On July 14, striker Erling Haaland posted on his personal social network a picture of him getting off the plane to return to Norway after the 2026 World Cup.
The tote bag that Haaland wears is a product line that has not been widely sold before. This is an oversized tote bag made from cream-colored canvas, with extremely luxurious burgundy crocodile leather details.
This design was just launched by Dolce & Gabbana on the men's fashion catwalk in Milan, Italy a few months ago.
Because Haaland is the famous brand ambassador of this fashion house, he was favored to own and wear the bag before it was put on sale.
Immediately after the photo of Haaland getting off the plane was widely spread, the search volume related to this bag skyrocketed.
From Erling Haaland's Dolce & Gabbana bag to the Louis Vuitton trunk appearing in the iconic photo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, luxury fashion brands continuously benefit from the influence of football stars. Just a moment shared on social networks is enough to create millions of USD in media value and boost global shopping demand.
Not only are they icons on the football field, football stars are increasingly becoming "an angel" with strong influence in the high-end fashion industry.
4 years ago, images of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo once caused social media to explode when the two superstars were playing chess in a Louis Vuitton Damier Attaché Case in a pre-World Cup promotional campaign in Qatar.
This was originally a trunk designed specifically by Louis Vuitton to preserve the World Cup trophy, but thanks to its creative staging, the product became the focus of one of the most successful promotion campaigns in the history of the fashion industry.
According to fashion data analysis company Launchmetrics, in just the first 48 hours, Cristiano Ronaldo's post generated about 2.8 million USD in media impact value (MIV), while Lionel Messi's post brought about 2.6 million USD.
In total, Louis Vuitton earned more than 5.4 million USD in media value from just two personal posts, even though the brand almost did not have to spend extra advertising budget after the campaign was announced.
Not only bringing media value, the campaign also created a strong spreading effect on social networks. Ronaldo's post attracted more than 36 million likes, while Messi's post reached more than 28 million likes, becoming two of the most loved photos in Instagram history at that time.
Although the trunk used in the photo set was not sold widely, searches for Damier and Monogram patterned suitcases and travel bags by Louis Vuitton still increased sharply globally.
From Louis Vuitton to Dolce & Gabbana, recent examples show that the luxury fashion industry is maximizing the influence of football stars. Without direct advertising, just a photo, a bag or a souvenir appearing with famous players is enough to create a media effect of millions of USD and boost sales globally.
