Last week, I attended a celebration that felt less like an anniversary party and more like a masterclass in staying true to yourself. ic! berlin turned 30, and to mark it, they did what they do best: they did it their way. No standard gala. No predictable speeches. Instead, the celebration unfolded across three settings, each one revealing a different layer of how this company has survived and thrived for three decades.
It started with a factory tour. You do not usually get invited to see the machinery behind a fashion brand, but here, that access made sense. I stood watching thin sheets of stainless steel turn into frames. Engineering that relies on logic and precision. The people building the glasses moved with a focus that felt more like a workshop than a production line. It was a reminder that what ic! berlin makes is meant to last.
From there, we moved to the Feuerle Collection for dinner. The space is a former bunker turned museum, housing art that spans centuries. The atmosphere was stark and heavy in the best way. Sitting there, surrounded by ancient works and brutalist architecture, I understood why the brand chose this spot. It is a place that values contrast, pairing old with new, soft with hard, much like the glasses themselves.
The night ended with a cocktail party celebrating the 30th Anniversary Capsule. The collection pairs four classic frames from the archive with newer styles that push their signature material further. You could see the history in the older designs, but the new pieces had a restlessness to them. Stainless steel bent into shapes that felt fresh. The collection does not dwell on the past. It uses it as a foundation.
The brand also unveiled its anniversary campaign, I See Berlin. Tarek Mawad shot it, bringing together a cast that reflects the city’s creative scene: Sven Marquardt, Dalad Kambhu, Nina Pohl, Nunguja Kisalya, Thilo Reich, and Youngchan Moon. Looking at the images, I saw that Berlin is not just a location for this brand. It is the engine. The independence, the rawness, the refusal to compromise, those traits are in the frames as much as they are in the city.
Check out the campaign images below:
Three decades in, ic! berlin feels settled in its roots but restless about what comes next. After a night like that, I walked away thinking that is exactly the balance worth celebrating.
