Jerry Lorenzo’s brand, Fear of God, is a luxury streetwear label that has taken the fashion world by storm. Despite being a late starter in the industry (with no formal fashion design training), Lorenzo has since designed tour merchandise for Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar. Taking cues from hip-hop and sports stars of the ‘90s, Lorenzo creates clothes that are contemporary yet season-less. What started in 2015 as a predominantly streetwear-focused brand, with flannel shirts and sweats, has now morphed into a brand known for its quality tailoring and unisex suiting. The thread that ties it all together? An expert knowledge of shape, tailoring, and the construction of clothes.
Who is Jerry Lorenzo?
The son of former professional basketball player and coach Jerry Manuel, Lorenzo was born in Sacramento, California, but frequently moved around during his childhood because of his father’s career. After studying at Florida A&M University, he then moved to Los Angeles to gain an MBA from Loyola Marymount. Throughout his studies, he worked in the stockroom of a Diesel store. One day, he was put on the shop floor and managed to sell over $5000 worth of merchandise in one shift. He was moved to the front of house role after that.
After working in marketing for a sports agency in Chicago, he returned to LA to work as an incredibly successful party promotor. He credits this time in his life with teaching him how important branding and creating desirability around an experience/product is.
The story behind Fear of God
When he was managing former Dodger all-star Matt Kemp, Lorenzo often worked on improving his image through styling. He soon realised that there were plenty of things he wanted for his client that weren’t available. Furthermore, Lorenzo struggled to find pieces for his own wardrobe and realised that if his wardrobe was lacking, other people’s probably were too. In this, he found the gap in the market that Fear of God would fill – elevated takes on casual pieces such as tracksuits and crewnecks. The initial inspiration for the brand was found in specific cultural figures such as Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and John Bender, the fictional rebel played by Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club.
The vision of the brand
Fear of God has been referred to as a streetwear or a contemporary brand, but Lorenzo prefers the terms luxury or designer. After struggling to find the perfect T-shirt, Lorenzo made his own. These were picked up by Virgil Abloh (of Off-White), shown to Kanye West and, before he knew it, West was asking Lorenzo to work on his A.P.C collaboration. That the brand came out of a simple need for the perfect T-shirt has clearly stuck with Lorenzo; he knows how his customers want to dress, and constantly provides the perfect pieces that they didn’t know they needed. In describing the aim of the brand to The New York Times, Lorenzo said “it’s fluid-casual, a wardrobe that allows you to move seamlessly through the consistently inconsistent times we live in”.
The first official Fear of God design was what is now known as a classic Fear of God item – a short-sleeve hoodie with side zippers. Worn by the likes of Big Sean and Kanye West, hype was created around the Fear of God brand before Lorenzo had even put out his first collection. In 2013, he released his first season; a 12-piece collection featuring the aforementioned hoodies and long T-shirts alongside flannel shirts and leather panelled hoodies. Since then, Fear of God has transformed into a brand that elevates the softness of sportswear with the hard intensity of expert tailoring.
Uniqueness of the brand
The brand is unique not only because of its clothes, but because of its approach to releases. Fear of God doesn’t follow the typical fashion schedule structure of four annual shows (two womenswear, two menswear). Instead, Lorenzo releases collections when he feels ready – his slow approach is due to his own learning on the job (as a result of his lack of formal training) and to not put pressure on the creative process. Plus, gender doesn’t constrict his designs, he instead focuses on unisex shapes to be worn by everyone. Fear of God has also collaborated with myriad brands such as Converse, Nike, Adidas, and, recently, luxury menswear brand Zegna.
