Vogue Magazine loves Ic Berlin

They have recently been spotted on the noses of superstars like Madonna, Brad Pitt, the King of Morocco, Samuel L. Jackson, and the members of the reggae band Dub Inc.

They are glasses by IC! Berlin, a niche brand of “boutique eyewear” with a band of celebrity aficionados that almost seems like a private club – they are cult objects for people who love the Zen aesthetic and the limited edition.

The glasses are unique with their super light frames, precious materials like buffalo horn, and elegant designs created in collaboration with international artists. The laminated steel crossbars and screw-less hinges make them responsive and flexible.

The brand began almost by chance in 1996 in a Berlin garage. A trio of friends – none with any experience in making glasses – were experimenting with metal to create a frame with interlocking arms that could be removed easily. This made the glasses indestructible, even if you happened to sit on them.

The restless inventiveness of the founders propelled the brand into the commercial world: the three presented their first mini-collection at the Mido in Milan in 1998 on jacket lapels, the type used by people selling counterfeit watches.
In Paris in the same year, IC! won the Golden Silmo, the Oscar of the glasses world.
Today, the brand’s innovative and original products, both a fashion and a lifestyle choice, are exported to countries from France to Japan. Six lines are produced – including a hyper-feminine one created in collaboration with the Berlin designer Bo Van Melskens. But the brand has kept its human side, as well as its fanatical attention to quality and the irreverent creativity of its origins.

The brand’s only store is in the central Berlin area of Mitte (though a boutique in New York’s Meatpacking District is opening in January 2011). The Berlin shop is a small space with a counter made of old speakers. There is a bicycle parked in the window and the glasses are kept in the meal trolleys used by flight attendants.

The manufacturing is still carried out in a small workshop in the area. On the inside of the crossbar of each frame, a short maxim is incised – for example, “Love Yourself” – the kind that you find in Chinese fortune cookies.

Behind these touches of humour is the forty-year-old Ralph Anderl, the brand’s dynamic creative director (he makes some of the lines from models). His mobile number is on each glasses case, ensuring that there is a direct link between the customer and the manufacturer. Anderl is also a musician, an artist, a singer and a photographer – last year he launched an IC! Berlin range of jeans, and he is now thinking about a line of bicycles. Pretavoir is a premium online store of icberlin eyewear

He’s unstoppable.

Alessandra Signorelli (Vogue Italy)

King Mohammed VI of Morocco is an Ic Berlin Fanatic

Yes, the ruler of Morocco is the proud owner of 42 pairs of ic berlin glasses. Thats a bad habit! A certain type of eyewear OCD? Morocco’s ruler Mohammed VI is worth 2.5 billion and is very popular with his subjects. He insists so, with any dissent being considered a criminal offence. Indeed one young Moroccan was imprisoned for impersonating the King on Facebook. A country of much inequality I visited the fabulous Mazagan Beach Resort, the Kings flagship Hotel-Casino development last November. The opulence is breathtaking. Take a step outside the resort and its a different story, peasants walking the roads with gaunt donkeys, kids standing bored picking at weeds in barren cropfields. Ok, thats enough to get me banged up for life in Casablanca Jail… www.pretavoir.co.uk

ic berlin featured in traffic magazine

Ic Berlin Eyewear has been featured in latest edition of Traffic magazine.

The eight protagonists of “chapter VI” are from different creative scenes, such as architecture, film, dance, music, literature and fashion. all of them were interviewed and 4 of them are wearing some of the latest ic! berlin glasses.

check out traffic magazine’s website here, or view the issue online by clicking the link to the right.

Ic Berlin eywear available from http://www.pretavoir.co.uk/berlin-opticals-c-3417_3418.html

 

Ic Berlin models inspired by Sumarai Warriors will be Big in Japam

c! berlin has always had a strong connection with japan. the ic! berlin hinge system, which is like a kind of steel origami, has always appealed to the asian taste for elegant, forward-thinking solutions. the problem that ic! berlin encountered very early on is designing glasses to fit asian faces.

ic! glasses are all about comfort and fit, and although each frame can be adjusted to fit the wearer’s face perfectly, making a frame suit an asian face is better approached from the ground up. helping us out this season is ryota nakahira, who has produced four unisex prescription frames, carefully designed for asian faces.

there is an obvious connection between ic! berlin’s modern production of paper-thin, spring-steel frames, and the ancient steel sword production techniques of feudal japan. in honor of this, and the enduring samurai spirit of the japanese people, ryota has named these four frames for samurai warriors.

each of these models has the family crest of the samurai finely engraved on the inside of the frame’s temple, with the exception of ‘izou’, who was a criminal and has no family crest.

isami k.

kondo isami was a swordsman who was also renowned as a scholar, with a fondness for books and knowlege. he was captian of the shinsengumi, a police force responsible for protecting the imperial capitol of kyoto, and later a warrior.

ryoma s.

sakamoto ryoma came from a family of sake brewers. he was bullied at school, and after enrolling in fencing classes emerged as a master swordsman and samurai. he fought for the modernization of japan, and was noted for wearing western footwear with traditional samurai dress.

souji o.

okita soji is famous for his noble character, as well as for his skill. he is the creator of the ‘three-piece-thrust’, whereby he could apparently strike an opponent in three places at once. he was a captian of the shinsengumi, and his only flaw seems to have been a weakness for sweets.

izou o.

okada izou was the son of a peasant, but a natural-born swordmaster who created his own style. he is remembered as one of the most famous assassins of his time, and fought against westernization and foreign influence. this was eventually his undoing, as he was trailed and beheaded. as a criminal, izou is remembered with no family crest.

ic berlin glasses pretavoir

 

Because the face is never symmetric…Juergen Mayer

juergen mayer h.!!!! just his name is a statement which gives a direction to the new millenium. his buildings stand out of the mediocre world of houses that we see everywhere around us.

now he’s done these glasses for us, and proved that symmetry is no longer a necessity for beautiful glasses! mayer h. is pointing out that human beings’ faces are never symmetric! Coming soon to www.pretavoir.co.uk

juergen mayer for ic berlin

Samuel L Jackson wears icberlin

While filming “The Other Guys”, set for release this month, Samuel L. Jackson has been spotted in ic! Berlin ‘wladamir p.’ on and off camera.  As always, Jackson personifies bad-ass, even in snapshots.  As always, ic berlin. Check this piece out at http://www.pretavoir.co.uk/wladimir-black-grey-p-13775.html

How icberlin glasses move

Ralph is the Stig here..

www.pretavoir.co.uk

Ic Berlin Funky Sheet Metal Eyewear

Created by Ralph Anderl Ic Berlin! Eyewear is the most interesting, functional and innovative eyewear available. Manufactured using fine stainless steel, these frames have a unique hinge system constructed by clever splicing of the metal sheet. This hinge provides a snug, comfortable fit without the weight of a standard spring hinge system. Wearing an icberlin is not only very lightweight and comfortable but also marks you as a connoisseur of the finest products. Visit http://www.pretavoir.co.uk/berlin-c-3417.html to view latest collection.

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