'Alignment of the stars:' This is the Dallas boutique where Lamine Yamal got his World Cup hat

On July 19, a 19-year old Lamine Yamal, while wearing a No. 19 jersey, won his first World Cup with Spain. And throughout the weekend, he was wearing a hat that said "Est. 19." The black and red snapback hat is from Private Selection, a Dallas boutique founded in 2019 by three friends, Larry Singleton Jr., Ian Thomas and Scott Norris, who bonded over streetwear and sneakers. Thomas runs the store's social media and when he posted a picture of Yamal wearing the hat, Norris thought it was fake. "I thought he AI’d it," Norris said in a group interview with USA TODAY Sports the day after the World Cup final where Spain beat Lionel Messi and Argentina 1-0. "I could not believe that it was real. I was like, 'Ian?' He was like, 'No, it’s real. This is 100% real.'" For Thomas, the moment was personal. "It was very special because I actually immigrated here to America when I was eight from Spain and England," he said. "So to go from that to seeing the world’s biggest soccer star who happens to play for my home national country... wearing our hat on the world stage in the biggest moment really means everything to me." How did Yamal get the hat? Thomas said the group gifted the FC Barcelona star the "Keep It P" hat as part of a care package for his 19th birthday, which was July 13 ahead of the semifinals. The owners are friends with Bryan Guardado, a Dallas barber who cut hair for several of the World Cup teams while they were in town. Guardado wore a Private Selection t-shirt while cutting Yamal's hair earlier in the tournament. When Thomas posted a photo of the haircut to the boutique's Instagram, the barber thought of the idea to make a Private Selection care package for Yamal's birthday. Thomas said he curated the items and thought to include slides instead of sneakers. Yamal intentionally wears his football boots smaller than his shoe size to maximize his feel of the ball, so he is often seen right after matches in a pair of slides presumably to let his feet breathe. Thomas also included the brand's color-changing Stealth Monogram Duffle, which is made of leather that turns red in the sun and black indoors or at night. On July 16, Yamal and his Spain teammates were seen landing in New Jersey for the final. The rising star had the duffle over his shoulder while holding a large Hermès Birkin bag in his hand and wearing the hat on his head. "It was surreal," Thomas said of seeing his brand on the world stage. Then, on the day of the final, Yamal was shown leaving the team hotel wearing the hat and getting off the bus at MetLife Stadium with it still on. Yamal's toddler brother, Keyne, captured hearts throughout the tournament and made his own fashion statement wearing a Paw Patrol hat in the stands at his brother's big day. After Spain took the victory, that hat went back on Yamal's head and he was seen wearing it celebrating in the locker room. He even included a picture of himself smoking a cigar while wearing a championship t-shirt and, yes, the Private Selection hat in his Instagram gallery of the final match to his 55 million followers. "It seems like he certainly appreciated the gift," Singleton Jr. said. The photo is now the profile picture of the boutique's Instagram page. Another photo, one from 2007 of a young Messi giving a baby Yamal a bath for a charity calendar went viral ahead of the final as a wink of destiny. For Norris, being part of a historic moment that incorporated so many 19s had a similar feeling. "It was just the alignment of the stars," he reflected. "... It was supposed to happen this way. It was just something beautiful." Part of the allure of the 2026 World Cup, which was co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, was seeing players and fans from across the globe embrace American culture. Norway's Erling Haaland previously went viral in Dallas after visiting Wild Bill's Western Store where he enthusiastically tried on cowboy hats and humorously asked where the Nike cowboy boots were. The moment with Yamal's Private Selection hat showcased another side of the city. Private Selection now has four locations in malls across the Dallas/Forth Worth area. Their clientele includes athletes, rappers and other pop culture stars. The boutique does their own version of Complex's "Sneaker Shopping" video series and has amassed nearly 500,000 subscribers on its YouTube page. "We have no shortage of celebrities that grace us with their business and shopping with us," Singleton Jr. said. "But, obviously, Lamine Yamal probably has the followers of all of the other celebrities we’ve ever had combined, just by himself. So it’s the level of celebrity that we just hadn’t really experienced before. ... A huge milestone for us." While the number 19 might signify the dawning of a new era, this moment doesn't necessarily mark change for the owners of Private Selection. Singleton Jr. describes the group, who will be celebrating eight years as a company in October, as "just some local Dallas guys," and is encouraged to stay the course. "We’ve watched a lot of people start clothing stores and try to do what we do and not everybody can survive," he said. "Not everybody’s had the success that we have and so we’re all just eternally grateful for the fact that we’ve been able to build what we’ve built. ... Even when we feel like things are taking a slight downturn and then certain things like this happen and just kind of remind us why we do what we do." 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