Fear of God Is Dropping NBA All-Star Weekend's Most Coveted "Basketball" Sneakers

Five new colorways of the brand's pricey kicks, offered up in a now-signature Jerry Lorenzo style.

Jerry Lorenzo's Fear of God label is known for it's gathered sleeve bomber jackets, carefully distressed jeans, side-striped skinny track pants beloved by both sexes, a certain over-$1K high-top sneaker and fans tend to buy it all up at Pokémon-level speed (Gotta Catch 'Em Aaaaaaaaall). It's become a go-to brand for everyone from Kanye and Kim Kardashian West to David Beckham and Justin Bieber, which means there are a lot of eyes focused on what Lorenzo is doing at any given time. He's also a master of the art of the pop-up shop and store installations that are gone before you know what's up—more often than not because there's no product left to stock the shelves.

So naturally, as the NBA's most stylish players descend upon sunny Los Angeles (Lorenzo's home turf) for this weekend's All-Star festivities, Lorenzo has a couple of tricks up his sleeve: five exclusive new colorways—black/red, white/red/black, tan/black, white/black/red, black/blue/white—of his coveted "1987 Basketball Sneaker," to be exact. The silhouette itself is jarring and eye-catching in all the right ways; it looks like a cleaned-up, luxe-d up version vintage Reebok or LA Gear kicks with a peppering of Rick Owens-esque apocalyptic flair. Inspired by the statement style of NBA icons past and present, Lorenzo's latest versions of his retro-futuristic signature kick are still made of top-notch leathers. The effect is less old-school-meets-new-school and more old-school-meets-Italian-master-shoemaker.

And in these new colorways (one of which is more than a winking nod to Air Jordans of yesteryear) and using some styling cues from the great Danny Ainge (namely the thick tube socks pulled down over the tops of the shoes), Lorenzo has managed to create a lineup that look as expensive as they are and ooze as much swagger as the old school kicks on which they're based (which is no easy task). And to add to the stratospheric hype levels these have hit, each colorway will be offered as an exclusive to a single retailer in Los Angeles. So as long as you don't mind LA traffic—and can afford to drop over a grand on a pair of basketball sneakers—then consider your plans this weekend already made. During basketball's most-watched weekend, one where both Nike and Adidas are dropping big name signature basketball sneakers, Lorenzo's Fear of God off-court sneakers might just be the most coveted of all.

$1,100, available at Maxfield, Union, Barneys, 424 on Fairfax, and RSVP Gallery in Los Angeles.

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