"They Need Some Getting Used To This Time": Adidas Lead Designer Talks Euro 2020 Kits
Speaking to German football magazine 11 Freunde, Adidas designer chief Jürgen Rank took his time to answer questions about the brand's Euro 2020 kits, including Germany and Spain.
As we've seen over the past few days, Adidas' Euro 2020 jerseys are inspired by art and feature brushstroke graphics. Unlike how it was done for the past 20 years, Adidas designers created the first drafts for the new kits by hand. "We visited international arts expositions for inspiration and then asked designers from different backgrounds to 'have a go at it!," Rank says.
While he says that Adidas tried to apply art styles and graphics that are specific to each nation, Rank also spoke about the new Germany and Spain home kits in particular.
"The flag is traditionally very important to the Spaniards. Therefore it was first drawn by hand and thicker color, then the picture was maximally enlarged and redrawn. It looks as if the Spanish jersey has big windows, but actually these are only huge pixels of the own flag. A great, abstract effect."
As for the German shirt, the horizontal striping was inspired both by the iconic black-red 2014 World Cup away jersey and by a classic green away jersey from the 80s, which featured subtle horizontal pinstripes.
He also explains why the cut of the shirt was changed to include a bit of the pattern on the upper back as well: it's to make the shirt more distinct from a regular t-shirt. "If someone wears it in the pub, he will also be recognized from afar by the jersey."
According to Rank, there were 30-50 different designs at the beginning of the creation process of the Germany shirt. "As soon as you have decided on a base, it's time for the fine-tuning: the exact position of the DFB logo, the player numbers, the cut of children's and adults' sizes."
Asked what's his favorite from the new collection, Rank names the Germany shirt but also admits that "Honestly, I think the jerseys need getting used to this time." He goes on to state that this was the exact plan from the beginning. To create something new and not outright copies of existing styles.
Check out the full interview over at 11 Freunde.
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