"In all honesty, in the very beginning, they were the ones that gave us the opportunity," Jerry Lorenzo tells us during the reveal of Fear of God Athletics, the line his label created with adidas.
"The more I looked into adidas as a brand... I feel like, with Nike, there was so much aspiration [built-in] by being a child looking up to Agassi, and Jordan, and all of these icons. But as I've got older, I realized that adidas is closer to who I am. It's simpler, it's quieter."
Lorenzo is walking us through a pop-up space in Los Angeles, where Fear of God's ample fans will be able to shop the Athletics line in-person until December 3.
"adidas has changed a little bit today, just as things have changed, but as I got to know the patternmakers and shoe developers that have been there for 20, 30, maybe 40 years, I see it's built on this idea of holy simplicity. That's what Fear of God is built on," Lorenzo muses.
"It's, how can we provide the best and most beautiful product through a stripped down point of view that's not calling attention to it, just by supporting the person that is wearing it, if that makes sense."
It does, especially if you've been following Fear of God for any real length of time. It was founded 10 years ago this year and initially only sold staple garments informed by Lorenzo's inimitable POV. Ball caps, bomber jackets, vintage T-shirts upcycled with FOG branding, all that.
Eventually, Fear of God evolved into a full ready-to-wear collection. The look was grungy, with distressed T-shirts layered over ripped skinny jeans and waist-tied plaid shirts. But Lorenzo's design language matured as he did. A decade ago he was 36; now, the designer approaches middle age.
And, as he does, his taste has shifted from pre-scuffed streetwear to a crisp perspective on luxury better aligned with the historic houses of Italy than LA's upstart skatewear brands. There's a reason that Fear of God created an extensive collaboration with Zegna.
It all peaked earlier this year when Lorenzo devised Fear of God's first-ever runway show in its native LA, where the world got its first taste of Athletics, the adidas line that Lorenzo first announced nearly three years ago.
But like ESSENTIALS, the red-hot casualwear line that FOG issues seasonally, Fear of God Athletics is no mere diffusion line. Lorenzo considers it the third tier of the entire FOG business, the final touch that creates his idealized tri-angled business. The father, the son, and the holy ghost.
"In this moment, I feel like we've just started with a new pillar of our business," said Lorenzo. "It was just like, 'Hey, if we have these three pillars that can balance each other, not only will we be able to sustain ourselves as a brand, because there will always be a moment when we have something to say.'
"But it also is honest to, I believe, how people present themselves. We could design into that versus putting out a $1,000 pair of sweatpants and we could do it at $100."
Fear of God was, famously, a longtime Nike collaborator, so Lorenzo knows his way around creating affordable, utilitarian iterations of his signature silhouettes. For him, really, it's a comfort zone.
"Performance and athletics have always been a part of my life," said Lorenzo. "I've been an athlete, so I actually know this product better than I know the other products. I leave the house 90% of the time with sneakers on. That's how I present myself. So how am I pushing that idea into an honest space?"
Fear of God Athletics sits somewhere between Fear of God's mainline collection and ESSENTIALS, offering a more directional product than ESSENTIALS and more affordable price points than mainline. It's not the new ESSENTIALS, though proud parent Lorenzo is loathe to limit the possibilities.
"You create something with intention for it to have uncapped potential and ESSENTIALS is experiencing more of that potential sooner than maybe even our mainline. I'm happy with where it's going," Lorenzo said. "Maybe it got there a little quicker than what we intended but sometimes the products you create inform you of what they want to become.
"It's like having kids. At some point, your kid is going to be like, 'No, no, dad. I want to do this,' and then you got to listen. ESSENTIALS, sometimes he don't want listen, so he just keep running out the house."
