When the BVB team takes to the field in the 2023/24 season with a new home jersey, Prof. Oliver Langbein will have played his part: as a jury member, he was able to help decide which variants were available for a fan vote.
BVB's competition under the motto "Design datt Ding" was a premiere in more ways than one: for the first time, fans were not only able to decide on the look of a jersey. They were also able to create the designs themselves. And for the first time, Fachhochschule Dortmund was at least indirectly involved in such a process: "I had the great pleasure and honor of being part of the jury for the pre-selection and selecting nine entries for the final online vote," reports Oliver Langbein, who contributed his expertise as an external design expert.
Turning into an ardent fan
"For me, as someone who went from being genuinely uninterested in soccer to an ardent BVB fan within two semesters after moving to Dortmund in 2011, it was of course a special experience to be involved here," emphasizes Oliver Langbein. In addition to him, the jury also included BVB captain Marco Reus and BVB player legend Dede.
More than 15,000 suggestions
The jury members spent an impressive four hours sifting through and evaluating the 15,143 entries from more than 100 countries to determine the best design proposals for the final round. You can find an overview of the selected jerseys with brief explanations from the entrants on the BVB website - where you can also take part in the vote until March 18, 2022: https://kit.bvb.de(Opens in a new tab)
Result in summer 2023
A lot of patience is still required until the result is announced: BVB says that a winner of the competition will not be officially chosen until summer 2023, because they want to have initiated all the steps necessary for the implementation of a home jersey by then.