This week, I checked in on the hair-tie brand keeping Erling Haaland’s signature blonde locks in place while the Norwegian striker lights up the World Cup. Additionally, L Catterton takes a minority stake in the hair-care brand Rōz, and Amouage lands on the West Coast.
Norwegian soccer star Erling Haaland is making his World Cup debut. Kknekki hair ties are an essential part of his kit
It’s hard to miss Erling Haaland on the soccer field. With his 6-foot-five-inch frame and flowing blonde locks, the Norwegian striker cuts an imposing figure on the pitch. It helps that he’s a prolific goal scorer — during his World Cup debut in Norway’s opening game against Iraq on June 16, Haaland scored two goals to help the Vikings get off to a strong start in their first time at the international tournament since 1998.
Haaland made those two goals while sporting his signature slicked-back bun, held in place by a hair tie matching Norway’s bright red kit. He scored another two goals on Monday, when Haaland helped Norway defeat Senegal to clinch its spot in the knockout rounds, wearing a black hair tie matching Norway’s all-black away kit. Those hair ties, and the ones he wears while competing for Premier League side Manchester City, come from just one place: hair-tie brand Kknekki.
“He has always worn Kknekki ever since he started growing his hair out. Really, for him, it’s a performance thing, because it’s the only hair tie that actually works when he’s doing what he does,” said Hedda Davidsen, marketing manager at Kknekki’s parent company, Bon Dep. The Norwegian accessories maker acquired the distribution rights for Kknekki, originally founded in South Korea in 1987, in 2015 before fully acquiring the brand in 2024.
In his native Norway, Haaland is already a superstar to devoted footie fans and a celebrity on par with royalty. But with the North American edition of the World Cup bringing Haaland to a bigger stage than ever before, American and global audiences are now discovering the 25-year-old striker’s style on and off the pitch. In addition to dazzling soccer fans, Haaland is lighting up social media channels thanks to his extensive Birkin collection, social media punditry and, of course, his hair. Kknekki is along for the ride.
“We have gained a lot of new [fans],” said Davidsen, referring to the brand’s growing audience. “We’re seeing China is now super interested in Kknekki. I saw Marie Claire Taiwan posted about the hair ties and Haaland just today.”
Haaland, whose father, Alf-Inge Haaland, also played for the Norwegian national soccer team, made a minority investment in Kknekki’s owner, Bon Dep, in 2024. Kknekki hair ties, made from more than 60 interwoven polyester threads and a recycled plastic bead, are designed to provide greater durability without damaging hair compared to traditional elastic ties.
Beyond Haaland, Kknekki’s extensive color selection has helped the brand develop a devoted collector audience. “Within the younger group, like 13-year-olds to mid- to late-teens, there’s a very engaged audience. They call themselves ‘Kknekkiholics,’” said Davidsen.
With the World Cup on the horizon, Kknekki released its first collaboration with Haaland in June, including an eight-piece collection of colorways inspired by Haaland’s style and a “Heia Norge” quartet in Norway’s red, white and blue. (Soccer audiences will likely have heard Norway supporters chanting “Heia Norge,” or “Go Norway,” during its games.) According to Davidsen, the Haaland collection sold out at launch and helped the brand acquire more than 10,000 new social media followers and drive a 70% increase in website traffic.
Even prior to the World Cup, Haaland’s hair has often been a topic of conversation among soccer fans. Haaland made headlines when he took his hair down while playing for Manchester City during a 2023 Premier League game against Arsenal. City won the game 4-1 and went on to win the league that season.
Working with Kknekki is not the first time Haaland has loaned his hair to sell products. The Norwegian star has appeared in commercials for Unilever shampoo brand Clear in markets including the Middle East and Malaysia.
But while Haaland is only growing his global bankability thanks to the World Cup, it’s hard to put a dollar figure on his value to his home country. Davidsen said that, in Norway, Haaland is admired as much for his personality as for his soccer abilities, particularly as he maintains strong ties to Bryne, the small farming town where he was raised in southern Norway.
“He’s up there with the royals, almost,” Davidsen said of Haaland’s celebrity in Norway. “Since we’re such a small country, when we have people that make it, we are so proud, and everybody is rooting for that person. So I have yet to meet a Norwegian who doesn’t like Erling.”
Executive moves:
- Live Tinted names Sherry Jhawar CEO. Jhawar was previously a board member and advisor to the beauty brand, known for its products for diverse skin tones, and was a co-founder of marketing agency Blended Strategy Group. Jhawar’s past experience includes marketing roles at Eos and L’Oréal, the latter of which invested in Live Tinted in January.
News to know:
- L Catterton makes a minority investment in hair-care brand Rōz. The funding round, which also included participation from Silas Capital and G9 Ventures, will boost the brand’s salon footprint and product development. The brand was founded by celebrity hairstylist Mara Roszak in 2021 and launched at Sephora in 2025.
- Amouage opens its first Los Angeles store in Beverly Hills. The new flagship store is the Omani perfume brand’s first permanent retail space on the West Coast, joining its locations in New York and New Jersey. In 2025, Amouage received backing from L’Oréal and achieved global retail sales of $430 million.
- E-commerce agency Front Row Group acquires Amazon clean beauty accelerator Carbon Beauty. Carbon Beauty was founded in 2014 by brothers Dan and Jeff Sudman to help clean beauty brands scale on Amazon. According to data from Front Row, Amazon cleared $8 billion in U.S. beauty revenue in the first quarter of 2026.
Stat of the week:
According to June 2026 data from NielsenIQ and Ulta Beauty, 26% of teen boys are using AI shopping assistants to discover beauty products, compared to 15% of other Gen Alpha groups.
In the headlines:
Meet the man launching the fragrance industry’s first perfumers’ union. I spent a week as my friend’s facelift nurse. Here’s what no one tells you. The great beauty heist: How millions of dollars worth of product ‘fell off a truck.’
Listen in:
In today’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, host Lexy Lebsack sits down with Revlon president Amber Garrison to unpack the company’s bet on fragrance, which is paved with celebrity fragrance deals, the rebranding of heritage scents, fashion and lifestyle licenses, and expansion into new formats.
Need a Glossy recap?
Beauty brands are lining up for the frozen yogurt craze. Polite Society is leveraging Ulta Beauty’s new TikTok Shop for its largest-ever affiliate campaign. L’Oréal accelerates generative AI content engine with fresh OpenAI deal. Vaseline is turning 2008 beauty hacks into TikTok Shop sellouts.
