Chronic

Chronic

A clothing brand built for the streets, inspired by the skate culture we grew up in.

Chronic was a skate-inspired clothing startup co-founded with Max. We looked to brands like Butter Goods, Bronze 56k, and Passport to shape a visual language that felt authentic to the skate niche: raw, minimal, and unapologetically niche. Over the course of the brand we released three drops, growing from tees only to tees and hoodies, building a small but loyal following with each release.

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Collaborator

Max

Discipline

Brand Identity
Art Direction
Product Design
E-commerce

Drops

3 total

@chronicaustralia

We wanted to make clothes we'd actually wear. Not trend-chasing streetwear, not watered-down skate pastiche — something honest, considered, and built for people who know the difference.

Category

Fashion / Apparel

Niche

Skate & streetwear

Inspiration

Butter Goods, Bronze 56k, Passport

Products

T-shirts, Hoodies

Born from the skate niche

The skate clothing niche has its own rules. Graphics that reference the culture without screaming it. Fits that work on a board and off it. A palette that leans earthy, faded, worn-in. We studied what made brands like Butter Goods resonate: the restraint, the craft, the sense that every piece was considered. We used that as our benchmark.

Chronic's identity was built around that same quiet confidence. The name, the logo, the colour choices, the way copy read on a hang tag. All of it pointed back to one question: does this feel like it belongs in the culture, or does it feel like it's trying to?

Chronic — model in white tee by a ute in an open paddock

Drop 01

Drop 01 — Woolies Bag Tee

Woolies Bag Tee

The first release. Kept it tight: a single run of tees to test the market and prove the concept. Clean graphics, quality blanks, small batch.

Drop 02

Drop 02 — Chronic ghost tee flat lay

Tees

Built on what we learned from the first drop. Refined graphics, tightened the sizing, pushed the brand voice harder in the campaign.

Drop 03

Drop 03 — Chronic hoodies campaign

Tees & Hoodies

The biggest release. We added hoodies for the first time: heavier weight, embroidered detailing, the kind of piece you hold onto.

Chronic tees worn at the guerrilla garden
Chronic tee — industrial lookbook
Chronic tee — industrial warehouse shot

3

Drops completed from concept to delivery

2

Product categories — tees and hoodies

0→1

Built a brand, supply chain, and e-commerce from nothing

Every detail earns its place

Graphic design for clothing lives and dies on restraint. We looked hard at what made reference brands work — Butter Goods in particular, noticing what they didn't do as much as what they did. No overloaded back prints. No trying-too-hard slogans. Graphics that rewarded close inspection without demanding attention from across the room.

Chronic's palette stayed earthy and muted throughout. The logo was designed to work at every scale, from a chest hit to a woven label. Drop by drop, the visual language sharpened as we understood our customer better.

Chronic end of winter sale campaign
"Does this feel like it belongs in the culture, or does it feel like it's trying to?"

Running a brand teaches you fast

Chronic was the first time I owned every part of a product: sourcing blanks, managing print runs, building an online store, writing product copy, photographing the goods, and handling fulfilment. The gap between designing something and actually getting it into people's hands is enormous, and every drop made us faster at closing it.

By drop three we had a proper process: design locked two months before release, blanks ordered early, photography planned with a consistent aesthetic. The brand grew with each drop not just in product range but in confidence. We knew who Chronic was.