Fear of God (FOG) has quickly become a highly successful, designer streetwear brand and from the looks of it, the brand is here to stay. The founder Jerry Lorenzo has had a lot of success, and his garments have even caught the attention of Kanye West (a rapper and fashion icon) resulting in an endorsement . When West released his video for the song “Bound 2”, he was wearing a Fear Of God short sleeve flannel. That Flannel now is selling on Grailed.com for $645.

Lorenzo sat down with Milk Made Magazine and talked about the brands exclusive aesthetic, the strong religion influence, and the brands origin. Lorenzo first spoke on his purpose for a brand and what he was planning when he first made it.

“I never had a purpose for a brand; I would never do a brand just to have a cool perspective out on clothing. I wanted to do something that also left you with a greater purpose or inspired you some other way besides clothes.”  

He then spoke on if FOG is a everyday clothing brand with luxury price points or a luxury brand.

“I think it’s “street” in the way it came about. I didn’t go to fashion school, I don’t belong to a fashion house, I have no design background. It’s like a kid hustling mixtapes. You go downtown, you buy fabrics… you figure out the process. And so it’s street in the sense that that’s how it started, but it’s high end in the sense that I’m now using luxury fabrics, everything is made by the best sewers in LA, and everything is constructed to the highest-level quality. So you can look at it both ways, but I prefer not to fit in a box.”

Lorenzo also spoke on his perspective and his first retail job.

“I remember my first real retail job was working at Diesel and I wasn’t even cool enough to work on the floor; I was a stock boy. I’ll always remember that – it’s like I’m not supposed to be here. I didn’t really fit into the Diesel look at the time, and I don’t fit into whatever’s cool right now. I’ve just come to the realization that I’m the best at what I do. I’m not the best at fashion, I’m not the best at clothing – I’m the best at communicating my voice in the way that only I know how and that’s just what I stick to. Wherever that falls or however that’s categorized is up to people to decide.”

He then states how big of a part religion played in the making of the brand.

“I was reading this devotion with my parents and we were talking about how clouds and darkness were around God’s kingdom, and it wasn’t in a way of him being a dark God, but just understanding the depths of his kingdom—there’s layers to him beyond our understanding. I wanted to do something to communicate this dark side in a cool way, and inspire people about what I felt was my truth. It was a combination of that dark message and me believing in myself and my aesthetic… then I started putting pieces together, and risking my savings and my family on trying to start this brand.”

Jerry Lorenzo says that religion plays a strong role in not only the clothing brand but also his daily life.

“It’s always been the one thing that’s been consistent in my life. That growing up, outside of family, was the only thing that caused me to dig deeper [and not just scratch] the surface. I can’t imagine doing a clothing line to just make money and be cool if I’m not trying to inspire people. I try to do it in a subtle way, sometimes through scriptures that we put up on our Instagram, like instead of Matthew 16:24 it would be the 40th book 40 16-24 – so you’re not really sure, unless you know the Bible, where that passage is coming from. So it’s just giving people bits and pieces. The Fear generation to me is this new generation of cool kids that believe in God and that are really the coolest kids at school or the coolest kids.”

He also speaks on his youth and the role religion has played throughout his life: “I don’t know if you did youth groups when you were a kid, but the Christian kids were always not as cool as the real cool kids at school. So now [I want to show] that, “No, we are the cool kids. We look cool and there’s some depth about us that is cooler than whatever is fleeting at this moment.”

Fear of God is a street wear brand with a luxury twist to it. Although the brand hasn’t been around for as long as other brands, it is just as, if not more successful than other street wear brand.