Jerry Lorenzo and Adidas Design Director Shane Ward teamed up to break all the rules of sneaker production with their newest collab.
“I’m trying to bring the emotion that I felt then in high school, opening up a new pair of sneakers for the first time,” says Jerry Lorenzo, American fashion designer and founder of Fear of God. “Something about opening up a new idea that just feels like a Christmas present that, in the end, quite simply, does exactly what it was designed and intended to do, which was to perform in it.”
For Adidas Design Director Shane Ward, achieving that vision in the newly launched partnership between the Three Stripes and Fear of God meant dismantling traditional corporate structures: “We had to create a separate, almost a small business, a small unit of cross-functional partners from design, development, tooling engineering, upper engineering, working outside of our normal jobs to meet every week, talk every day to actualize performance and shape.”
These contrasting perspectives – Lorenzo’s emotional resonance and Ward’s practical execution – represent more than just another sneaker collaboration. They signal a fundamental shift in how performance footwear is conceived, developed, and brought to market.
Boardroom recently sat down with each of the men behind the vision in Atlanta as part of the Fear of God Athletics II Basketball’s pre-launch festivities, where they offered a candid look at their unconventional path to redefining basketball footwear and apparel.
Disrupting the Process
The conventional sneaker development process typically involves rigid timelines, established procedures, and multiple layers of corporate oversight. With the Fear of God Athletics II Basketball, Lorenzo and Ward took a different path. “It took us four years to get here, and I would say two years from the initial sketch of this particular shoe,” Ward reveals, highlighting the team’s commitment to getting it right.
“You have to have a skill set that a lot of people at big companies don’t,” Ward explains, referencing his experience running his own business. This entrepreneurial mindset proved crucial in navigating the complex balance between Lorenzo’s uncompromising vision and Adidas’s technical expertise.
Ward established what he calls a “workstream” – a nimble team operating outside traditional corporate constraints. “Once everyone trusted that we could get there, then it became a lot easier,” he explains. “That’s the word that’s most important on this is ‘the trust.'”
This approach required a delicate balance. “First and foremost, I have to have myself and the team align with Jerry’s vision and he trusts that we’re going to execute where he sees the brand going,” Ward notes. “But at the same time, inform, and I would say even as a knowledge-share, what athletes and what performance needs are critical to making this product work.”
When Worlds Converge
Lorenzo’s journey to this moment is anything but conventional. After transitioning from sports management to party promotion to founding Fear of God, he built a luxury brand that transcends traditional fashion categories. His approach – deeply rooted in faith and emotional connection – brings a unique perspective to performance footwear.
“I was never a big sneakerhead — I’m still not,” Lorenzo admits. “I just was always kind of driven by those moments [of nostalgia]. And I found that those moments didn’t exist anymore. Where you opened up something that was intended to truly perform, and it’s a new idea that you were excited about.”
Meanwhile, Ward returned to Adidas after over two decades away, bringing fresh perspectives after running his own business for two decades.
“When you’re really faced with paying employees, when revenues don’t come in, when you’re faced with trying to create newness and a product line but don’t have the finances to open up new molds to create something new, you truly have to bootstrap,” he explains. “You become more than just a designer. You become a developer. You become a negotiator. You become a businessperson.”
The fusion of Lorenzo’s emotional connection to product and Ward’s battle-tested business acumen proved essential in reimagining what a performance basketball shoe could be.
Shifting the Culture
The basketball footwear landscape has become “almost one note,” according to Ward. “There’s not a lot of basketball shoes that kids are wearing outside of that, and there’s a reason for it.”
The Fear of God Athletics II Basketball aims to change that narrative.
“I think it’s extremely hard to do,” Lorenzo says about breaking through with a new product. “Consumers are so used to seeing things that they’ve seen before and calling them new. … It’s very hard to come up with a new idea because every new idea requires some education, every new idea requires some getting to know it.”
The shoe’s adoption by NBA player Gabe Vincent validates its performance credentials while maintaining Fear of God’s luxury aesthetic. “When Gabe wore them, it was cool, but game two, game three, game four, he’s been playing in them every night,” Lorenzo notes. “I’ve had some one-game hits before, but [players] need something [they] can go back to.”
By prioritizing both innovation and functionality, the Fear of God Athletics II Basketball aims to bridge the gap between court and street – it creates an entirely new category that makes the very distinction obsolete.
Beyond Sales
For both creators, success transcends traditional metrics. While Ward declares, “We’ve delivered on the promise, and this is successful. We’ve already won,” Lorenzo’s measure is refreshingly straightforward: “Simply, is it better? Is it doing what we intended it to do? And is it better than what we did last time? To me, that’s success.”
This focus on long-term impact over immediate reaction shapes how they handle feedback. “Yeah, I mean, I pay attention and definitely hear the chatter,” Lorenzo acknowledges, “but I wouldn’t be where I was if I listened to the chatter. I think it’s a little scarier when no one is saying anything.”
This partnership between Fear of God and Adidas doesn’t just challenge assumptions about basketball footwear – it presents a new model for how brands can collaborate, innovate, and create products that serve both performance and cultural purposes.