Up Close With Fear Of God Athletics
Almost a whole three years after the collection was first announced, we finally got up close with Fear of God Athletics.
The line of athletics-focused clothing, created in collaboration with adidas, has been teased over the past couple of years through runway collections, social media posts, and FOG founder Jerry Lorenzo's outfits — making sure that we haven't completely forgotten about it.
But now the time has (finally) come for Lorenzo to properly present Fear of God Athletics to the world, and he has done so through a sepia-toned lookbook and a pop-up event in Los Angeles where FOG and adidas' collection can be bought until December 3 — head over to 751 S Mission Road, where Highsnobiety was on November 29 to witness the debut of the new sub-label.
We took the trip down to the event to get a closer look at what Lorenzo has been working on with adidas for all this time.
Starting from the ground up, the footwear portion of this collaboration consists of two sneakers and a pair of slides, most of which were concealed by a water-filled floor in the stylized campaign imagery.
The black and grey basketball sneaker that Lorenzo was pictured wearing courtside made the cut, although in a slightly different fabric to those previously teased.
The mid-top shoe has a sock-like construction that's layered over by a hard, plasticky cage shaped in adidas' three stripes that double up as lace holes. Overall, the upper is pretty sleek and minimal (as you'd expect from FOG) which lends the limelight to the shoe's curvy and translucent sole unit.
It's mostly the same story for the collection's low-top sneaker options, which include what looks to be a stripped-back take on the adidas Forum.
Featuring almost the exact same construction as the Forum on the toe box, the upper has been simplified with less paneling as well as being crafted in only brown-colored suede. The sole, meanwhile, has a similarly wavy and futuristic shape to the mid-top model mentioned above.
The third and final sneaker at the event is the only one that diverted from the basketball theme, instead tapping into adidas' running heritage.
FOG Athletics' brown-colored shoe borrows elements from adidas' archive of late 20th-century running shoes, designed with a ripstop upper, suede paneling, and (you guessed it) a similar chunky and curvy sole unit as the other models.
A co-branded, leather FOG Adilette slide sat humbly next to its taller siblings, a subtle conclusion that nevertheless served as a suitable mission statement for the entire Athletics sub-label.
Many of the shoes we saw at the event did look familiar, thanks largely to the many leaks circulated on social media up until this point. However, not everything that was leaked is apparently part of the Fear Of God Athletics collection (yet).
Along with footwear, Fear Of God Athletics includes a range of athleisure all in FOG's signature neutral brown colors to match the sneakers.
This includes a range of tracksuits, the main product that's made Fear Of God ESSENTIALS so popular. Designed with a boxy fit (wide in the body and slightly cropped), which is trademark Lorenzo, the hoodies come with relaxed-fitting sweatpants with long drawcords hanging from the waistband (also, trademark Lorenzo).
An equally boxy-fitting t-shirt, emblazoned with both brand's names on the front, as well as a long coat, fleece jacket, and minimal suede bag reiterate the Fear Of God Athletics' ethos: classic sportswear made extra luxe, informed by oversized shapes and a tasteful palette steeped in the FOG's inimitable design language.
As Jerry Lorenzo describes it in a statement, the "third pillar" of Fear Of God has arrived.
Building on the design language that he has created through the other two pillars (Fear of God mainline and FOG ESSENTIALS), it includes everything we were expecting: boxy silhouettes, toned-down branding, and lots of muted brown.
