Home
+
Published : 10 Jul 2026, 02:39 PM
The first time I learned his name was through a meme: a short video of him scoring a goal as his luscious blond hair dramatically trailed behind him, with the logo of L’Oreal shampoo plastered on top.
While I tend to forget the name and face of most football players, he lodged himself somewhere in the back of my mind.
I do not follow the World Cup, but it’s hard not to receive updates when the rest of the world is tuning in every night.
And amid well known names like Messi, Ronaldo, or Mbappé, Erling Haaland’s name came back to my sport-free orbit, taking up the place of the internet's favourite golden retriever in football boots.
While my social media feed buzzed with videos of “Darling Erling” scoring goals, hitting opposition team members, and spooking himself while chewing on food, what caught my eye was his penchant for fashion.
It first dawned on me as photos started popping up of him matching his hair ties with the colour of his kits: red with his Norwegian kits, sky blue for his Manchester City ensemble, and even black and white for his training and away kits.
It does not end with the matching. Haaland specifically seeks out hair ties from South Korean brand KKNEKKI, known for their snag-free designs, perfect for fine Norwegian hair.
While the rest of us spend our lives admiring one from behind a boutique window, Haaland has amassed a collection of Birkin bags in different colours and leathers, carrying them through airports with the same nonchalance most people reserve for a gym bag.
The Birkin has spent decades being treated less like a handbag and more like a financial instrument. People buy them to preserve value, lock them away in dust bags, and obsess over resale prices as if they were stocks with top handles.
Haaland seems blissfully uninterested in any of that.
He travels with them, letting them wrinkle. They sit beside oversized hoodies and trainers instead of carefully curated "quiet luxury" outfits assembled solely for paparazzi photos.
Ironically, that's probably the most Jane Birkin thing he could have done.
The bag, after all, was created for the actress after she complained she couldn't find a handbag big enough for everyday life.
She famously stuffed hers with papers, fruit, baby bottles, stickers, keys, whatever happened to be needed that day.
She scratched the leather, tied ribbons to the handles, and treated it exactly as it was intended: not as an investment, but as a bag.
It is also refreshing seeing one of football's biggest stars carrying a handbag without turning it into a statement.
While Haaland often gravitates towards the Haut à Courroies (HAC), a spacious travel bag on which the Birkin was later based, he doesn't confine himself to silhouettes traditionally considered masculine.
He has also been spotted with more traditionally feminine-coded pieces, from the coveted Himalaya Birkin made entirely of crocodile leather to the sleek Kelly Dépêches.
That confidence feels more radical than any carefully choreographed campaign about breaking gender norms.
In an era where celebrity wardrobes can feel too curated, Haaland still carries a sense of play, the same chaotic energy that fills his Snapchat stories. And more than any price tag or limited-edition handbag, that is what fashion has always been about.
