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Since moving on from the Swoosh, Jerry Lorenzo has hooked up with another athletic giant.
The Fear Of God Founder recently sat with GQ to talk about his brand’s collaborative effort with adidas, dubbed Fear of God Athletics.
As it sounds, it gives an updated and more premium take on sports goods through modernized silhouettes and luxe materials.
Only this go-round, he really isn’t just designing sporty merchandise, but pieces he actually wants athletes to wear in-game. For that, he tapped soccer legend David Beckham for advice after an impromptu meeting and has already given the Brit a few prototypes.
“He’s been stoked the whole time,” Lorenzo says, noting that a potential collab for the Miami FC uniforms may be in the works.
But to some, it appears that Lorenzo had a good thing going with Nike, having released the FoG 1 in 2018, but the Swoosh may have felt differently.
The designer recounts speaking with Nike around 2018 about the exciting launch of Athletics, and he was set to fly to the brand’s Beaverton, Oregon headquarters to present the idea when a Nike rep called him the day before to cancel. They’d eventually drop him in 2020, and he’s still struggling to find the reasoning behind the split.
“I thought I was paving the way and putting numbers on the board in order for [Athletics] to happen,” he says. “I [was] just in this really bad place. All the shoes sold out. I thought I performed well.”
Lorenzo stood on business and immediately began shopping for a new suitor for his new brand. He admittedly spoke to New Balance and Reebok before his Yeezy contacts hooked him up with adidas.
He’s so serious about the partnership that he got a “mark of faith” tattoo: three black stripes on the back of his neck.
With Kanye West no longer being associated with adidas following his antisemitic comments in 2022, adidas is ripe for another culture juggernaut to liven up the brand. Lorenzo could be that especially having worked for Ye and contributed to designing the Yeezy 750.
“I can’t take any credit for any of the shoes that Ye led. I built fear of God with the intention to create something that I knew that only I could create,” he says. “I think what Kanye did with Adidas was something that only he could do. And I have too much respect for him to come in after him and try to fill a hole. So that’s the last thing I’m trying to do. I’m hoping to get out of that conversation.”
The first Athletics collection is set to arrive next month, December 2023.
