Ic! berlin
ic! berlin brillen GmbH is a German eyewear company based in Berlin. The company was founded in 1996 by Ralph Anderl. ic! berlin produces eyewear from 0.5mm thick stainless spring steel sheet metal, using a hinge design which avoids the use of any screws, welds, or glue in the construction of their frames. Foundation of company. In 1996 Anderl joined Philipp Haffmans and Harald Gottschling to help market their idea for screwless sheet metal eyewear in Berlin. Unable to sell the idea, the trio founded HGA Gesellschaft to produce and market eyewear under the brand ic! brille  (pronounced "I See Brille"). The first frame to be produced was ‘Jack’, weighing 20 grams, with an initial run of 50 pieces. ic! berlin. ic! brille became ic! berlin in late 1997. Starting in a small apartment with a shop front in Max-Beer-Straße in Berlin-Mitte, ic! berlin quickly expanded into the neighbouring apartments before moving to the nearby Backfabrik in 2005. While Haffmans and Gottschling focused on design and production, Anderl would take control of finance, organisation and distribution. Riding his bike all over Berlin, Anderl would visit potential clients and show product samples which he kept  in extra pockets he had sewn into his coat. This strategy was repeated at ic! berlin’s first appearances at the Optika optical fair Cologne in 1997 and the following year at Mido in Milan: unable to secure a stand, Anderl would walk around the exhibition centre with a trench coat full of ic! berlin samples, much like those used by counterfeit watch sellers. After Milan, ic! berlin was gifted a small stand and showed officially for the first time at Silmo Paris, where it won the Silmo D’Or. This was the first of three wins at Silmo (1998, 2008 , 2011). Since then ic! berlin has been a regular fixture at, and won top honours from, the world’s top optical trade and design fairs. In 2003 the trio split, with Anderl remaining at ic! berlin as the sole Managing Director. Under Anderl, ic! berlin has expanded into fashion, launching a line of jeans and collaborating with other designers and fashion labels such as [Kix], [Bathing Ape], [Luisa Hecking] and [Superfine]. In 2013 German artist and entertainer [Friedrich Lichtenstein] took up residency at ic! berlin an [ornamental hermit]. Today ic! berlin has over 180 employees worldwide with subsidiaries in Berlin , New York and Tokyo. The head office has recently moved from their Backfabrik location near Alexanderplatz, to a bigger location in the Marzahn-Hellersdorf district of Berlin. Design, production, dispatch, sales, marketing and service all continue to happen under the one roof. Awards. The company has received various awards for their product designs and technological achievements, including: 1998 Einfach Genial TV Award/MDR, Germany 1998 Golden Silmo Eyewear Award, Paris/France 1999 2nd of Mido Eyewear Award, milano/Italy 1999 Eyewear of the Year 2000/IOFT, Tokyo/Japan 2000 Eyewear of the Year 2001/IOFT, Tokyo/Japan 2002 Red Dot  Award/Product Design, Germany 2004 Eyewear of the Year 2005/IOFT, Tokyo/Japan 2005 Eyewear of the Year 2006/IOFT, Tokyo/Japan 2007 Landmark in the Land of Ideas 2007, Germany 2008 Golden Silmo Eyewear Award, France/Paris 2008 Eyewear of the Year 2009/IOFT, Tokyo/Japan 2009 Eyewear of the Year 2010/IOFT, Tokyo/Japan 2010 Eyewear of the Year 2011/IOFT, Tokyo/Japan 2011 Golden Silmo Eyewear Award, Paris/France 2012 Eyewear of the Year 2013/IOFT, Tokyo/Japan 2011 V Award Gold - Sunglasses (Hong Kong) 2012 V Award Silver - Optical Frame (Hong Kong) 2012 Eyewear Of The  Year 2013/IOFT, (Tokyo, Japan) 2013 V Award Silver - Innovation (Hong Kong) 2014 Inoptics Awards – Best Sunglasses, Best Female Frame (Delhi) 2015 WGSN Global Fashion Awards (Northumberland Avenue, London) 2016 Eyewear Of The Year 2016/IOFT, Sunglasses (Tokyo, Japan)