The blond hair falling from the layered cut at the sides, often hurriedly tied back with an elastic, has only made him more likeable. It is a spontaneous, natural look: Erling Braut Haaland’s long golden hair has become part of the image of a modern Viking, one ready to face the biggest stages in football. Whether that will include lifting the World Cup will be decided later, with England waiting in the quarter-finals. For now, the ponytail has developed a life of its own, with a story that reaches well beyond style. Behind those elastics, there is also a business. As reported by the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, the Manchester City striker has used the same hair elastics for years and eventually invested in the company that produces them, becoming a shareholder. Haaland first chose them because he considered them more effective than other products on the market. The relationship grew over time, moving naturally from personal preference to partnership.
“Erling had been using our brand for years before there was any talk of collaboration. He genuinely loved the product and, quite naturally, the relationship developed first into his investment in Bon Dep and later into the creation of a limited-edition collection,” Hedda Engelhardt, marketing director of Kknekki, the brand behind the elastics, told EFE. It is not the usual athlete-brand story, built around a player appearing in campaigns and lending his name to a product. In this case, Haaland was already a loyal user long before he became part of the company. Norwegian company Bon Dep, which owns Kknekki, confirmed that Haaland invested in the brand in 2024, after years of wearing its elastics in training and during matches. “His decision came from trust, because he already knew the product,” Engelhardt added.
A detail that matters. Haaland still wears the same elastics away from the pitch, in the ordinary rhythm of everyday life. After becoming a shareholder, he helped create a limited-edition collection of eight models. Each elastic carries a small personalised bead with his name, with colours inspired by key moments from his career and personal life, as well as the clubs he has represented. The launch was immediate. The entire collection sold out within two weeks, helped by the attention it received across social media.
Today Kknekki elastics are recognised around the world through Haaland, but their history began long before the Norwegian striker. Created in South Korea in 1987, they are still made through an artisanal process in which more than sixty threads are woven together to create each individual piece. “Our brand is built on the belief that even an everyday object can become something exceptional,” Engelhardt said. The success of the accessory also reflects the influence footballers have on style. Haaland has helped shift an object once associated almost entirely with women into something increasingly familiar in men’s wardrobes too. As one of Norway’s leading figures at the 2026 World Cup, the Manchester City number nine continues to leave his mark beyond the pitch. His ponytail is no longer just a recognisable part of his appearance. It has become part of a much bigger story.