The premium glasses brand IC! Berlin was founded in 1996 by the entrepreneur and artist Ralph Anderl together with two design students. They had developed new glasses made of unconventional material, cold -rolled stainless steel, and invented a revolutionary mechanism, the screwless hinge system that is still the hallmark of every IC! Berlin glasses is. When no company wanted to produce the new design, the founders simply bought machines and started production in Berlin, where it still takes place today. While the two designers founded the Berlin glasses label MyKita, Anderl IC! Berlin continued for the first 20 years. At the end of 2023, the brand was taken over by the Italian glasses manufacturer and sales Marcolin.
Fashionunited spoke to Davide Lunghi, the new general manager of IC! Berlin, which includes the planned rebranding, unconventional thinking, product initiation and a strong brand identity. He also revealed what can be expected for the upcoming 30th anniversary, how and where an IC! Berlin glasses are produced, which the brand still distinguishes today and why it is so popular in Japan in addition to Europe.
You have been with IC since October last year! Berlin. Can you tell something about how your path has gone so far?
It is a brand full of energy, with a strong DNA that is the inventor of the screwless high-end steel glasses. And we focused on this in our brand vision and position to ensure that we as a team bring the brand to where it belongs. IC! Berlin is the hottest brand that you will see in the next five years.
Can you describe what makes the brand special in terms of materials and the production of the glasses?
As I said, IC! Berlin is the inventor of screwless stainless steel glasses. We believe in continuous material innovation. The first advantage lies in our classic collection, in which we are constantly looking for new tools and opportunities to improve the portability of the product. We use a very light stainless steel, which is one of the best in the industry, for the classic collection and the Silk collection that is the lightest.
One of the latest material innovations is a patent that we have developed for a product made of carbon fiber. It is a newly introduced collection in 2023, which is made of highly flexible carbon fiber. We focus on these products in the field of sports and outdoor performance.
We are very proud of this as a brand and as a company, because we have in-house technology. And when you see bronze, gold and black, all of these colors are very sustainable and durable, because our own technology, PVD or Physical Vapor Deposition, you can really last forever. And that is a technological innovation that is hardly known in the industry.
What can you say about current glasses trends? Follow IC! Berlin trends?
To the trends we see and the IC! Berlin partially follows, belongs “less is more”. And to have a sustainable, durable product that is recognizable. You can see ic! Berlin products immediately on their design, the material, the portability, the ultra -light. That is why we do not add a visible logo on the product, which fits the second trend for business products, “Silent Luxury”. A wide trend that we see and in which we have not yet invested is the glasses as a medical and as a smart product. At the moment we are primarily focusing on traditional glasses because we are still in a phase in which we deal intensively with rebranding.
What does rebranding include?
We focused on the pillars of the brand: the redefinition of unconventional thinking and communication with a new campaign that we will start next year, our 30th anniversary year. Likewise product innovation and the strengths of the brand identity. We focus on really grasping our target group, technology enthusiasts. They are people for whom objects have a real meaning in life and who are part of their lives.
What is planned for the 30th anniversary?
We like to create tension and arouse desire. There will be a 360-degree orchestration that spreads the news from Germany into our most important regions. IC! Berlin is strong in Europe, but very strong in Germany, as well as in Asia and the USA. So it is about spreading the news all over the world, in the countries in which we are already very relevant and in which we want to invest. This is something that we take into account for the next 30 years.
IC! Berlin not only won the Japan Eyewear Award once, but ten times. Can you explain that a little? What is the attraction for Japanese customers: inside?
The attractiveness of the brand in Japan lies in the design component of the product, the fact that it is designed in your own house. The second point is the ultra -light portability, which is very valued. The stainless steel is the third attraction in Japan.
We have a very thin frame, something that is very much in demand on the Japanese market. Another success is that we have worked with our teams on site to develop special products for the Japanese market, sometimes very specific products with tailor -made solutions or limited requirements. There is also a strong glasses culture in Japan.
Speaking of production: every glasses are produced in Berlin. What does the entire process include?
95 percent of the material come from Germany, the rest refers to some product lines for which we have to buy from other European countries. As soon as we have received the raw material, we cut it internally and then color it with PVD or sometimes with paint, partly in the house and sometimes externally, depending on the color we want to use. But even “outsourced” means only 30 kilometers away.
As soon as the coloring is complete, we carry out the assembly, quality control and final processing, and then everything is completed in the house. These are the most important steps, 80 percent of which are made in Germany; It is a “made in Germany” product. We employ around 100 employees and want to further increase the number of steps carried out in the house from next year.
How difficult is talent to win for this type of work?
To be honest, it is getting easier. We are known and are lucky that we are located in Berlin, where there, the Brandenburg region, there are over four million inhabitants: inside. There are only a few of these excellent brands in Berlin, including some piano builders, there is my daycare, love child and IC! Berlin. It is a medium -sized company, which is a plus point, and with this type of product people like to come to us.
And of course with the arrival of Marcolin, a global player, one of the top players in the glasses industry with brands like Tom Ford, Christian Louboutin, Max Mara, BMW, Adidas, Guess, Gant and more. This increases the attractiveness for employees to join the brand.
Would you say that this makes changes easier, for example in terms of design or marketing?
We live in a changing world, and for us it is good to have this flexibility because we can test and try out things about design and product. I would not speak of changes, but rather of developments, because we are lucky enough to be anchored in a product that is very well known and very valued, so we want to develop it further. And there are a number of tests and try for new designs, for new styles, for new sizes and so on. This is quite good, and we are lucky enough to be in a very agile organization that enables us to be very quick in this changing world.
As a industry, the glasses industry moves in a rather interesting direction. As for sales and presence, you can see that the big players are getting even bigger and strengthening their position. What the competitive environment of IC! Berlin and niche brands like us, which are more of a designer brands, have a lot of mergers and take over in the past, which also consolidated the market a little.
