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Zalando and DFB kick off a five-year partnership, uniting fashion, lifestyle, and football

November 6, 2025
Fashion
The DFB team posing for the camera in the new Zalando jerseys
  • Zalando has signed a five-year partnership with DFB, becoming a main partner of German Men’s, Women’s, and Youth national teams.
  • The partnership launches with a dedicated campaign featuring Men’s national team players, designed to highlight the history of style in German football and inspire fans to find confidence in their personal style both on and off the pitch.
  • The partnership will connect Zalando more deeply with football culture and its enthusiasts in Germany and beyond, marking a key milestone in Zalando’s strategy to further expand as a lifestyle destination.

BERLIN, 6 NOVEMBER 2025 – Zalando, Europe’s leading fashion and lifestyle destination, today announced a five-year strategic partnership with DFB, the German national football federation. This major collaboration makes Zalando a main partner of DFB’s Men's, Women's, and Youth teams until 2030. 

With over 8 million memberships, DFB is the largest national sports association in the world. Anchoring the brand in the DFB universe and the football culture, the partnership will resonate with fans of football and style among new and existing Zalando customers and cement its position at the intersection of sport and fashion. It marks a major milestone for Zalando’s strategic goal of further expanding as a lifestyle destination.

The comprehensive partnership with DFB grants Zalando a wide range of exclusive marketing and activation rights, creating exciting opportunities for football enthusiasts in Germany and beyond to connect with Zalando. Key elements include:

  • Prominent branding: Zalando's logo will be featured on all pre-match and training kits for DFB’s Men's, Women's, and Youth teams.
  • Extensive media presence: The partnership includes a full suite of marketing rights, such as significant stadium LED board visibility, cam carpets, media backdrop branding, and a strong integrated social media presence.
  • Exclusive activations: Zalando will host a unique, in-camp studio during all major tournaments, creating exclusive behind-the-scenes content for Zalando customers. Zalando Plus customers in Germany will get exclusive access to raffles of tickets and gear.

The partnership is introduced through a dedicated campaign, showcasing that football is about more than just the game; it's about style and attitude, and how owning that style with confidence creates icons beyond the pitch. The campaign references DFB legends and their memorable looks and performances, including Franz Beckenbauer's legendary collar and Berti Vogts’ oversized fits - proof that style has always been integral to success. 

The campaign not only looks back at the fashion heritage of the last decades but to a new age of style makers and star players such as Florian Wirtz, Joshua Kimmich and Karim Adeyemi.

James Rothwell sitting in a locker room setting holding a football and smiling for the camera

James Rothwell, Senior Vice President Marketing at Zalando, says: "Football and fashion have a long history together, and collectively play a major role in German culture. We are delighted to become a main partner of the DFB, and to build on that legacy. We hope to inspire a new generation of fans to find confidence in their style on and off the pitch. Sport is a major focus for Zalando, and we have seen significant growth of sports audiences and brands on our platform. Through this partnership, we are excited to insert our brand into the most passionate, engaged cultural conversation in Germany, connect fans with incredible content, assortment and experiences, and to create access to special moments for fans. We look forward to celebrating key sporting events over the next five years with a diverse and passionate football community."

Holger Blask, Chairman of the Management Board at DFB GmbH und Co. KG says: “We are delighted to welcome Zalando as a new, strong, and simply ideal main partner by our side. As a leading international e-commerce and fashion company rooted in Germany, Zalando represents creativity, diversity, and a forward-looking approach. Football and DFB are more than just about sport – they are an expression of community and emotional connection. Together with Zalando, we aim to set new standards – connecting sport, lifestyle, and fashion with digital culture. This partnership demonstrates a perfect synergy between tradition and innovation, emotion and style."

Zalando will further leverage the partnership by enhancing its loyalty experience. An exclusive "Plus Zone" debuts for Zalando Plus customers in Germany, integrated within the sports landing page and serving as the central hub for special raffles and partnerships starting today. Plus members can enter to win tickets for the Germany vs. Slovakia match in Leipzig (Application open from 6-10th November). In addition, an exclusive raffle will offer 5 jerseys of the new World Cup kit signed by the entire team (application open from 11-18th November). The Plus Zone will be continually updated with exclusive opportunities to join the football excitement.

Further exciting elements of the partnership will be unveiled in 2026.

The partnership underpins Zalando's ambition to further expand as a lifestyle destination, moving beyond a generalist offering to provide a curated, high-performance experience. In the last few years, Zalando has significantly expanded its expertise in key areas like football, running and cycling, onboarding technical assortment, unveiling dedicated onsite experiences for customers for different sport types and authentically embedding the Zalando brand in sports culture through supporting major sporting events in Europe.

The new German national team kit, based on the legendary 1990 shirt which saw Germany claim its third World Cup title, has a retro style that evokes nostalgia and acts as a reminder of past victories. The kit, as well as the full new DFB assortment, is available to purchase on Zalando.

Zalando SE Boiler Plate EN

About Zalando

Founded in Berlin in 2008, Zalando is Europe’s leading online multi-brand fashion destination. We are building a pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce, along two growth vectors: Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B). In B2C, our two brands Zalando and ABOUT YOU, provide an inspiring, high-quality multi-brand shopping experience for fashion and lifestyle products, reaching more than 61 million active customers across 29 markets. In B2B, we offer a unique e-commerce operating system with ZEOS, Tradebyte and SCAYLE, leveraging our logistics infrastructure, software, and service capabilities to support brands and retailers in managing and scaling their entire e-commerce business across Europe. 
For further information, please visit: corporate.zalando.com/en

About the DFB 

The DFB is the umbrella organisation for its (sub-) regional associations and the German League Association. One of the DFB's key terms of reference is organising the game by way of championships and other competitions. The DFB represents the interests of its member associations at home and abroad. With over eight million memberships affiliated to clubs across the country, the DFB is one of the largest sport associations in the world. The DFB acts in compliance with its social and socio-political responsibility, promotes elite and grassroots football in equal measure, and feels strongly committed to the principles of fair play, equality, and diversity. Since 2022, the DFB GmbH & Co. KG has consolidated the DFB’s commercial and digital activities, including the national teams, the 3rd League, the 1st and 2nd Women's Bundesliga, as well as the men's and women's DFB Cup. The fully-owned subsidiary belongs to the DFB e.V. and encompasses the business areas of match operations, marketing, sales & events, national teams & academy, as well as IT & digital.  

 

Players

The German national team players who feature in the campaign include Fin Dahmen, Robert Andrich, Ridle Baki, Nathaniel Brown, Robin Koch, David Raum, Nico Schlotterbeck, Karim Adeyemi, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich, Jamie Leweling, Aleksandar Pavlović, Florian Wirtz and Maximilian Beier.