Jerry Lorenzo is not a fan of the classic button-up shirt. “Distracting” is how he describes them. Through the Dieter Rams-inspired restraint he has been tracing in his work for Fear of God, Lorenzo is on a never ending journey of distillation, paring back as much as possible.
He titled this latest collection—Fear of God’s tenth full one—“Eternal Order” which he explained as “a philosophy of dress in the sense that it transcends time, it transcends season, age, gender and occasion.” The result was a co-ed wardrobe consisting of sumptuous overcoats, fluid tailoring and leisurely separates in a typically restrained palette of black, brown, gray and, for the first time, navy. It drew ever so lightly on American sportswear and military clothing, but also felt subtly Eastern in the asymmetric-tied suits and monastic silhouettes.
“When I started it was all instinct,” said the 48-year-old at an early showroom preview during the Paris men’s collections. As he has gained more knowledge and experience, said Lorenzo, his approach has evolved, at least in the abstract. “In the beginning you have an instinct to fill a void, but as you go on you have more of an understanding of the void that needs to be filled, versus the thing that fills the void.”
How did he fill it this time? Anchoring the collection (and proposing a solution to a button-up) was a flattering pullover shirt with three-quarter sleeves and a panel of two small buttons at the neck, which featured a regal high collar that popped by design. Also new was Fear of God’s debut pair of pleated trousers, marking a shift from the flat-fronted styles of sweatpants and workwear. Made from a robust-looking mouliné wool in brownish gray, they had confident pleats and wide belt loops, through which were threaded belts whose buckles were concealed behind strips of leather—another item edged towards a cleaner conclusion.
The driving force behind Lorenzo’s increasingly granular process of reduction and refinement is a terminal perfectionism. “As soon as we’ve delivered this, I’ll have ideas on how it can be improved,” he said. “I don’t know that I’m capable of making something so perfect that it doesn’t need some type of an update.” Even so, he gets closer each time.