Jerry Lorenzo
The numbers 10, 24, & 25 appear ingrained in the insole of the Nike Air Fear Of God 1 and are understood to represent designer Jerry Lorenzo’s favourite bible verse, and provides us further insight into one of the fashion world’s most dividing characters. Lorenzo first caught the fashion bug in 2008 while managing his client and LA Dodger All-Star Matt Kemp. His involvement in clothing was born out of necessity, as he felt while in charge of Kemp’s image, he was unable to find the type of pieces he envisioned, and so took it upon himself to try his hand at designing his own. Lorenzo’s upbringing very much made him a victim of circumstance, the son of baseball player Jerry Manuel, his suburban childhood mixed with his ethnicity created overlaps in his cultural identity. Lorenzo was as much influenced by Hip Hop culture as Nirvana, and combined that with a dash of religious upbringing and that cross-pollination of ideas, coupled with a perceived lack of representation, planted the seed for Lorenzo to one day flourish in the fashion industry.
Lorenzo joins Yeezy
This amalgamation of ideas became the foundation for his Fear Of God label, and the series of events that lead to his unprecedented rise to the top of the street fashion pyramid paint Jerry Lorenzo as one of the most hardworking but also one of the most fortunate men in the industry. Through a chance encounter with Big Sean through one of his wife’s friends, Jerry ended up creating a shirt for Big Sean. At the time Big Sean was tied to Kanye West’s record label GOOD music, and when Ye noticed the shirt and asked Big Sean about it, the domino effect had already begun that led to an eventual meeting between West & Lorenzo. Ultimately leading to the opportunity for Jerry Lorenzo to work on Yeezy Season which effectively became the platform from which he could build his own legacy.
Nike x Fear Of God
A couple of years on and Fear Of God is an established and respected label in the fashion industry, and the patience and hard work put in by Jerry Lorenzo hadn’t gone unnoticed. Approached to work in partnership with Nike on a collaborative project Lorenzo was able to convince Nike to give him something many designers and artists have coveted but very few have been granted, their own silhouette. Jerry Lorenzo stated that “My gifts are not in colouring up anything, my gift is in shape” and so just like that Nike was on board. Looking to produce a performance shoe that kids would wear during the day, Lorenzo focused on shape and meticulously worked for 2 and a half years to create what we now all know as the Air Fear Of God 1. Deeply influenced by basketball, and debuted on the court by Houston Rockets P.J. Tucker the silhouette takes aspects from retro Air Jordan and Air Flight designs but presents them in a very modern way, and it’s that fusion of the classic and the contemporary that echoes through the whole Nike Fear Of God product line.
Nike Air Fear of God
Both the Air Fear Of God 1 and the Air Fear Of God SA are directly intended for the NBA and as we know from the success of Air Jordan that unbreakable bond between basketball and trainer culture is so deep-rooted since the inception of the movement. The Air Fear Of God 1 represents a more performance-based shoe that could be used on the court, and the Air Fear Of God SA is intending for the ‘Shoot Around’ before and after the game when you are looking to express your style. Jerry Lorenzo’s attention to detail and grounded values which stress the importance of resonating with his audience through nostalgia is what has made him an ideal fit for Nike. His untraditional background, lack of formal training, and Kanye West cosign have made him an easy target for criticism but what he has been able to achieve with his label and now his superb and growing Nike collaboration is nothing short of astounding, and the impression he is leaving on the landscape is one that will struggle to be forgotten.
In 2019 Lorenzo’s flurry into the footwear world looks set to continue with rumours of an ‘Amarillo’ and ‘Wheat Gold’ colourway looking set to hit his Air Fear Of God 1 silhouette later this year, for more on this, and your best destination for online trainers, keep it Laced.