Stuttgart's €3,000 Champions League Kit
- VfB Stuttgart have partnered with luxury label Dsquared2 and local boutique owner Winni Klenk to produce a limited Champions League fashion collection.
- The full outfit — jacket, T-shirt, polo, cap, shoes, jeans, and parka — costs fans over €3,000, with the jacket alone priced at €599.
- The collaboration, available from 28 August at Klenk's Stuttgart store Abseits, originated roughly ten months ago at a reunion of the club's 2007 title-winning squad.
VfB Stuttgart have unveiled a limited Champions League fashion collection in partnership with luxury label Dsquared2 and Stuttgart-based designer Winni Klenk, with the full outfit — comprising a jacket, T-shirt, polo, cap, shoes, jeans, and parka — carrying a combined price tag of over €3,000.
A local collaboration with a luxury price point
The collection was presented to the squad on Tuesday ahead of the club's participation in the Champions League group stage, with a trip to Milan among the fixtures on the horizon. The jacket alone is priced at €599. The range became available to the public from Friday, 28 August, exclusively through Klenk's Stuttgart boutique, Abseits, which he has operated in the city centre for 41 years.
Klenk, aged 63, said the collaboration fulfilled a long-held ambition. "Now, at 63, to be able to kit out VfB is wonderful. VfB is my club at heart," he told reporters. He described the genesis of the idea as a chance conversation roughly ten months ago at a reunion of the club's 2007 championship-winning squad, at which players suggested he might design jackets for them. Alex Kläger, a member of VfB's supervisory board, subsequently visited Abseits and endorsed the concept. Klenk then contacted Dsquared2 directly, securing the luxury label's involvement on the basis of a long-standing customer relationship.
Club and designer stress local roots
Klenk used the occasion to make a broader point about independent retail. "VfB is supporting a local retailer in the city — that is a fine gesture. After all, there are barely any independent shops left in our city centres, only the same interchangeable large chains," he said.
VfB chief executive Alexander Wehrle, 51, welcomed the tie-up. "We are very pleased to have Dsquared2 and Abseits as two cool brands joining us on our Champions League travels. That means we are superbly equipped — with an internationally oriented company and with a regional Stuttgart institution," he said.
The collaboration marks the first time VfB Stuttgart have been outfitted by a local fashion designer for European competition, and positions the club's off-pitch identity alongside its return to the continent's premier club tournament. As the club's pre-season preparations demonstrated, Stuttgart have been building steadily towards the demands of a busier campaign on multiple fronts.
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