Jerry Lorenzo Examines Adidas Deal, Fare Thee Well Danny And Mowalola Pushes Back On Ian Rumors
Jerry Lorenzo Examines Adidas Deal, Fare Thee Well Danny And Mowalola Pushes Back On Ian Rumors
Also: Joe Freshgoods, Balenciaga, Adidas, Ssense
Three Stripes Versus The Holy Trinity
Complex delivers another great interview, this time an exchange with chief content officer Noah Callahan-Bever and Fear of God Designer Jerry Lorenzo. It’s the Los Angeles-based designer’s first interview since I reported the news that his contract with Adidas was coming to an end in 2024, that was followed by Complex reporting that the deal actually was slated to run through 2025.
Lorenzo’s persona is characteristically pensive, but he appears to even more in his head in this exchange as he fielded an array of questions often themed on the challenges of running a brand as an independent while also acting as the de facto face of the brand.
Below are some items that stood out for me:
Fear of God “numbers” (I assume revenue?) are similar to last year
Lorenzo worked with Ye for three years, starting in 2014 with the APC collab and through Yeezy Seasons 1-3.
Fear of God had a licensing deal with PacSun on a diffusion line called F.O.G., which launched in 2015. Lorenzo halted the F.O.G. line in 2018 during a rough patch for the mall chain. Not long after he launched Essentials, an in-house diffusion brand.
Fear of God and Adidas have two performance basketball shoes in the queue for 2025, one of which he previewed (shown above) during the episode
Lorenzo signed his contract with Adidas and the news was announced two days later, a major difference from Nike where he worked on the shoe in secret for two and a half years and released the shoe shortly after it was announced.
Lorenzo acknowledged and appeared disappointed that sales of Fear of God and Adidas’ Basketball 1 shoe didn’t do “what we promised it to do.”
Fear of God’s and Adidas’ partnership is “locked in” through 2025. “What happens after that is uncertain.” As for Lorenzo, he seemingly wants to continue with the relationship describing it as “written,” adding, “I believe this is a third pillar in our business. I believe three stripes means something more than three stripes to me, it’s the trinity.”
He doesn’t have investors now but is open to the possibility of it.
Long term goals, Lorenzo wants the brand to be sustainable, akin to a Ralph Lauren.
Fare Thee Well, Danny
I’m sad to report that Danny Wasserman, owner of TipTop Shoes and a giant in the shoe industry, has passed away at age 80. I attended his funeral yesterday at the Riverside Memorial Chapel, of course located in the same Upper West Side neighborhood where his store was a legendary fixture. Danny was a neighborhood guy and a New Yorker through and through, but he also had friends and associates everywhere, so of course the chapel was packed.
TipTop has provided a New York foundation for multiple brands—including and especially Ugg and Birkenstock, and also drew its share of celebrities. Following Wasserman’s passing, Birkenstock Americas CEO David Kahan shared that Yoko Ono once bought a pair of Birks from TipTop for her husband, John Lennon.
Over the years, Danny helped me so much with my work. He was always down for a chat, happy to discuss the latest trends while also wanting to to know the latest gossip and what was percolating that he may have missed. He will be missed by many but he’s left the store in the very capable hands of his son and daughter, Lester and Margot Wasserman. My heart goes out to them both, much more than a giant in the industry, they’ve lost their dear dad.
Lies, Lies, Lies!
British designer Mowalola Ogunlesi upset some members of the fashion industry when after her spring 2025 show in September she was spotting palling around backstage with controversial stylist Ian Connor. Subsequently, rumors began to circulate on X that the two were engaged and possibly married.
I reached out to Ogunlesi on X around the time of the show and asked her if the rumors were true. While she never answered the question directly, she wrote, “It’s unfortunate. I am a black woman breaking boundaries and u wanna report on gossip. I do not, DO NOT respect that.” She then added, “People lie on my everyday. Let’s stop giving liars a platform.”
When I argued that humans are fascinated by each other and gossip is a form of communication and currency, she pushed back, “Gossip is useless. U don’t even ask about the collection. It’s sad to see people act like this. Y’all dono how to be human.”
I will say, she made a good point about not asking about the collection, which made me feel equal parts bad and stupid (though in fairness my Snobette partner, Samia Grand Pierre, had already reached out to the team for images to write about the collection). Also, while I’m not a fan of Connor, I don’t think Ogunlesi should be punished for having an association with him anymore than the many male designers and music creatives (Ye, Virgil Abloh, A$AP Rocky, etc.) he’s worked with.
West Side!
Such a great exchange with Joe “Freshgoods” Robinson, who was recently inducted into the Business of Fashion 500, on the story of his come up.
Below are some items that stood out for me:
Robinson had a lightbulb moment about the power of fashion in 1995 or 1996 when he wore a pair of Retro Jordan 11 Concord with a Coogi sweater to high school. “I felt like the man. This feels unbelievable. I know I looked good, people at school are telling me I look good…” The Cameron pink era was also a huge inspiration when he discovered he couldn’t find any pink t-shirts and decided to make his own.
He credits a large part of his success to “being a good dude.”
His six-piece collection thanking Barack Obama that was released in 2017, was a turning point for his brand. "There was a point in time I was making $20,000 an hour.” Part of the excitement was generated by Chance the Rapper, who came into the store and offered to model it.
He briefly sold JFG at wholesale in 11 doors, but concluded it wasn’t worth the loss of profit.
Robinson was miffed he wasn’t invited to or told about the debut Complexcon in Long Beach, California. He bought a plane ticket to attend the event but he didn’t have an entry ticket to the event, so he connected with Virgil Abloh who helped get him in.
At ComplexCon Chicago in 2019, some New Balance people stopped by his shop to learn more about him, which marked the beginning of his relationship with the brand.
Robinson broke down the finances for two collaborative brand options: No. 1: $250,000 design fee plus 50 free shoes and a $60,000 marketing budget; and No. 2: No design fee, $150K marketing budget, buy shoes at wholesale to sell at retail. Robinson provided the details but didn’t say which deal or deals he’s taken.
JFG now employees close to 20 people compared to two employees pre-pandemic. On leadership: “You’re not a boss because you’ve got people that you pay. Being a boss is being a leader.”
As far as business goals, Robinson spoke about expanding into agency work.
Et Cetera
Kering-owned Balenciaga recently confirmed to WWD that Demna (he’s dropped his last name) has renewed his employment contract with the label for an unspecified term. Next year he will mark his 10th year with the label.
