Combining art and football, Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart have revealed a special edition ‘StuttgART’ jersey for 23/24, which is set to be worn in the home game against Werder Bremen on 2 December.
It’s VfB Stuttgart’s 130th anniversary year, and as such they have produced a very special jersey – the most extraordinary in their history, and not just because they cannily combined their name with the word art… It’s because they drafted in world-renowned Esslingen artist Tim Bengel, who designed the shirt in the colours black, white and gold in keeping with his works. The black and white pattern corresponds to the cross section of a Filderkraut head, the superfood grown in the region and which is repeatedly used in Bengel's works. And that design feature has led to another special point of note about the shirt: if you look closely, you’ll discover that the pattern is not the same on every one; instead, there are five variations of the design, taken from different parts of a larger image.
Tim Bengel said of the project: “I always look for interfaces in my art. Since I have been fascinated by VfB and its fans since my childhood, it’s an honour to be able to design a jersey for the club I love. This brings art to the pitch and thus combines two fantastic disciplines. I’m really looking forward to match day and hope that we will inspire many VfB fans with the design and also raise awareness for art, culture and our regional superfood, Kraut!”
The StuttgART jersey is a collector's item with a strictly limited edition of 1,893 copies (a nod to the year of the club’s creation), so the price of 189.30 euros is significantly higher than that of a regular jersey. This makes it possible to pass on ten percent of the proceeds to the VfB “Brustring der Herzen” foundation, which in this way benefits important social projects in the region. The foundation will also be present on the sleeve of the jersey, and the words STUTTG ART will appear on the chest. Every StuttgART jersey has a digital signature in the form of an NFT chip, and each copy comes with a high-quality collector's box with a hand-signed certificate of authenticity.
Alexander Wehrle, VfB CEO, said: “Stuttgart is one of the most emotional football locations in the republic and at the same time a centre of art and culture. The restrictions and consequences of the Corona pandemic have shown us at the latest that sport, art and culture are a common part of our urban society and our everyday life and belong together. The VfB is a cultural asset of the region. The StuttgART jersey symbolises this in a unique way. With our foundation, we give back some of the support that VfB receives to people across the region - and promote social issues, democracy and society. It is therefore particularly important to us to use this unique jersey for our foundation.”
As you can imagine, the StuttgART shirt absolutely flew when it was released, selling out almost instantly.
