The Fear of God Athletics brand was supposed to be a huge deal. The Yeezy partnership had broken down, Adidas’s soccer-inspired shoes — like the Gazelle and Samba — had taken off, and Jerry Lorenzo came in to make a collaborative line. Lorenzo made a beloved series of shoes with Nike and — even more famously — is responsible for “Essentials”; an affordable streetwear diffusion line of his “Fear of God” luxury label.

Though Essentials peaked during the pandemic — when loungewear and streetwear were both in — the brand remains an enormous business as one of the most popular among fashion-conscious men in their 20s.

So, the Athletics line — where Lorenzo would bring his Essentials aesthetic to in-house original Adidas clothes and sneakers — should have been enormous. Only it isn’t. It arrived years late, at higher prices than anticipated, and isn’t widely available. Visit any Adidas store, and not only will you not find any “Athletics” product there or any mention of it, but employees may not know what you’re talking about.

Those who bought the product online found that the apparel was poorly sized and of subpar quality, despite being almost triple the price of Essentials, and the sneakers didn’t live up to their performance claims. I like the Basketball 1 a lot — I own two pairs of them. Yet it was sold as an on-court shoe when it’s too heavy and insulated for performance use; and yet, it also lacks the comfort of more everyday focused shoes. I bought them for the look, and value their winter-boot feel for London’s cold weather, but I’m not the average customer, and that wasn’t their intended purpose.

In short, Fear of God Athletics has been a quiet disaster. But if the product had been released independently, without the build-up, and wasn’t expected to be an enormous line, people would be far more positive towards it. And that brings me to their latest shoe, the Fear of God Athletics Trainer.

It uses the same Lightstrike midsole as the Basketball II model, with the semi-translucent sides, but whereas that model was fitted with a light, court-friendly upper, the “Trainer” is a luxury mid-top walking shoe, inspired by the in-house Fear of God sneakers from their latest collection. The upper consists of thick, hairy grain suede wrapped around the ankle, with a thick ribbed heel guard and a nylon strap across the mid — which ostensibly is for lockdown support but is mainly for the look. It reminds me a little of the Visvim sneakers that were trendy some years ago, and they’re comfortable and supportive on foot.

At $250, they’re still a premium product, but for the first time, it feels like an understandable value for a typical consumer. Whereas the previous Fear of God Athletics product felt like elevated Adidas — or not even that elevated — this felt like a Fear of God product, but at a quarter of the price. Perhaps that’s also why it’s the first shoe they’ve released to quickly sell out.