Growing up, Lazar Hayward remembers gravitating towards brands like Iceberg. Seeing Nas, Raekwon and Jay-Z rock tees and knit sweaters bearing Snoopy, Mickey Mouse and Popeye seemed so effortlessly hip-hop. He’d tag along with his dad on weekend trips into the city where they’d travel around NYC’s fashion district and fill upwards of five hockey bags with pieces and then flip them at his dad’s flea market booths.
When he wanted to turn up the sophistication, he’d sneak into his dad’s closet and snag one of his many silk shirts. Red, brown, white, navy, black; a collection of perfect base colors lay at Hayward’s fingertips. “I was taking all of them joints, sneaking ‘em right in my bookbag and he was getting pissed,” Hayward says with a laugh.
Mixing his streetwear origins with an elevated grandeur has become the bedrock for the clothing brand Hayward founded in 2020, Nobel. Now, Hayward finds himself on the other side of the coin. Last year, Nobel’s exclusive shorts for the Las Vegas Summer League sold out.
Since then, everyone from current NBA players to the NBPA has been hitting him up in hopes of getting their hands on the next drop. Following a four-year career at Marquette, the All-Big East selection was chosen in the first round of the 2010 NBA draft, carving out a seven-year career between the L and the G-League. After quietly stepping away from professional basketball, Hayward began looking for another outlet to channel his expression.
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