Style Edit: Henry Jacques teams up with Ousmane Dembélé on scent and craft

The family-owned house, which has spent more than half a century representing the art of traditional perfumery, has found a kindred spirit in the French forward – a passionate perfume collector whose career has been defined by resilience, precision and long-term thinking.

Dembélé is known for his ability to disrupt patterns on the pitch – but away from the beautiful game, the Frenchman is a man of taste with a deep love for fine craftsmanship. A long-time collector of fragrance, he favours the ease of solid formats that slip into a pocket or locker, and has been seen applying perfume in the dressing room or while listening to music on the team bus. And as his love for fashion and commitment to Zegna show, he appreciates brands that prioritise substance over showiness.

These instincts sit well with Henry Jacques’ focus on bespoke fragrances, the maison having committed its focus to haute parfumerie at a time when the industry as a whole was shifting towards mass production and synthetics. The house has built and maintained its own laboratory, atelier and, more recently, rose cultivation, always favouring precious materials and patient processes over expedience. Today, its fragrance collection spans Les Classiques in three formats – Essences, Brumes and Solides – alongside the rarer Exceptions, as well as accessories designed to transport an olfactory wardrobe through daily life.

Henry Jacques’ partnership with Dembélé is, similarly, less about visibility and more about recognition. After seasons marked by injury and doubt, the French forward’s 2024-25 season at Paris Saint-Germain culminated in a historic quadruple – sweeping the Ligue 1 championship, Coupe de France and Trophée des Champions, alongside the UEFA Champions League. To cap it off, he clinched the Ballon d’Or, awarded to the player adjudged to have had the best season in world football.

His resurgence is perhaps the sporting parallel to a house that has kept faith with its own path. Both have chosen demanding routes: turning down easier options, relying on discipline, and focusing on the long term. The reward is freedom – whether on the pitch or in how a scent is conceived.

At the heart of this shared story is a belief in fine fragrance as a companion to everyday life. Henry Jacques and Ousmane Dembélé each embody an art de vivre shaped by quiet luxury – the kind that resides in individuality and ritual, in the materials one insists on and the time one is willing to take.

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