EXCLUSIVE: Zegna Names Ousmane Dembélé Global Brand Ambassador

PARIS — Italian luxury menswear brand Zegna has named Ousmane Dembélé its new global brand ambassador, scoring its first partnership with a soccer player in the runup to the World Cup.

Winner of the 2025 Ballon d’Or, awarded each year to the best player in the world, Dembélé promises to be one of the stars of the tournament kicking off in the United States on June 11.

But first, he’s gearing up for another major game: the final of the UEFA Champions League on Saturday, when his team Paris Saint-Germain faces off against Arsenal in the hope of snagging the title for the second consecutive year.  

Dembélé was back in training this week after recovering from a calf issue, and in good spirits despite a heatwave that knocked out the air-conditioning at the Lutetia hotel, where he met with WWD to discuss his partnership with Zegna.

The player, who at 29 is taking part in his third World Cup, hopes to bring home another trophy after France won in 2018 and was eliminated on penalties against Argentina in the 2022 final.

“Playing a World Cup is the holy grail for a soccer player,” he said. “Of course, I’m hungry. I really want to relive that 2018 experience because coming home with a World Cup is an amazing feeling, so we’re going all-out. There are some good teams competing, but we’re going to do everything we can to reach the final.”

In recent years, the French national team’s arrival at its training camp in Clairefontaine has turned into the soccer equivalent of the NBA tunnel walk, with players using the photo op as a showcase for their personal style and brand partnerships.

“It’s like fashion week,” Dembélé said. “At first, we would just show up and not really talk about it. Gradually, people started really dressing up, sometimes in outlandish looks. Now, everyone comments on each other’s outfits and we do a fair amount of ribbing. It’s become a highlight for a lot of people.”

By his own admission, he’s not as adventurous as Jules Koundé, a fellow Adidas brand ambassador who’s equally at ease in Prada or Willy Chavarria. “He’s incredible. He’s number one in terms of looks,” Dembélé conceded.

“I’m no style expert,” he demurred, confessing that he looks to his longtime best friend Moustapha Diatta for fashion advice. “He’s really tuned in to all that, but I’m a little less adventurous.”

Having made some regrettable errors when he was younger, Dembélé has found his go-to brand in Zegna, where he became a customer during his time in Barcelona from 2017 to 2023. “It evolved naturally,” said the player, who leans toward quiet luxury. “I’m not that into bling and flashy logos. Zegna is understated, like me.”

Underscoring his trust in artistic director Alessandro Sartori, he wore a custom-made Zegna tuxedo accessorized with a white ceramic Richard Mille RM 72-01 watch for the Ballon d’Or ceremony, arguably the biggest night of his career to date.

The outfit featured a black shawl-collar silk and wool blazer with satin details, paired with wide-leg trousers, worn over an ivory high-collar silk shirt. “I love wearing a bow tie, but we thought the shirt looked better without it, and I love how it turned out,” he said.

Dembélé appears to have sparked a trend. “I saw a lot of people wearing a similar style at the Cannes Film Festival,” he noted. “But that suit is mine,” he added with a laugh.

The PSG forward joins Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen and Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor William Chan among the ranks of Zegna ambassadors.

“As the first footballer to join the Zegna family of passionate and dynamic personalities, Ousmane embodies determination, resilience and respect for fair play — making him a role model on and off the pitch,” the brand said in a statement shared exclusively with WWD.

It turns out being well turned-out also boosts confidence while playing. “In my early days in Rennes, I had a coach who would always say: ‘If you’re not any good, you should at least look good,’” he recalled. “Even if we’re just in our official Nike French team kit, we try to step out in style.”

While Dembélé grew up admiring players like Steven Gerrard, Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi, who later became his teammate in Barcelona, the first soccer shirt he ever wore was David Beckham’s. “He really revolutionized everything, because I watched his documentary on Netflix, and he was into fashion from the start,” he observed.

As his stature has grown within Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team, Dembélé has become increasingly confident in his style choices. “I’m told I have a lot of aura,” he said. “I had a very successful year last year, and we picked the right clothes to reflect that.”