On Wednesday night, Jerry Lorenzo put on a Fear of God show in LA – the first Fear of God show in the brand’s ten-year history. Beginning by designing five custom looks for Justin Bieber’s Purpose world tour, and subsequently producing his merch, Lorenzo founded Fear of God in 2012. Things picked up when Big Sean’s stylist got a hold of his t-shirts and a few weeks later he got a call from Ye – who incidentally was present at the show (masked up) with his new wife Bianca Censori (who was also masked in a nude, morph suit-style look). So why did it take ten years for Lorenzo to stage a show? Backstage, he was quite matter of fact about it: “I’ve never believed in just speaking… I really feel like I finally had something to say,” he said. So a decade in the making, here’s everything that went down at the show.

THE VENUE HAD A LEGENDARY HISTORY

The show took place at the Hollywood Bowl, an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills and one of the most iconic music venues in the US. Ten minutes from Lorenzo’s home, the space holds a lot of personal significance for the designer, so was a natural choice of venue. “A beautiful night at the Hollywood Bowl is really hard to beat in LA,” he said. “And so doing it here was both personal and it just felt right… the last show was 30 years ago, Calvin Klein, another American designer. So kind of felt right for many reasons.”

“Me and my wife have seen everyone from Christopher Cross to Steely Dan and Diana Ross to Bon Iver to Nas and Wu-Tang,” he continued. This is my favourite place in LA.” For his show, Sampha joined this illustrious lineage, performing a stripped-back and spine-tingling set that included some of his best-known tracks, such as “Plastic 100°C” and “(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano”.

PUSHA T MADE A SURPRISE CAMEO

Following Sampha’s performance came the show itself, which comprised a series of looks that reflected Lorenzo’s elevated-everyday approach to fashion. When asked post-show how he decided what to include in the collection, he said it came down to a very simple question: “Would I wear it?” In a palette of black, brown and camel tones, the collection was relaxed as it was refined, with a sense of understated – but very much there – luxury. Former Dazed cover star Lineisy Montero modelled in the show, along with skateboarder-slash-model Sage Elsesser and Alton Mason, who was the last to prowl down the runway. Following Mason’s exit, Pusha T made a surprise cameo, performing a short rap and then quitting the stage while fireworks shot into the sky.

LORENZO LET THE MUSIC DO THE TALKING

Backstage, Lorenzo declined to go too much into the meaning behind the show, saying that he’d already said what he had to say. Some of this had been through the soundtrack, which included early Black gospel music, Nina Simone’s haunting cover of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” and Kanye West’s sampling of it on “Blood on the Leaves”. “With the music, I needed to share every part of the Christian journey, the Black journey, and not just the parts that people like to pick to celebrate. You know it’s a beautiful journey. But it’s even more beautiful if you pay attention to every part of it and understand why it is what it is.”

“When I grew up, my dad told me stories of his grandma picking cotton,” he went on. “Now I have the luxury that my staff brings me fabric books, and I get to pick and choose the cotton. So there’s freedom, and there’s a responsibility that comes from a lot of pain. But more than pain, it comes from love.”