Jerry Lorenzo Ties Basketball to the American Fashion Canon
In Jerry Lorenzo’s view, the mesh practice short carries the same emotional weight as classic, five-pocket denim. While the latter has decades-old roots and is firmly established in the fashion canon, the former has built equity in our collective imagination since the ’80s and ’90s. Through Lorenzo’s studied eye, the mesh short, along with other auxiliary staples of basketball, are elevated to the stature of American classic. “These garments provoke a subconscious desire,” says Lorenzo. “Each references an authentic piece of an athlete's wardrobe; these are functional items that have become iconic because of the effortless cool of the people who wore them in the ’80s and ’90s.” Visions of sport history manifest through Fear of God, not as 1:1 replication, but through evocation of an era when style was defined by how things were worn. “This is how we think players should come to the arena — we're really trying to take it back to more honest times,” says Lorenzo. “It was differe...
