jerry lorenzo

How did you become involved in the world of fashion? 

Everyone has been ‘in’ fashion the whole of their lives, whether they recognise it or not; we all make decisions about how we want to present ourselves to the world. In the late 1990s, I worked on the shop floor for brands like Diesel. I loved sports, but the nuances of understanding what people were looking for came easier to me. When I had the idea of starting my own clothing line, I knew what people wanted.
 

Why did you decide to name the brand Fear of God?

Growing up in a Christian household, so much of my perspective on life was informed by my belief system. The name comes from a Bible verse that talks about clouds, peace and darkness around the Kingdom of God.

What was your upbringing like, and how has it shaped you 

I moved around a lot as a kid, as we followed my dad’s professional baseball career. You learn a lot [by] being exposed to many different cultures but are also constantly faced with the responsibility of fitting in seamlessly. I used fashion to not feel like an outsider. We always want [to give] our customers the freedom to be who they are while providing solutions that make them appropriate for whatever situation they may find themselves in that day.
 

What fabrics do you work with, and where do you source them from? 

We’re living in 2020: we can get fabrics from all over the world, so we tend to go best in class. We get a lot of our denims and canvas from Japan; nylons and the materials for our footwear and tailored garments usually come from Italy, as will our wools when we move into knitwear this year.

Why don’t you adhere to the fashion calendar?

It’s not sustainable for me to put out four collections a year – there comes a point when that becomes dishonest, and you lose the purpose of what you are doing. I am self-taught and have been doing this for seven years, so ideas and development with my team take a little longer.
 

What advice would you give to people who want to go into fashion but haven’t had any traditional training? 

Have a strong vision of what you want to say because this can carry you through the process of learning. I learnt a lot by doing things the wrong way.

Do you think that those mistakes made you a better designer in the long run?

If you look at it as wins and losses, there are definitely more losses than there are wins, but if you look at it as learning, then you know you are always going to be on top.
 

Where do you look for inspiration?

Much [of my] perspective on aesthetics has been informed by different subcultures that surrounded me as a kid in the 90s – rock’n’roll, hip-hop music, skate culture. If you look at tailoring of that time, the suits and T-shirts were looser. I hate the idea of people thinking that I’m something that I’m not, so I always present myself in a way that is rooted in honesty.

In many of your collections you’ve used some existing materials, why is this important

Since our third collection, we have integrated existing materials such as US military sleeping bags from the Vietnam War and repurposed postal bags from the 30s and 40s. The sixth collection was a story about this all-American open road, a blue-collar point of view – there were lots of workwear-inspired canvas pieces mixed with jersey and California fabrications.

What did these become?

The postal bags were turned into workwear jackets, snap-away cargo pants and an oversized tote. The mailbags were back in the days of the third collection. It’s really cool seeing a brand-new piece in an older material – you get this distressing and wear-and-tear in areas that you wouldn’t expect to.

Where do you source these existing materials from?

One of the great things about L.A. is that there are tonnes of vintage suppliers in downtown.

There’s this guy who sells military bags. It took us a while, but, once we did, it was like discovering a pot of gold.
 

What has been your greatest achievement since launching Fear of God?

People used to buy sneakers with the purpose of buying them and holding onto them until your shoelaces are broken. Nowadays, kids are buying things and maybe wearing them once or twice and reselling them. Making influential products that people want to buy is an achievement in itself.
 

What does the future hold for Fear of God? 

Immediately speaking, our seventh collection is around the corner, and we have lots of collaborations on the way with some great brands. My vision for the future remains extremely bright: we don’t depend on the market, trends or celebrity to sustain us – we are making pieces that are good enough to make a space for themselves.