User:Swong544/Jerry Lorenzo

Jerry Lorenzo (born October 5, 1977) is an American fashion designer and founder of the streetwear label Fear of God. He is the father of twin daughters, Liv Lorenzo, Mercy Lorenzo, and son Jerry Lorenzo Manuel III. Aside from Fear of God, Lorenzo is most well-known for his fashion collaborations with popular brands such as KITH NYC, Mastermind, Nike, and Vans. Outside of his work with other clothing labels, he is well recognized by his work on celebrity tour merchandise such as with Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, and Jay-Z.

Early Life
Jerry Lorenzo was born on October 5, 1977 in Sacramento, California, son of former MLB player Jerry Manuel from Hahira, Georgia. Lorenzo's early life was unstable in order to accompany his father until he went on to attend Florida A&M University. After completing his undergraduate degree, he went on to receive his Master of Business Administration at Loyola Marymount University. During his studies at Loyola, Lorenzo worked part-time at Diesel for 2 years until he was promoted to sales work after selling $5,000 worth of merchandise in his first shift.

Career
After receiving his MBA, Lorenzo left Diesel and went on to manage corporate sponsorships for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Combining his business skillset with his homegrown baseball influence, Lorenzo spent the next 3 years pursuing a career as a sports agent. Lorenzo's journey eventually led him to a sports agency in Chicago, where he briefly worked in management and marketing. The opportunity introduced him to large sports personalities such as Donovan McNabb, Matt Leinart, Dwayne Wade, and more. In an interview, Lorenzo later stated that these individuals were inspirations and large influences for his fashion label, Fear of God.

2008-2013: Return to Los Angeles
In 2008, Lorenzo opted to move back to Los Angeles in order to begin his career as a party promoter and entrepreneur. When asked about his time as a promoter, Lorenzo credits the experience with teaching him the necessary skills required to make great products. After a successful stint in nightlife where he discovered his brand, Lorenzo transitioned his career into the fashion industry.

2013-2014: Birth of Fear of God & First Collection
Without any formal fashion or design training, Lorenzo founded and launched his high-end streetwear brand, Fear of God, in 2013. Based in Los Angles, California, the company initially received zero investment interest and was entirely self-funded by Lorenzo's savings. His first collection featured 12 pieces that garnered the interest of designers and celebrities alike such as Virgil Abloh, Big Sean, Justin Bieber, and Kanye West. Featuring high-end pieces designed as everyday apparel, the collection included pieces such as flannel tops, cropped short-sleeve hoodies, to drop-crotch sweatpants. The collection was welcomed with tremendous success, as the collection inevitably sold out and the brand started to build traction among the cities most popular hip-hop and sport's influencers. Lorenzo's fashion influence quickly expanded soon after, with West inviting him to Atlantic City to showcase his new collection and then extending an invitation to collaborate in future designs. The first of these opportunities came in Paris, France where Lorenzo worked with West on his collaboration with popular french streetwear fashion label A.P.C. He would then move on to collaborate with West again, contributing to the design of Yeezus Tour merchandise and Yeezy Season One.

2014-2016: Second and Third Collections
After establishing himself and his brand in the fashion world, Lorenzo propelled his fashion design career through the continued success of subsequent Fear of God collections. While retaining similar design aesthetics and colour tones of his first collection, Lorenzo released his brand's second and third clothing collection in 2015. Further collaborations were done between Fear of God and popular brands such as C / C H R I S T by Courtney Michelle and PacSun, an American retail clothing brand. Fear of God would also open their first ever pop-up store at Chicago's RSVP Gallery in 2015. Lorenzo ended the year off with his marriage to his fiancee, Desiree, and released a subsequent collection with PacSun known as FOG With PacSun. Promoted as a collection intended to be affordable and easily accessible to everyone, the FOG With PacSun line was widely popular due to its scaled down prices.

In 2016, Adidas released the Yeezy 750, of which Lorenzo worked on alongside Kanye West. This was the year Fear of God first achieved mainstream popularity, as he created five custom looks for Justin Bieber to wear on stage during his Purpose World Tour. Lorenzo also helped to design the Purpose tour merchandise, as well as open the VFILES pop-up alongside it.