How David Beckham’s Y2K style inspired Fear of God’s new active line

Jerry Lorenzo doesn’t think people necessarily want to wear Fear of God from head to toe. The founder of the Los Angeles-based brand, which, in the past decade, has become one of the most important and successful independent fashion houses in the country, often doesn’t even do that himself. When we meet, he’s wearing Adidas sneakers, pieces from Fear of God’s Essentials line, and a Balenciaga sweatshirt. “I think there's something in the way of how I leave the house that informs how I feel people want to present themselves,” he says.

It’s through bringing that intuition to Fear of God that the brand’s three-pillar strategy was born: having an opinion in wardrobe staples through its Essentials line, an opinion in luxury with its eponymous mainline, and an opinion within performance sportswear through Athletics, the brand’s long-awaited collaboration with adidas, which launches online and in stores this week. It was a model born out of wanting to problem solve in terms of giving both Lorenzo and his consumers pieces they’d actually want to wear to form an outfit. But, as time went on, it became evident it was a smart business move, too. “The more I started understanding why I had this conviction, I realised I was trying to create something that is in and of itself sustainable,” he says. “At any time through the waves of our business, one of these pillars can carry us. They all serve a different purpose. And it was  important for me to be able to have that self-sustainability within our brand.”

We’re speaking at a private preview of the first Fear of God Athletics collection in a dimly lit, spacious building in Downtown LA that will later that night be filled with over 700 people celebrating the launch. For now, it’s empty bar a few employees and Lorenzo, who walks me through technical activewear pieces and performance sneakers that have been three years in the making, since the collaboration was announced at the end of 2020. I’ve heard Lorenzo say before that he always wants to be the quietest in the room. It’s a trait embodied through the clothing he creates at Fear of God: pieces that aren’t loud or flashy or saying too much. But that are thoughtfully considered, made outside of the traditional fashion calendar to ensure perfection prior to release and, above all else, representations of the values at the heart of the brand: honesty, authenticity, being transparent, and – given its affinity for hoodies, sweatpants and sneakers – being comfortable. It’s also a trait Lorenzo demonstrates through what he wears (his favourite piece from the collection is a pair of not yet released black baggy relaxed sweats, “probably the quietest piece”) and, quite literally through his voice: he’s so softly spoken I’m worried my recorder is picking up nothing other than the music playing in the background. 

Lorenzo says he initially envisioned Fear of God Athletics being birthed through Nike as an expansion of the collaboration that began between the brands in 2018. But looking back, he’s thankful things worked out the way they did: Nike cancelled their partnership in mid-2020 and adidas was confirmed six months later. “I would have been in a box at Nike had I stayed. I wouldn’t have been able to dream as big as I'm dreaming now. From the start, adidas gave Lorenzo close to full autonomy – “almost too much” he says, which resulted in initial products looking great, but lacking in the innovation, functionality, and engineering adidas was capable of – all the capabilities Fear of God needed to outsource in the first place. “I have this counterpart that understands where I want to go with the product and how we can we can land it beyond just lifestyle, to where everything we do is new and fresh. If we both share the same dream, it can be a powerful thing.” 

When creating the first Fear of God Athletics collection, Lorenzo was inspired by the late 90s, early 2000s era of soccer with David Beckham, who, during college, Lorenzo looked to stylistically on the field. The Predator stripes from the iconic Adidas football boots that were introduced in 1994 are reinterpreted, so too is a piece made in the form of a goalie jersey of the time and, Lorenzo “can’t believe they haven’t done this before,” but taking the brand’s iconic three stripes and turning them tonal. “I was like, ’you guys haven’t done this yet?!’”

Beckham himself was happy to road-test the products and gave his signoff on early iterations. “This is just a sample, man. It’s going to get better!’” Lorenzo recalls saying. “But he was excited from the very beginning, which was encouraging.” Like those first Becks-approved iterations, it feels like this collection serves as a roadmap for the future of Athletics. “It's a good foundation and a good peek at what’s to come. We have ‘24 and the beginning of ‘25 pretty much done. And those products are already way further than these, which is exciting.”