written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . april 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message ic berlin brillen gmbh type private industry eyewear founded 1996 headquarters berlin germany products optical and sunglasses frames website www.ic berlin.de ic berlin brillen gmbh is a german company which designs and produces high end handcrafted eyewear in berlin and distributes it worldwide . the company was founded in 1996 1 2 by ralph anderl . ic berlin produces eyewear from 0.5 mm thick 3 4 stainless spring steel sheet metal using a patented 5 hinge design which avoids the use of any screws welds or glue in the construction of their frames . the combination of materials and techniques allows their products to be light and flexible . contents 1 foundation of company 2 ic berlin 3 awards 4 collaborations 5 references 6 external links foundation of company edit 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 . having no business education or experience allowed them to develop the ic brand organically as the three could approach everything with a completely raw perspective . the first frame to be produced was jack weighing 20 grams with an initial run of 50 pieces . already understanding the power of celebrity anderl enlisted the support of two prominent german actors peter lohmeyer and corinna harfouch to promote the new brand by wearing the glasses to public appearances and in photo shoots . ic berlin edit ic brille became ic berlin in late 1997 . starting in a small apartment with a shop front in max beer stra e in berlin mitte ic berlin quickly expanded into the neighbouring apartments before moving to the nearby backfabrik in 2005 . the shop in max beer stra e remains to this day . 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 creating a great deal of buzz in milan ic berlin was gifted a small stand and showed officially for the first time at silmo paris where it won the prestigious 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 . anderl continues to forge a strong relationship with the art world frequently collaborating with photographers such as mathias bothor and lyle owerko . in 2013 renowned 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 . head office remains in the backfabrik and has expanded over the years to cover three floors design production dispatch sales marketing and service all happen under the one roof . ic berlin glasses get sold in more than 60 countries worldwide . awards edit 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 6 france paris 2008 eyewear of the year 2009 ioft 7 tokyo japan 2009 eyewear of the year 2010 ioft 8 tokyo japan 2010 eyewear of the year 2011 ioft 9 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 eyewear of the year 2016 ioft sunglasses tokyo japan collaborations edit ic berlin has produced designs in collaboration with danish fashion label bo van melskens 10 german french design collective kix 11 jeremy tarian 12 freitag 13 and london fashion label superfine . 14 references edit ic berlin . collaborating with . white line hotels . retrieved 2010 10 20 . avoiding the me too syndrome with boutique eyewear blog midwest lens . midwestlens.com . 2010 05 14 . retrieved 2010 10 20 . ic berlin eyewear authentic ic berlin sunglasses buy ic berlin eyeglasses online . i on the district . retrieved 2010 10 20 . ic berlin eyewear . santa fe optical . retrieved 2010 10 20 . ic berlin brillenproduktions gmbh . patents.com . 2010 01 18 . retrieved 2010 10 20 . winners of silmo d or 2008 silmo d or the exhibition home . silmoparis.com . 2010 09 26 . retrieved 2010 10 20 . http gifbt.com data2 re vc my 1145 2008.pdf http gifbt.com data2 ky vm my 1145 2009.pdf eyewear of the year 2011 ioft 2010 asia s leading optical trade fair . ioft.jp . retrieved 2010 10 20 . creative face special mercedes benz fashion week berlin spring summer 2011 ic berlin spiritual spectacles fashion in berlin.creativeface.net . creativeface.net . 2010 07 10 . retrieved 2010 10 20 . kix eyewear collection for ic berlin on the behance network . behance.net . retrieved 2010 10 20 . jeremy tarian . jeremy tarian . retrieved 2010 10 20 . http news.freitag.ch ic berlin e http www.theworldsbestever.com 2007 12 protect his and hers eyes.php http www.ic berlin.de epages web.sf de de objectpath shops web categories brand philosophy unterkategorie 1 % 5b1 % 5d interview in visionplus magazine by siraj bolar http visionplus india.fourplusmedia.com 2013 jan feb article.php publication visionplus india & article id 65 http www.cicero.de kapital ralph anderl ic berlin modelglatze brillen design 46617 http www.uni hildesheim.de media fb2 dekanat arbeitsfeldkultur ralph anderl % c3 % bcberarbeitet.pdf http www.vogue.it en talents news 2010 12 ic berlin http www.ic berlin.de gallery friedrich liechtenstein http creativeface.net fashion in berlin creative face special mercedes benz fashion week berlin springsummer 2011 ic berlin 10447 1 http www.white ibiza.com ibiza style lust have shades ic berlin superfine external links edit official website sleek magazine video interview with director ralph anderl company history and interview on mivision.com.au retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ic berlin & oldid 735356619 categories eyewear brandscompanies based in berlinhidden categories articles with a promotional tone from april 2014all articles with a promotional tonepages using infobox company with unsupported parametersofficial website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main 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