Design Director Devon Burt was seconded from Umbro’s parent company Nike to consult on the design and development of the new England shirt. As he explains to journalist Chris Hunt, he provided a little outside perspective during the early days of development.
 

Chris: What was your first involvement with the design process of the new England shirt?

Devon: “I spent some time with David Blanch in the beginning and he showed me a number of archival Umbro pieces and a few of the newer shirts. I think I was supposed to be an outside pair of eyes on the process.”

Chris: What were your first thoughts?

Devon: “We spent some time looking at the value of that heritage and that authenticity of Umbro compared to what Umbro had become, and when I looked at it I kind of scratched my head because it seemed to me that they were now spending way too much time trying to be everything but who they really were. The new jerseys were kind of modern-looking and they were trying to be fast and shiny when that didn’t really seem to be what Umbro was about. There seemed to be a real opportunity to go back and be inspired by those jerseys from the past and how they were made.”

Chris: What was special about the older jerseys?

Devon: “I don’t know if you’ve ever picked up those jerseys and turned them inside out and looked at how they’re made, just looked at the seams. There’s something about them that was just a bit more honest. It was at that time we started using those words, like ‘honesty’ and ‘craft’. We also talked about how things were made so they could really benefit the athlete with an understanding of having to wear something on a pitch for 90 minutes that really works.”

Check back later in the week when we will be talking to our senior designer David Blanch on his inspirations and why he believes the new strip will continue the legacy of the English football kit being one of the most iconic images in football.

Oh, and for those budding photographers out there – don’t forget to check out the competition at www.facebook.com/umbro to be in with a chance of being the official Umbro pitch side photographer at England Vs Slovakia. Hurry though.. all entries need to be in by 20th March. Good Luck!