ic! berlin was founded in 1996 by three friends in Berlin. The company's journey began with the use of an unconventional material, cold-rolled stainless steel, and the invention of a revolutionary mechanism, the screwless hinge system. When no manufacturer would produce the new design, the founders simply bought machines and started production in Berlin. Word of the new approach spread, and with guerrilla tactics, the young brand soon conquered the ranks of the design avant-garde. Making the most of very little has been the company's ethos ever since. Thirty years later, ic! berlin has won the SILMO d’Or and the Japan Eyewear Award numerous times. To this day, every frame is designed, engineered, and crafted by hand in Berlin.