A little yarn for you. Back in the day, Erling Haaland would pay visits to Pretty Little Thing’s all-pink Manchester headquarters. Staff would gawp. What’s he doing here?
A reasonable question. What business does a fearsome 6’4″ Norse Viking have with a brand who sell trendy outfits to young women and girls?
It turns out that Haaland has a close friendship with Umar Kamani, the fashionista who founded Pretty Little Thing (PLT).
And so, Haaland being Haaland, football’s chief of playful nonchalance, he would simply amble in to PLT’s office for a chat with his mate. To steal one of the Norwegian’s quotes: why not?
That attitude has led to a bromance blossoming. This summer, after chewing up the World Cup, Haaland has been holidaying on a yacht in the French Riviera with Kamani. It’s not the first luxury trip they’ve been on – they have been on holidays to Monaco and St Tropez before and partied together in Dubai.
What’s more, the Daily Mail can reveal that one of Kamani’s close friends brokered the meeting between Haaland and Michael Jordan which recently went viral.
Erling Haaland has a surprise close friendship with Pretty Little Thing founder Umar Kamani
Haaland used to regularly stroll into PLT’s Manchester office while Kamani was there
The pair have been enjoying a summer holiday in the south of France after the World Cup
It’s another indicator of Haaland’s rising status in the celebrity world and a well-deserved link-up after an exhausting season.
The Manchester City star, 26, recently claimed on Snapchat that his brain is ‘fried’ after playing in 67 games for club and country last season. Norway’s first World Cup in 28 years saw them reach the quarter-finals, beating Brazil along the way. If anyone’s joints need soothing in the Mediterranean sun, it’s probably Haaland’s.
The duo have been merrymaking at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, a stunning coastal resort in Antibes where suites break the bank at up to £7,058 per night. Mind you, that’s merely a drop in the ocean for Haaland, who nets close to £1million per week, and Kamani, whose net worth is estimated to be around $1billion (£797m). They’ve been joined by Haaland’s partner Isabel Haugsend Johansen, Kamani’s wife Nada, and their friends.
Kamani sat with Haaland’s family for Norway’s World Cup last-16 victory over Brazil – in which the striker scored two – and the pair linked up for their jaunt almost immediately after they were knocked out by England.
Their friendship dates back to 2022, right when Haaland signed for Manchester City in a £51m deal from Borussia Dortmund. It was a proud moment for the young striker – his father, Alf-Inge, had played for the club, and Erling, who was born in Leeds, claimed to have been a fan his whole life.
Umar, himself a City supporter, was close to some of the players, and they introduced the pair. A source explains that they simply hit it off and the pair have got on ever since. Their shared passion for football, luxury watches, and adventure helps.
By the winter of 2022, five months after they met, Haaland was close enough with Kamani that he received an invitation to the couturier’s mansion in Dubai.
That was during the Qatar World Cup, a tournament Haaland missed out on as Norway failed to qualify. The Manchester City star took a mid-season break and visited Kamani with sports therapist Mario Pafundi, who remains one of Haaland’s closest allies to this day.
Haaland’s viral link-up with Michael Jordan was brokered by one of Kamani’s close friends
Kamani’s wife, Nada, and Haaland’s partner Isabel Haugsend Johansen have also joined them on their trip (pictured in 2024)
In the summer of 2023, Haaland and his father joined Kamani on a luxury superyacht with a host of big names. Among them was Tommy Hilfiger – yes, the man behind the eponymous brand. On the same trip, the striker met up with Prince Albert II of Monaco for lunch. As you do.
To welcome in 2024, Haaland and his girlfriend attended an exclusive party hosted by Kamani in Dubai. The likes of Anthony Joshua and Derek Chisora were there. Fortunately no fights broke out. Kamani turned up in a pink suit and a wore a gigantic mascot head, seemingly of himself.
Haaland also visited the Kamani Club, a private gym owned by the businessman in Dubai. They hung out together in side-by-side ice baths, smiling for a photo, and trained with athletes from a range of disciplines including boxing and tennis.
As far as we are aware, Haaland was not at Kamani’s £20m, four-day wedding to his wife Nada in 2024. The lovebirds tied the knot across two lavish ceremonies in the south of France after a fairytale proposal involving a £1.45m ring in August 2021.
But in many ways it makes sense that Haaland and Kamani would become friends, because they share similarities. Haaland is a workhorse powered by long hours in the gym, gigantic barbecued steaks, raw milk, and raw honey. A man who endures the ice bath five times a week. No method is too maverick, no sacrifice too large to prevent him from reaching his goal.
That level of industry is shared by Kamani. The 38-year-old’s career has taken him global, but at heart he is a Manchester lad.
He grew up in a house of 18 family members in Chorlton, southwest of the city centre. His grandfather, Abdullah, had escaped war-riddled Kenya in the 1960s and made a living selling handbags from a market stall once he had reached the north west.
Kamani was always destined to go into fashion. His father, Mahmud, co-founded Boohoo in 2006 with Carol Kane. Young Umar caught the bug and set up PLT with his brother Adam in 2012.
After a season of 67 games, Haaland has been letting his hair down in the French Riviera
Haaland and Kamani are pictured with fashionista Tommy Hilfiger during a yacht party
‘It’s impossible for me not to be working in fashion. I was born into fashion. That’s like saying if you couldn’t breathe what would you do?’ he once told Drapers.
Pretty Little Thing revolutionised the fashion retail industry – suddenly, young people could buy dirt-cheap outfits that looked similar to what their favourite celebrities were wearing.
Design teams monitored the social media feeds of celebs, and within days the company could have rolled out a low-cost mimic of the outfit for regular consumers. Clothes went for as little as six pence.
Not everything was sunshine and roses though. The brand was accused of fuelling a throwaway culture – which is bad for the environment – and killing the high street with deals promising 99 per cent reductions.
On a darker note, its parent company, Boohoo, the Kamani family business, was accused in 2020 of paying employees as little as £3.50 an hour and forcing staff to continue working in shoddy conditions, even after some tested positive for coronavirus.
At a factory in Leicester, the ‘sweatshop’ scandal resulted in National Crime Agency investigation. The revelations caused a crash in the company’s share price. Kamani left PLT as CEO in 2023 but returned to the company in September 2024.
Earlier this year, Boohoo, in which Kamani owns a minority stake, was hit with £10m worth of new legal claims from investors who accuse his father, Mahmud, of knowing about the ‘sweatshop’ conditions which led to the share price collapse of 42 per cent. Mahmud said in 2020 that he ‘cannot possibly know everything in this business’.
Whatever the outcome, one thing is for certain: Umar Kamani and Haaland’s bromance helps them let their hair down a few times a year alongside their stressful jobs, and gets them opportunities and access they once would have thought unthinkable.
