Last week we wrote about Fear of God's "1987" collection, dropping at Back Door Bottega in Bologna, Italy on April 22. The collection features the above "I Love L.A." Celtics homage shirt which caused a bit of a stir in the comments section of Highsnobiety. People pointed out that it was almost blasphemous to have an LA brand support their hometown in the Boston Celtics font and colors, but the design actually goes a lot deeper than that.
To give some context, the shirt in question is a reference to the Boston Celtics and LA Lakers rivalry — which is probably one of the most notorious in basketball folklore. The rivalry stems all the way back to the '60s but really popped off in the '80s when Magic Johnson was playing for the Lakers and Larry Bird was at the Celtics. Two icons in their own right, the two players had hated each other since facing off at a college basketball game in 1978, and they continued their fierce rivalry when they entered the NBA, intensifying the already existing feud.
The collection as a whole references the Celtics with T-shirts, hoodies and shorts in the Celtics' signature green, while bearing the team's shamrock logo. More specifically, the "I Love L.A." shirt that caused some backlash and raised eyebrows references a vintage "I hate L.A." Celtics T-shirt produced around the 1987 NBA Finals. By flipping it to a pro-LA slogan but keeping it in the original Celtics style, Fear of God's Jerry Lorenzo has managed to stir up some emotions.
Check out the original design below.
In other fashion / basketball mashups, Nike Sportswear and KITH celebrate five decades of basketball with a new collection.
