Design a Day: Why We're Releasing Something New Every Day This September

If you've been anywhere near The Defiant Co throughout September, you'll already know what we've got ourselves into.

One new design.

Every single day.

Available for 24 hours.

Then it's gone and the next one takes its place.

We're not even halfway through Design a Day yet, and we've already released more individual designs this month than most brands would probably consider sensible.

Different garments.

Different styles.

Different ideas.

Some unmistakably Defiant.

Others taking us somewhere slightly different.

And there are plenty more still to come.

When we came up with Design a Day, the concept sounded simple enough.

Thirty days.

Thirty designs.

Twenty four hours each.

Actually doing it is a completely different story.

But that's partly why we wanted to do it.

Because Design a Day was never simply about finding a way to sell more clothing throughout September.

There was a much bigger idea behind it.

We Wanted to Give You a Reason to Keep Coming Back

Most clothing launches follow roughly the same formula.

A brand spends weeks teasing a collection.

It launches.

Everyone talks about it for a couple of days.

Then everyone moves on.

We wanted September to feel completely different.

Design a Day means The Defiant Co changes every morning.

Whatever was available yesterday has gone.

Something completely new has taken its place.

And tomorrow we'll do it again.

By this point in September, some of you have already started making checking the daily release part of your morning.

That's exactly what we hoped would happen.

You genuinely don't know what's coming next.

A completely different garment.

A huge back print.

Something stripped back.

Something based around an older Defiant idea.

Something we've never done before.

That's the point.

Rather than asking you to pay attention to one big launch, we've tried to create something that evolves throughout an entire month.

Check the website.

See what's dropped.

Tell us what you think.

Grab it if you love it.

Then come back tomorrow and see what we've done next.

24 Hours Really Does Mean 24 Hours

One thing should probably be obvious by now.

When we say a Design a Day release is available for 24 hours, we mean it.

Once the next design arrives, the previous one disappears.

We didn't want to create fake scarcity by pretending something was limited and then mysteriously finding another thousand of them three weeks later.

The entire point of this project is movement.

Every design gets its moment.

Then we move on.

We're already seeing people develop favourites.

We're seeing designs disappear that people wish they'd bought.

We're seeing conversations about which releases should eventually return.

Good.

That's exactly what we wanted.

There will inevitably be designs people want us to bring back.

And if something becomes completely impossible to ignore, who knows what might happen further down the line.

But during Design a Day itself, the rule remains simple.

One design.

One day.

Then onto the next.

We're Showing What We're Capable Of

One of the biggest reasons for doing this was variation.

It's very easy for a clothing brand to discover one aesthetic that works and spend the next five years producing slightly different versions of it.

Change the slogan.

Move the logo.

Switch the colour.

Call it something new.

That's safe.

It's also boring.

The Defiant Co has never been interested in being one dimensional.

We love bold graphics.

We love stripped back designs.

We love performance clothing.

We love oversized pieces.

We love designs that have a meaning behind them.

And sometimes we create something for no deeper reason than we think it looks fucking cool.

You've already seen some of that variation throughout September.

And we're nowhere near finished.

Design a Day gives us the freedom to explore every part of what Defiant can be without forcing every release into one perfectly coordinated collection.

Not every design needs to look like the one before it.

In fact, we'd rather it didn't.

Putting Our Design Skills on Show

There is nowhere to hide when you've publicly committed to releasing something new every single day.

Thirty designs is a lot.

It would have been very easy to produce five good ideas and twenty five variations.

That's not what we wanted this to become.

The challenge is to keep finding something different.

Different typography.

Different illustration.

Different placement.

Different colour.

Different garments.

Different influences.

Different parts of the Defiant identity.

And now that we're actually in the middle of doing it, that's probably one of the parts we're enjoying most.

Every morning is another opportunity to put something completely different in front of you.

Some releases will feel immediately familiar.

Others might make you wonder what the hell we're doing.

We're fine with both.

Because if every single one of these thirty designs appeals equally to every single person, we've probably played it far too safe.

Being Different Has to Mean Doing Things Differently

Every clothing company tells you they're different.

It's probably one of the most overused words in the industry.

But being different isn't something you write in an Instagram bio.

You have to demonstrate it.

For us, committing to a completely new design every day for an entire month is part of that.

It's difficult.

It creates an enormous amount of work.

There is planning.

Designing.

Garment selection.

Production.

Photography.

Website changes.

Emails.

Social content.

Printing.

Fulfilment.

And then, just as you've finished talking about today's release, it's time to start thinking about tomorrow's.

Would one big September collection have been easier?

Absolutely.

But easier isn't necessarily more interesting.

And it definitely isn't more Defiant.

We'd rather attempt something ambitious and see what happens.

We're twelve days in.

So far, we're pretty happy we did.

Design a Day Gives Us Permission to Experiment

This might actually be the most important part of the whole project.

Not every good idea needs a twelve month product strategy behind it.

Sometimes you should be able to create something simply because you want to see whether people connect with it.

Design a Day gives us that freedom.

Because each release exists for such a short period, we can experiment.

We can try styles that might never have made it into a conventional collection.

We can revisit ideas from our history.

We can push existing Defiant concepts somewhere new.

We can try different garments.

Different colours.

Different aesthetics.

And then we can watch what happens.

Which designs sell?

Which get shared?

Which create conversations?

Which divide opinion?

Which ones have people messaging us the following morning because they missed them?

That feedback is incredibly valuable.

We're learning more about what people want from Defiant with every release.

And whether you realise it or not, everyone following Design a Day is helping influence where we go next.

You're Already Telling Us What Works

One of the things we've enjoyed most so far has been seeing the reaction change from one design to another.

Everybody has different favourites.

Something one person absolutely loves might do nothing for somebody else.

That's exactly how clothing should work.

We don't want to create thirty designs that everybody thinks are "quite nice".

We'd rather create something somebody absolutely fucking loves.

And occasionally something somebody else wouldn't be seen dead in.

That's infinitely more interesting.

So keep telling us.

Vote with your wallet.

Vote in the comments.

Send us a message.

Tell us which design should never see daylight again.

Tell us which one you can't believe we're only selling for 24 hours.

Tell us which one deserves to become a permanent part of The Defiant Co.

We're paying attention.

It Also Shows How Far Defiant Has Come

The Defiant Co started in 2018 with four products.

Four.

There were loads of things we wanted to create back then.

More colours.

Different garments.

Technical products.

Bigger collections.

But we deliberately didn't try to do everything immediately.

We built.

We learned.

We travelled around the UK CrossFit community.

We listened to customers.

We improved.

Eight years later, we're now in the middle of releasing thirty different designs in thirty days.

That's pretty fucking cool when you actually stop and think about it.

This project isn't just about September.

It's also a demonstration of how much the brand has developed.

From launching with four products to being able to conceive, design, produce and deliver something completely new every day for an entire month.

And we're still only getting started.

Some Designs Will Always Sell Better Than Others

We're already seeing it.

Some designs connect instantly.

Some appeal to a smaller group.

Some surprise us.

And by the end of September, there will undoubtedly be releases we completely misjudged in both directions.

That's creativity.

If you already know exactly how everything is going to perform before you release it, you're probably not taking enough chances.

We never expected thirty guaranteed bestsellers.

That isn't the point.

The goal was to create thirty genuine ideas.

Put them in front of you.

Give each one its 24 hours.

Then let you decide.

This Is Bigger Than Selling Thirty Designs

Obviously we want Design a Day to sell.

We're a business.

Pretending otherwise would be ridiculous.

But if this were purely about maximising sales, there are considerably easier ways of doing it.

Design a Day is about engagement.

Creativity.

Experimentation.

Showing what we're capable of.

Giving our customers something genuinely new to look forward to every day.

And reminding ourselves that building a brand should still be fun.

It's incredibly easy when you're running a business to spend all your time thinking about algorithms, advertising costs, conversion rates, stock levels, forecasts and margins.

All important.

But somewhere amongst all of that, you're supposed to remember why you started creating things in the first place.

Sometimes you need to make something simply because you think it deserves to exist.

September has given us thirty opportunities to do exactly that.

And we're not even halfway through them yet.

The Defiant Perspective

Defiant has never meant being different purely for attention.

It's about refusing to automatically follow the path everyone else has already taken.

Sometimes that means making decisions other people don't understand.

Sometimes it means taking a risk.

Sometimes it simply means asking one question.

Why does it have to be done that way?

Design a Day is us asking that question about the traditional clothing launch.

Why do we need to spend months building towards one collection?

Why can't we release something completely different tomorrow?

Why can't our customers influence what happens next?

Why can't a design exist for one day and then disappear?

Why can't we experiment?

Why can't we change our minds?

Why can't we have some fun with it?

There isn't a good answer.

So we're doing it.

We're Not Even Halfway Yet

That's probably the best thing about writing this now rather than before Design a Day started.

You've already seen what we're capable of.

You've already picked favourites.

Some of you have already bought multiple releases.

Some of you have already missed one and regretted it.

And yet there are still eighteen completely new designs to come.

Some are bold.

Some are simple.

Some feel unmistakably Defiant.

Some might surprise you.

And there are a few we're particularly excited for you to see.

But every single one gets exactly the same opportunity.

Twenty four hours.

Then we move.

If you love today's design, don't wait too long.

If you hate today's design, that's fine too.

Come back tomorrow.

Because tomorrow we'll do it all over again.

Thirty days.

Thirty designs.

Thirty opportunities to show exactly what The Defiant Co is capable of.

We're twelve days in.

And we're only just getting started.