high-quality all-metal series, made of stainless steel. In 2013, this variant received a Red Dot.
Award-winning design
“No design writes better” – this claim is still followed by the internationally successful company today. Cooperations with top-class designers are still part of the secret of Lamy’s success. The LAMY 2000 was followed by other product lines that have written design history. They all adopt the clear design language of the icon. In the Red Dot Award: Product Design, the company received numerous other awards in addition to the Red Dot for the metal version of the classic. The LAMY screen even got the Red Dot: Best of the Best in 2017, the highest distinction in the competition. The LAMY aion and the LAMY imporium were also awarded a Red Dot by the jury.
In 2006, Manfred Lamy withdrew from the operative business and joined the company’s advisory board. With him, the design industry loses one of its most venerable and devoted enthusiasts. Red Dot mourns Manfred Lamy and is with the family and relatives of the deceased.
