Jerry Lorenzo embraces past to promote "Sinners" film with Fear of God capsule
- Kick The Concrete
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
The hype is strong for "Sinners," Ryan Coogler's latest film with Michael B. Jordan. Fans flocked to theaters across the country to see how the actor delivered the director's vision of a vampire movie that tackled issues of race, identity and freedom. One friend of the creative duo, Jerry Lorenzo, offered his own contribution to the movie's marketing in the form of a Fear of God "Sinners" capsule collection.
The collection dropped April 16 and, in typical Fear of God fashion, is already sold out. The T-shirts ($95) and hoodies ($195) featured a dark gray base, the movie title and "Dance With The Devil." On the back of each piece is "JL Nights" written vertically with a slash of blood across to form a cross. Proceeds were donated to the Altadena Community Fund in the aftermath of the Los Angeles fires.
“Guided by the film’s narrative, I looked inward—drawing from personal parallels and life’s deeper truths—to design the collaborative capsule for SINNERS," Lorenzo said in an Instagram post. "This marks the first time I’ve intertwined my ‘sinful’ past with our God-fearing brand. There are things we dance with that, in time, we realize we must run from. It’s within these fragile moments that we either meet our destruction, or find the clarity to evolve and be redirected. ... humbled to be able to design merch that invoked an honesty and freeing revelation for myself."
The "‘sinful’ past" Lorenzo referred to was his time hosting JL Nights, a party series he started in Los Angeles in 2008. JL Nights was a place to mingle with the who's who in hip-hop. Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Teyana Taylor and Don C were among those who came to have a good time.
“There weren’t any parties I could go to to hear hip-hop and see people that dressed like me,” he told Complex in 2017. “So we created that. ... The parties were legendary."
As great as the parties were, Lorenzo's legacy in pop culture would be cemented for another reason entirely.
He started Fear of God in 2013 because he wanted to make clothes that represented him and his peers. The brand name comes from an entry in Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest" devotional. Lorenzo also includes motifs of Bible verses in his designs and incorporates worship music in Fear of God campaigns.
“We’re not a Christian brand, but if the wind is going where God says it’s going to go, then that’s what I’m going to do with my brand," Lorenzo said to the Los Angeles Times in 2018. "If the rocks are going to praise him, then I’m going to praise him through what he’s given me.”
Lorenzo left party promoting behind so he could focus on fashion. He also adopted a life of sobriety. Today, besides managing the Fear of God empire — Fear of God, Essentials and Fear of God Athletics — Lorenzo is a husband and father of three.
“My life is in a different place,” he continued in the 2017 Complex interview of why he moved on from JL Nights. “So much of what I thought was socially important just isn’t important to me anymore.”
In just the past month, Lorenzo was honored by the Fashion Scholarship Fund and was featured in Vogue and GQ's breakdown of this year's Met Gala theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style." He is currently working on Fear of God's Collection 9.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, "Sinners" made $48 million at the box office in its opening weekend and has a chance to become the highest-grossing R-rated film to release in April ever.
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