Alessandro Michele-approved designer Jerry Lorenzo on balancing different pillars of business, his upcoming Adidas collection and why ignorance is really bliss.

Interview

16 Apr

Jerry Lorenzo wears many hats. Having started building his own brand, Fear Of God, back in 2013, his fearless passion towards transforming modern elegance quickly skyrocketed him into fame, receiving praise from industry titans such as Gucci’s Alessandro Michele.

As someone raised in a sports family - his father is former Major League Baseball player Jerry Manuel who went on to coach and manage - Lorenzo’s respect and passion for sport transforms onto his designs, combining the technology and comfort of sportswear into the newly crafted (by him) hybrid sartorial codes of refining evening style into much more than just heavy double-breasted suits and white collared shirts. His collaboration with Zegna foresaw a major shift of how the general public sees men’s fashion, lighting a beacon of green light towards a more experimental approach with tailoring for men. Now, he is further redefining what everyday menswear style should look like - with athletic power and grace.

In conversation with Perfect, Jerry Lorenzo expresses how his new collection ETERNALS crafts a unique genre of time-travelling through the 1940s, into the 1980s and through 2022, picking and choosing timeless elements that give refinement to the nouveau-mode approach, not led by trends, but led by character.

Perfect: After two years of difficulties, and isolation from being together with your team, how did you begin exploring the process again? And how did the idea behind this collection start to come together?

Jerry Lorenzo: In all honesty, I don't know how much the pandemic or the change of the world really interrupted my process. I like to think that we've approached development and creativity from an authentic place from day one. And the fact that we weren't able to get the collection out sooner, it didn't bother me one way or the other. I feel like we should only speak when we have something to say. And I always feel that what we're putting into the market is coming from a timeless place that transcends wherever the trends are today. And we were able to keep crafting and showcasing collections with the ESSENTIALS side of my business, whilst experiencing a slowed down process for Fear Of God because of not having the access to get to Italy. However, that didn't bother me because I knew the perspective of permanence and timelessness that my work has, whether it would come out now or in a year's time. I'm still convinced that is largely missing from the market and that we're providing something that our consumer wants and seeks through time.

Perfect: You've always been on top of creating something that is very futuristic and forward, and you have blurred the lines between the old sartorial codes for menswear and the future direction of hybrid casual wear. How did you approach the spirit this time and how do you see that unique trait in your designs blossoming forward?

Jerry Lorenzo: I feel like the spirit has always been the same. It's really about 'how can I be sophisticated and comfortable at the same time?'. This ETERNALS collection also marked us moving 90% of our production to Italy and bringing amazing creatives on our team, focusing on fabric development and sourcing. I feel like our access to resources has increased, and so has our vocabulary, allowing us to say what we've said in the past, just in a clear, concise and direct way. Also, I am a self-taught designer, so I believe and feel like I'm just getting better with each collection, and this is a reflection of that as well, alongside having better access to resources to help tell a greater story.

Perfect: Fear Of God blossomed on the scene and gathered a cult following immediately after its launch. As you have grown exponentially throughout the years, what have been the things that you really have struggled with, whether business-wise, creative-wise or operational?

Jerry Lorenzo: The hardest part for me has been balancing being CEO of three different pillars of business. From the athletics side with Adidas, through ESSENTIALS, alongside our mainline part with Fear Of God. Dealing with the moving parts such as human resources, logistics, development and production, which rely on my decision-making, whilst also still being a creative director and designer. I have had to grow within my skill set as an executive, as well as a creative. And so, being able to balance creative from executive has been the hardest thing for me personally. In the end, I'm blessed to do what I love, I'm blessed to do what I feel. I know as long as I continue to focus on bettering myself and exploring the different avenues of creativity and skill, the work and craft will continue to speak for itself.

Perfect: As a self-taught and self-made fashion creative and executive, what is the one thing that you have learned on your road, and on the job, that you want to share with people? What would that be?

Jerry Lorenzo: I would say ignorance is really bliss and not knowing what I was getting into. It definitely allowed me to chase it with a different level of tenacity and audacity. Had I known how heavy this was gonna be, you know, maybe I wouldn't have approached it the way that I did. So I think, just being ignorant to what's ahead, and knowing that each day is preparing you for what's to come. Because if you know what's to come, it can be a really heavy thought and can really stop you from chasing your dreams. I also would say to make sure that what you have to say is in line with who you are, and as long as you say that, clearly, there will always be someone that's willing to listen to something that's honest and authentic.

Perfect: What are your associations with the collection's name, ETERNALS? What has been your specific direction for exploring that term?

Jerry Lorenzo: When I go shopping, I'm looking for something that I could just wear for a long time. We're all shot from eternity into time, and we're only here for a limited amount of time, right? So, I'd love to see these pieces living a lifetime. So many of the references of the collection are from the ‘80s, from a time where people were both sophisticated, and elegant. What we tried to do with this collection was really strip it back as much as possible and take as much of the opinion from time periods out of it. So it's really a modern version of timelessness, if that makes sense. It's designed in a way that this piece could live in 1982 or 2022. It was all about analysing and asking ourselves the question of 'Is this okay 20 years from now?'.

Perfect: You speak a lot about how you inject personality into this collection, how you inject yourself and your life within it. What's one thing that you are looking forward to, personal or creative?

Jerry Lorenzo: We have a really big collection coming with Adidas, which is the third pillar of our business and I'm really excited about that, alongside exploring more of the basketball part of athletics, crafting a special basketball collection. After ETERNALS, my focus shifts a little bit towards the other parts to myself and my job, finalising that and preparing to present to the world.

Perfect: It is difficult to be wearing so many creative hats from different sides, do you find it difficult to completely shift focus on the three different parts of your business?

Jerry Lorenzo: Not at all, they all come from the same spirit. They all come from the same point of view. I'm an athlete, I love to play baseball, but I also like to get dressed. I enjoy putting on a suit and feeling that side of myself, and then I also enjoy being in my sweats. They're all different parts of my life. I always think about the modern creative and this is someone who wants to build different parts day to day. It's an elegant point of view that lives to each of the same three pillars. And so, it's not hard for me to hop in and out, because I'm saying the same thing, just through a different medium.