Interview with Dnipro TV about patch culture

Watch an interview with Vladislav Bobrov, President of the Company Brand Element, about patch culture in Ukraine!

Chevrons are an integral sign of belonging to the best in the Ukrainian armed forces. Generally speaking, when one thinks of chevrons, the first thing that comes to mind is the military and law enforcement officers. The fact is that these distinctive patches on clothing were widely used by military personnel as early as the nineteenth century, as evidenced by portraits or photographs that have survived to this day and elements of uniforms that have been preserved. In addition, chevrons were also used in a narrower sense: they helped to distinguish their weapons from those of the enemy. Previously, the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not have a variety of chevrons and were of a standard design, but with the start of the ATO in 2014, new volunteer battalions, military organizations, and units began to appear and receive their own armbands. And it is in our city, which we are very pleased to inform our viewers, that there is a company producing patches and chevrons that makes its products so well that they have repeatedly received gratitude and awards for their conscientious work. Vladyslav Bobrov, the representative and owner of Brand Element, is on the air and now we are going to find out everything!

- In fact, we probably know a little more than our viewers, because we saw the story that our colleague was making and saw the material he brought from your production. I was impressed! It seems to me that this is nanotechnology, but you don't prepare for space the way you make your chevrons! Let's talk about this in more detail. Please tell us about the specifics of your production.

- As you know, let's start with the patches that used to be or the chevrons that used to be - these were embroidered chevrons, and we have a new technology - rubber patches, PVC patches. We are the ones who make these patches. It's a rather complicated process to make such chevrons, but the quality that we can give to the consumer is much better than what was embroidered before.

- The quality is probably more important for ordinary people, namely for the military, do they generally pay attention to the quality of chevrons, or do they have some other criteria? Why do they buy from you, for example?

- You know, everyone pays attention to quality: the military are the same people and the same consumers who use patches. The PVC patch is long-lasting, it can be used in the rain, it does not crack, the threads do not come apart, it retains its color, it does not fade in the sun, it does not have this condition. When you get it dirty, you can just wash the patch under water and it will be clean as new again. Plus the detailing we can do on PVC patches. You will never get the same in embroidery.

- Please tell us, Mr. Vladyslav. Just yesterday I was in one of the military stores in our city, I witnessed two friends of the military buying chevrons for themselves. One of them wanted to buy rubber shoulder straps, and the seller told him that he had to replace all the chevrons to make it look nice. He agreed, he paid a lot of attention and time to it, and next to him was a guy who was really looking for chevrons that were related to his work, he is a drone operator. He needed something related to that. I understand that there are trends in the military, no matter how strange it may sound, war is such a terrible thing, but they take care of their appearance, to be fashionable, to be funny even in some situations. Indeed, you must have noticed that.

- One hundred percent there are trends, they are always going on. Everyone wants to stand out, if they are people who are engaged in aerial reconnaissance or work with drones, they always put patches on their clothes that symbolize the work with drones or it can be some patches just for them, they can even be funny, because war is about humor, so there are always trends. We have patches of the DVIZH line, we make patches that symbolize special operations and that we want to capture in memory through a patch. That's why we have author's patches there, such as the "DVIZH VISHKI" patch, which commemorates the special operation of Boyko's Tower, a patch commemorating the liberation of Kherson, and a patch about 10 years of defense of Avdiivka.

- Speaking of design, how do you come up with possible ideas for chevrons?

- As a production platform, we work with the designs that the client comes to us with, that is, the client may already have their own ready-made design, they come to us and say: "I want to make a patch based on this design". But there are people who don't have a design, so we have several designers on staff who can help the client make a design according to their own wishes. That is, he can provide either a handwritten sketch or dictate a voice message about what he wants to see, what size it should be, what should be depicted on it, and our designer will bring this idea to life. 

- Can I buy one chevron from you or do I need to order a batch?

- You can buy one chevron from us, from those that are on sale on our website. But if you contact us with the development of your own patch, we accept orders only from 100 pieces.

- We know that a year ago, you sewed one thing, then it was the turn of the chevrons. What's going to happen next? 

- Listen, we have plans, we plan, first of all, to develop this business line of ours, because there is a demand from the society and the production of PVC patches is a rather complicated process. That is, we cannot produce 5,000 pieces per day. It is a complicated process, and in order to expand and do more, we buy additional equipment, hire additional people, and there are difficulties with this, so in this sense we are moving and developing. But we also have plans for a new line, which is also gaining popularity among the military, it is coming from the West to us and it is gaining popularity now, I will not say it yet, but we have plans for it. We are working on it very actively now.

- Oh, this unknown, now we will puzzle over what you are talking about. But you say that there is a problem with personnel?

- There is a problem with personnel, and a very big one. The problem is with men, because there are processes where we cannot replace men with women, and this is a really big problem now.

- Dear viewers of Dnipro TV, this is a unique opportunity to find a new job right now, and maybe even get a new profession! Brand Element, a chevron and patch company, is looking for employees, am I right?

- Yes, we are open, we have our contacts on the website, write to us, call us, we are very happy to have an employee!

- I think this will be a good point in our conversation. Thank you very much for visiting us, we wish you prosperity, new ideas, new embodiments of these ideas and let your products please and bring joy to customers, we wish you a good day! 

Vladislav Bobrov, owner of Brand Element, was with us in Morning on Dnipro TV.