27 Facts About Raymond Loewy

Raymond Loewy was a French-born American industrial designer who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries.

Raymond Loewy was recognized for this by Time magazine and featured on its cover on October 31,1949.

Raymond Loewy spent most of his professional career in the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1938.

Raymond Loewy was engaged by equipment manufacturer International Harvester to overhaul its entire product line, and his team assisted competitor Allis-Chalmers.

Raymond Loewy undertook numerous railroad designs, including the Pennsylvania Railroad GG1, S-1, and T1 locomotives, the color scheme and Eagle motif for the first streamliners of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and a number of lesser known color scheme and car interior designs for other railroads.

Raymond Loewy was born in Paris in 1893, the son of Maximilian Raymond Loewy, a Jewish journalist from Austria, and a French mother, Marie Labalme.

Raymond Loewy distinguished himself early with the design of a successful model aircraft, which won the Gordon Bennett Cup for model airplanes in 1908.

Raymond Loewy graduated in 1910 from the University of Paris.

Raymond Loewy continued his studies in advanced engineering at Ecole Duvignau de Lanneau in Paris, but stopped his studies early to serve in World War I, eventually graduating after the war in 1918.

Raymond Loewy served in the French army during World War I, attaining the rank of captain.

Raymond Loewy was wounded in combat and received the Croix de guerre.

Raymond Loewy opened a London office in the mid-1930s that continues to operate.

In 1937, Raymond Loewy established a relationship with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and his most notable designs for the firm involved some of their passenger locomotives.

Raymond Loewy followed by styling the experimental S1 locomotive, as well as the T1 class.

Raymond Loewy designed the experimental steam turbine engine V1 "Triplex" for PRR which was never built.

Raymond Loewy had a long and fruitful relationship with American car maker Studebaker.

Raymond Loewy designed a new logo to replace the "turning wheel" that had been the Studebaker trademark since 1912.

Raymond Loewy recruited a team consisting of experienced designers, including former Loewy employees John Ebstein; Bob Andrews; and Tom Kellogg, a young student from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Andrews and Kellogg handled sketching, Ebstein oversaw the project, and Raymond Loewy was the creative director and offered advice.

Raymond Loewy worked for NASA from 1967 to 1973 as a Habitability Consultant for design of the Skylab space station, launched in 1973.

Raymond Loewy suggested a number of improvements to the layout, such as the implementation of a wardroom, where the crew could eat and work together, the wardroom window, the dining table and the color design, among others.

Raymond Loewy's designers influenced the design of Allis-Chalmers crawler tractors.

In 1980, Raymond Loewy retired at the age of 87 and returned to his native France.

Raymond Loewy died in his Monte Carlo residence on July 14,1986.

Raymond Loewy was survived by his wife Viola, and their daughter Laurence.

The foundation was established to preserve the memory of Raymond Loewy and promote the discipline of industrial design.

In 2006, the Raymond Loewy Gallery, opened in Roanoke, Virginia, through the supportive efforts of the O Winston Link Museum, the local business community, art patrons, Laurence Raymond Loewy, David Hagerman, and Ross Stansfield.