Borussia Dortmund Kits — History, Manufacturers & Collector Archive

Last updated 29 April 2026

Est. 1909 · Dortmund · Die Schwarzgelben · Echte Liebe

Borussia Dortmund

Founded in 1909 in the Borsigplatz district of Dortmund, BVB are one of the most supported clubs in world football. Eight German championships, five DFB-Pokal, one Champions League. And a stadium that defines the club more than any trophy. Riedle. Klopp. Lewandowski. Reus. 348 BVB kits catalogued on ShirtSociety.

Yellow Wall 1909 The 1990s Near-bankrupt Klopp Wembley, twice Kits Collector notes

Südtribüne · Signal Iduna Park · 24,454 standing

The Yellow Wall: the largest standing terrace in European football

Any account of Borussia Dortmund that leads with trophies misses the point. The Südtribüne is the visual shorthand for the club: 24,454 standing fans packed into a single end, creating a wall of yellow and noise that visiting players and managers consistently describe as unlike anything else in the game.

Signal Iduna Park holds 81,365 for Bundesliga matches, making it the largest club stadium in Germany. The average Bundesliga attendance is routinely among the highest in European football. This is not a club that fills stadiums because of what it has won. It fills them because of what it represents: a working-class city, a genuine relationship between club and supporter, and the ethos the club calls Echte Liebe, true love.

1909: Borsigplatz, Dortmund

Founded 19 December 1909 · Catholic youth · Borsigplatz district

Borussia Dortmund was founded on 19 December 1909 by a group of young men from the Borsigplatz district, a working-class neighbourhood in the north of Dortmund shaped by the steel and coal industries that dominated the Ruhr region. The club's founding was in part an act of defiance: the young men had previously played for a church youth group and left to form their own club when the local priest tried to restrict their involvement with a rival team.

The yellow and black colours were adopted from the start, though the early kits were simple and inconsistent by modern standards. The identity of the club has always been rooted in Dortmund itself: a post-industrial city that lost its heavy industry in the 1980s and found, in its football club, something the city could organise around.

Early titles · 1956 · 1957 · 1963

BVB won three German championships in the late 1950s and early 1960s, establishing themselves as one of the country's leading clubs in the pre-Bundesliga era. BVB's third title, in 1962/63, was the last won under the old regional championship system; the professional Bundesliga's first season began in 1963/64. After that, a long period without major domestic success followed: more than three decades before the next Bundesliga title arrived in 1995.

The Westfalenstadion, later renamed Signal Iduna Park, opened in 1974 and was built for the World Cup hosted in West Germany. It became BVB's permanent home and has been expanded several times since, with the Südtribüne terrace developed into the form that now defines the club's image worldwide.

Three titles in three years: Hitzfeld's BVB

1995 · 1996 Bundesliga · 1997 Champions League · Nike · Möller · Riedle · Chapuisat

Ottmar Hitzfeld arrived as head coach in 1991 and built the squad that ended BVB's 32-year wait for a Bundesliga title. In 1994/95 and 1995/96, they won back-to-back championships with a squad that combined German organisation with quality imported from across Europe. Andreas Möller, the playmaker, set the tempo. Stéphane Chapuisat, the Swiss striker, provided the goals. Karl-Heinz Riedle and Flemming Povlsen gave them attacking options that could hurt any defence in Europe.

The peak came in May 1997 at Munich's Olympiastadion. BVB faced Juventus in the Champions League final, the Italian side widely expected to win. Riedle headed BVB in front on 29 minutes, and added a second five minutes later. Alessandro Del Piero pulled one back for Juventus in the second half. Substitute Lars Ricken, on the pitch for less than a minute, lobbed the goalkeeper from 30 metres to seal a 3–1 win. It remains the only Champions League title in the club's history.

The Nike shirts of this era are the most historically significant in the BVB archive. The 1996/97 Champions League final kit is the starting point for any serious BVB collection.

Browse Nike BVB kits

2003 to 2005: the club nearly ceased to exist

Financial crisis · Debt · Survival · The bond that held

In the years after the 1997 Champions League win, Borussia Dortmund spent heavily trying to remain competitive at the top of European football. By 2003, those decisions had created a financial crisis serious enough to threaten the club's existence. The debt accumulated through transfer fees, wages, and a large stadium expansion loan brought BVB to the edge of insolvency.

The club was forced to sell key players, cut costs, and restructure its finances entirely. In 2005, BVB narrowly avoided bankruptcy and finished seventh in the Bundesliga. The years between 2002 and 2008 produced no major trophies and tested the loyalty of supporters in a way that winning rarely does.

What the crisis produced, perhaps paradoxically, was a stronger bond between club and city. The Südtribüne did not empty. Supporters continued to show up in the numbers that had made the stadium famous. The relationship was tested and held.

For collectors, the kits from this period, primarily Nike and later Kappa, represent the overlooked chapter of the BVB archive. The shirts from 2003 to 2008 are priced well below equivalent product from the 1990s or the Klopp era, and carry the story of a club that came closer to the end than most supporters like to remember.

Klopp: seven years that changed everything

2008–2015 · Kappa then Puma · Lewandowski · Reus · Götze · Hummels · Kagawa

Jürgen Klopp arrived in summer 2008 with a squad that had finished thirteenth the season before. By 2010/11, BVB were Bundesliga champions. By 2011/12, they had retained the title and added the DFB-Pokal, completing a domestic double in Kappa shirts. The football was built on relentless pressing, high intensity, and a collective identity that the squad embodied from the first whistle.

The squad Klopp built during those years contained some of the most sought-after players in Europe: Robert Lewandowski, who scored all four goals in the 4–1 first-leg semi-final win over Real Madrid in 2013 and then left for Bayern Munich on a free transfer. Mario Götze, sold to Bayern, with the transfer announced days before the Champions League semi-final return leg. Mats Hummels and Shinji Kagawa. The tension between the squad's quality and the club's inability to retain it became part of BVB's modern identity: a club that develops exceptional players and sells them to the clubs that BVB are trying to compete against.

The 2012/13 season, in Puma shirts for the first time, brought the Champions League final. Klopp left in 2015, having spent seven years reshaping what BVB meant to supporters who had watched the club nearly disappear a decade earlier.

Browse Kappa BVB kits Browse Puma BVB kits

Wembley, twice

BVB have reached the Champions League final twice since 1997. Both times at Wembley. Both times they lost.

25 May 2013 · Wembley · Bayern Munich 2–1 BVB

The 2012/13 Champions League final was the first all-German final in the competition's history and the first time the two clubs had met at that stage. BVB reached it having beaten Real Madrid across two legs, with Lewandowski scoring all four goals in the 4–1 first-leg win. Ilkay Gündogan converted a penalty to put BVB ahead. Mario Mandzukic equalised for Bayern. In the 89th minute, Arjen Robben won it for Bayern.

The Puma home shirt worn that night, with the Champions League final badge, is the most sought-after kit in the Klopp archive. Lewandowski, Reus, Götze, Hummels — several of those players left in the years that followed, many of them to Bayern. The shirt is a record of a team that may have been the best BVB assembled since 1997, caught at the moment they came closest.

1 June 2024 · Wembley · Real Madrid 2–0 BVB

Eleven years later, BVB returned to Wembley for a second Champions League final, this time against Real Madrid. They held firm through the first half and into the second, but two goals in the final quarter of an hour — from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Jr — gave Real their fifteenth European title.

The 2023/24 Puma final kit carries a different weight to the 2013 version: there is no Klopp on the touchline, no Lewandowski in the squad. The core of the side is younger and the narrative of near-miss is different. But the shirt sits alongside the 2013 final kit as the two closest BVB have come to a second European title since Munich in 1997.

BVB at the 2013 Champions League final, Wembley

Key milestones

1909

Founded in Borsigplatz, Dortmund

A group of young men from the working-class north of Dortmund form the club on 19 December 1909. Three German championships follow in 1956, 1957, and 1963. The Bundesliga's first season begins in 1963/64. A 32-year wait for the next title follows.

1995

First Bundesliga title since 1963

Under Ottmar Hitzfeld, BVB end a 32-year title drought. They retain the Bundesliga in 1995/96. The squad, built around Möller, Chapuisat, and Riedle in Nike shirts, is the most complete BVB have fielded since the 1960s.

1997

Champions League: Riedle and Ricken beat Juventus

BVB beat Juventus 3–1 in the Champions League final in Munich. Riedle scores twice in the first half. Ricken, on as a substitute for less than a minute, lobs the goalkeeper from 30 metres to seal it. The Nike final kit from that night is the most historically significant shirt in the BVB archive.

2005

Near-bankruptcy: the club survives

Years of financial overextension bring BVB to the edge of insolvency. They finish seventh in the Bundesliga, sell key players, and restructure entirely. The crisis shapes the club's identity and the intensity of the bond between supporters and institution in a way that success alone cannot.

2011

Klopp wins the Bundesliga, then does it again

After three years of building, Klopp's BVB win the Bundesliga in 2010/11 and retain it in 2011/12. The 2011/12 season also produces a DFB-Pokal, completing a domestic double. The Kappa kits of both seasons are the defining shirts of the Klopp era's peak.

2013

Champions League final: Robben in the 89th minute

BVB reach the Champions League final at Wembley and lead through a Gündogan penalty. Bayern equalise and win with a Robben goal two minutes from time. Lewandowski, Götze, and Hummels all leave in subsequent seasons. It is the closest the Klopp-era side comes to a European title.

2024

Wembley again: 0–2 to Real Madrid

BVB return to Wembley for a second Champions League final, 27 years after the first. They hold Real goalless for over 70 minutes before conceding twice in the final quarter of an hour. The Puma final kit from that night completes the pair of BVB final shirts at English football's national stadium.

348

Kits in ShirtSociety

German championships

Champions League

81,365

Signal Iduna Park

Iconic BVB kits

The most significant black and yellow shirts across the Nike, Kappa, and Puma eras.

Nike · 1996/97 · Champions League final

BVB CL final kit 1996/97

The shirt worn when Riedle and Ricken beat Juventus 3–1 in Munich. The only Champions League BVB have won. The Nike template is clean and the final badge placement makes it immediately identifiable. No BVB kit carries more historical weight, and the market reflects that.

Puma · 2012/13 · Champions League final

BVB CL final kit 2012/13

Klopp's Wembley final. Lewandowski, Reus, Götze, Hummels: a squad that may have been the most talented BVB fielded since the 1990s, in the first season of the Puma partnership. Lost 2–1 to Bayern in the 89th minute. The definitive kit of the Klopp era for collectors.

Kappa · 2011/12 · Bundesliga + DFB-Pokal double

BVB home kit 2011/12

The double season. Back-to-back Bundesliga and a DFB-Pokal, completed in the last full season before Puma arrived. The Kappa design is one of the sharper in the BVB catalogue of that era: clean yellow and black with a vertical structure that photographs well. The standard home shirt from the most successful domestic season in the Klopp years.

Kappa · 2010/11 · Bundesliga champions

BVB home kit 2010/11

The shirt that ended the title drought. Klopp's third season, the first Bundesliga in nine years. The Kappa home kit is the companion piece to the 2011/12 version — slightly different template, same era, same squad building toward the European campaign that ended at Wembley two years later.

Puma · 2023/24 · Champions League final

BVB CL final kit 2023/24

The second Wembley final shirt. Different squad, different era, same result. Puma's 2023/24 design is one of the stronger modern BVB kits. The final badge makes it a distinct collector item and the natural companion to the 2012/13 version for anyone building a complete BVB European archive.

Nike · 1994/95 · Bundesliga champions

BVB home kit 1994/95

The shirt that ended a 32-year title drought. The first of back-to-back Bundesliga wins under Hitzfeld, two seasons before the Champions League. The Nike design is of its era and holds up well: the yellow is sharp and the template is uncluttered. A natural entry point into the 1990s BVB archive at a more accessible price point than the 1997 final kit.

Nike · 1995/96 · Champions League · Bundesliga

BVB CL home kit 1995/96

The second Bundesliga season and the year BVB progressed deep into the Champions League ahead of their 1997 title. The Nike Champions League-specific home shirt is distinct from the standard Bundesliga version and sits at the bridge between the two title-winning seasons and the European peak that followed.

Puma · 2012/13 · First Puma season

BVB home kit 2012/13

Puma's debut season with BVB. The standard home shirt worn across the Bundesliga campaign that also produced the Champions League final. A clean, well-proportioned design that launched the partnership which has now run over a decade. More accessible than the final-specific kit from the same season.

Collector notes: what to look for

Three distinct manufacturer eras, two Champions League finals, and a crisis era that produced undervalued shirts. Here is what to focus on.

The 1997 Nike final kit: no substitute

The 1996/97 Champions League final kit is the benchmark for BVB collecting. Original examples are increasingly scarce, and the market reflects the shirt's significance. Player-issue versions from the final surface occasionally and carry a substantial premium. If the final badge is missing or faded on a supposed original, verify carefully — reproduction badges have been added to standard home shirts to pass them off as final versions. Check stitching, flock quality, and badge placement against verified examples before paying a premium.

The crisis era: undervalued by the market

Kits from 2003 to 2008 — the near-bankruptcy years — trade well below their historical context. These shirts represent the period that tested the club most and produced the loyalty that defines the current relationship between BVB and its supporters. For collectors interested in club history rather than purely trophy shirts, this era is worth exploring at prices that reflect market indifference rather than the shirts' actual story.

Two final kits, one incomplete

The 2012/13 and 2023/24 Puma Champions League final kits are natural companions. Both Wembley. Both lost. The 2012/13 version is the more collected of the two, partly because the Klopp-era squad is more associated with that particular moment in the club's history. The 2023/24 kit is newer and currently available at a lower price point, which makes it a reasonable entry for collectors building a BVB European archive on a budget.

Sizing and fading

BVB yellow fades noticeably with washing and UV exposure, particularly on shirts from the 1990s Nike era. When buying vintage BVB product, check the yellow carefully against reference images. A shirt that has faded to a pale or greenish yellow is harder to wear and worth less. The Kappa-era yellow tends to hold colour better. Puma product from 2012 onwards uses modern dyeing processes that are more stable, though heat drying will accelerate fade on any yellow shirt.