Introducing Jerry Lorenzo, Designer Behind Fear of God
Introducing Jerry Lorenzo, Designer Behind Fear of God Fear of God designer Jerry Lorenzo, who launched the Los Angeles-based brand in 2013, deliberated for two years before releasing his seventh collection.
Mr. Lorenzo designed pieces not only for consumers who saw a suit on TV, but also for everyone in the new world of WFH, social distancing, and endless Zoom meetings. The brief of Mr. Lorenzo was recently expanded upon by him in Southern California.
Fear of God new collection “Smooth jazz”
Last month, Fear of God designer Jerry Lorenzo wore a surprisingly chill suit to Jay-Z’s Academy Awards afterparty. Despite many celebrities dressing in over-the-top interpretations of black tie inspired by Hollywood’s golden age, or even the cutthroat age of social media, Lorenzo chose a much simpler look. He wore a large, satin jacket and a trouser cut that had a comfortable straight leg over a wool-silk T-shirt. Fear of God’s latest collection, “Eternal,” was unveiled earlier this month, and Lorenzo’s approach to dressing was reflected in this unofficial launch event. “Smooth jazz” is what he calls it.
“You want to play in the background and not disturb people,” Lorenzo says. Your outfit should reward someone who pays closer attention, just as a great smooth jazz track does. It’s a really cool conversation if you appreciate the shape of the jacket, its fabrication, the way it drapes,” he says. Lorenzo explains his fascination with fashion by citing a seemingly unlikely source: “I’m always chasing a reference to Kenny G.” Does that mark the first time a designer on the cutting edge has confessed to putting Kenny G on their proverbial inspiration board? In 2022, a designer often referred to as streetwear is a part of a conversation about ultra-covetable suits and a designer once unjustly categorized, Jerry Lorenzo is the designer behind fear of God.
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Kenny G’s Style as Seen on Fear of God Designer Jerry Lorenzo
The label’s Eternal is Lorenzo’s offering to anyone who wants to chase Kenny G-or, more likely, who wants fashion advice from one of the hottest labels in the industry. Fear of God’s easy, athletic silhouette blended American archetypes like denim and workwear in past
collections
collections. The ideas Lorenzo used were trendy in the sense that he was setting trends with them. He tells me via Zoom that Eternal represents a new direction. With each piece, he pursued a transcendence of time since so much of what is created today has a timestamp.
Bottling timelessness, it turns out, is much harder than starting a trend. To do so, each piece has been stripped down to its essence, Lorenzo explains: Blazers are big and squeaky clean. Overcoats and jackets feature elegantly droopy lapels, if they have lapels at all. Trousers, rendered in cashmere and dusty suede, are cut with voluminous legs. In the lookbook, the trousers pool around the models’ slip-on sneakers and western boots, but they don’t look messy—just effortless and comfortable, like your favorite pair of vintage sweatpants. None of it seems designed for Instagram—though, of course, the clothes will look damn good there.
When Lorenzo started Fear of God
In spite of his luxury streetwear credentials, Lorenzo started Fear of God a decade ago because he couldn’t find the perfect T-shirt. To explain the suit, he simply applies his well-honed Fear of God logic. Recently, Lorenzo has been craving pieces he’ll wear for years to come, such as blazers, coats, and trousers he can “just buy one of and not worry about replacing it next season.” Fear of God customers share this need. What are we doing to provide solutions for our consumers instead of just medication until next season??? That is the question Lorenzo asks.
It’s no easy feat to reinvent a classic, seasonless suit. A clear set of parameters guided Lorenzo’s approach. According to Lorenzo, every piece in the collection looks like it designs in 1986 or 2040. In order to really place the design details in this eternal space, we removed as many opinions as possible from the details, Lorenzo says. Due to the fact that blazers are often dated by the width of their lapels, he hid the pockets along the side seams and agonized over the shape of the relaxed notch lapel. In addition to the suits worn by Tom Cruise in Rain Man, Lorenzo cites Giorgio Armani, who redefined men’s tailoring in the early ’90s with softer and more sensitive styles—as an inspiration for the generous proportions and easy attitude of his new suits as well.
Fear of God Oversized design
“The shape is strong enough that you can put trousers on and go to a wedding and be appropriate, or you can put a hoodie underneath it and it still works,” says Lorenzo. But he also clarifies that the word “oversized” is essentially verboten at Fear of God. “The intention is to make something comfortable that doesn’t look oversized, that doesn’t look messy.” How exactly Lorenzo figured out how to put Justin Bieber in an enormous double-breasted blazer without making him look sloppy, ESSENTIALS JACKETas he did for the 2021 VMAs, feels more like a marvel of engineering than a trick of fashion design. “That’s the 10,000 hours, that’s the work that goes into it,” Lorenzo explains. “That’s where the love, by those who intererts, can really seen.”
Famous Celebrities Are all fan of fear of god Essentials
Many celebrities, such as Justin Bieber, Kit Harington, Seth Rogen, and Dwayne Wade, wear Fear of God’s un-trendy tailoring. While Hollywood red carpets have lately felt like an arms race for the most viral (or meme-able) outfit, Fear of God suits come across as something made for the individual, not for the internet. An example: A few weeks ago, John Mayer performed in Atlanta wearing a slate gray blazer with dropped lapels. It’s not often that guitarists rip solos in double-breasted blazers, but Mayer looked incredibly comfortable and sophisticated. It’s no coincidence that Mayer’s music and clothes are both homages to the ’80s, says Lorenzo. “Mayer modernized the feel of yacht rock from the early ’80s, where it feels familiar while also feeling fresh,” Lorenzo says. Lorenzo confirmed that Mayer is the only person who has pieces from Eternal, a Fear of God fan for decades.
The pandemic has only sharpened
The pandemic has only sharpened Lorenzo’s goal of knocking the stuffiness out of suits, which he explored in 2020 when he collaborated with Zegna on an easy-wearing capsule collection. Since Fear of God’s sister line Essentials has sold a lot of sweatshirts in the past two years, it’s just good business to put those customers in suits now. In addition to helping people feel more comfortable, Lorenzo also believes in helping them feel more like themselves. During the week, you’re cozy; on the weekend, you’ve got an event to attend, and you’re going to wear a suit, you don’t want to change your proportions from how you’ve been wearing the rest of the week,” Lorenzo says. It’s just a continuation of who this person is. So when they jump into a suit, it doesn’t feel like, ‘Oh, I have to approach him differently.’