Lorenzo adds that in addition to basketball, he, his team, and their partner team at Adidas are also developing items designed for baseball, running, football and American football for future seasons. He adds: “our intention is to touch all sports.” Whatever you call it, football seems an especially likely candidate for the Fear of God Athletics lens. Given David Beckham’s integral connection with the original Predator boot, his current success with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami (an Adidas partner), and his personal association with the luxury space, a tie-up in time for the World Cup across America in 2026 should be a cert.
Culture partnerships
Despite its name, Fear of God presents as a secular entity — this new brand is not to performathleisure what Christian rock is to music. Yet Lorenzo’s deeply held credo is inherent in his working practice. “In my religious belief, God designed himself three in one — it’s the very nature of who He is. So for us, this being the third pillar, and the fact that Adidas has three stripes… there’s a lot of layers to this relationship,” he says.
Schumacher is a 19-year Adidas veteran — he jokes he is “risking to be a lifer” — who has general oversight of what the brand calls “culture partnerships”. In recent years, Adidas has worked with multiple brands across fashion and streetwear. Today, however, he says: “At this point in time, it’s not good enough to just do a collab, put a logo on it, and then hope it’s going to work. So [with Fear of God Athletics] we have high ambitions to provide a new perspective, not just on lifestyle, but also sportswear and athletics wear.”
The scale of that ambition explains, in part, the lengthy timeline between the joint venture’s announcement in 2020, and this moment of its first fruition.
Schumacher says that in his experience, “magic output” demands a commitment to change on both sides of the table. “We believe in asking open questions. We do want to learn, we do want to grow as a brand, and therefore we invite those creative forces in to challenge ourselves. That isn’t always easy, but it gets us to a different place, which is why we have this partnership with Jerry.”
