AH_21a277d2-e265-11ec-9ba8-ac1f6b742a2bThe Witch of Konotop is now associated not only with the story by Kvitka-Osnovianenko, now it’s more about the power of spirit and resistance of the Ukrainian women. The women of Konotop not only dared to stand up to armed muscovites, but also threatened them, and with nothing other than magic and curses. :) This subject just had to be reflected in our Buntarky (the Rebels) series. That’s how this women’s bomber jacket came to be.
The jacket is military in form and meaning. It has the khaki color and the silhouette of a flight jacket (and quite right too because witches are basically an Air Force). The bomber jacket is elongated, it has an elastic bottom hem, collar, and cuffs. The sleeves and sides have additional fabric layers sewn over, a sort of wings, to give the bomber jacket more swiftness. It looks like the jacket is being blown by the wind in flight. On the front, there are two large pockets with side and top openings. Safety flap underneath zip fastener and a contrasting lining. Just like the true flight uniform, and even more.
As for decorations, this bomber jacket breathes rich in patches. Besides our traditional decorations - an embroidered logo, patches from the Buntarky series, and Independence war, it has more theme-based patches. We tried to fantasize what the actual Witches of Konotop combat squad would look like. Here are the Konotop Special Forces patch with traditional embroidery elements, a Witch forces UA patch, and Freedom Fighter with a black cat, and a patch with the PPZR Piorun missile. This MANPADS launcher with a missile is also present in the large image on the back. The large print shows the witch of Konotop in uniform riding a PPZR Piorun with a missile in her hand (because broomsticks are in the past).
Composition puts her in the center of a roundel, and besides a "Witch of Konotop" inscription, there is also a motto, or rather a warning for the enemies — “Jinxed in Ukraine”.
On the back below the collar, there’s a large UA. On the front, a quote from the same-name story is printed in matching color: “she is a natural witch, that doesn't drown in the water with stones, that steals rain from the sky, and befuddles people with her charms”.
AH_609a9dd7-5ccd-11eb-a232-0cc47a40fa97This is the legendary men's jacket in our interpretation. It replaced another model of the field jacket of the US Army — the M-51. It‘s got larger pockets and a modern design. Actually, 1965 is its year of issue. These kinds of jackets were also in service during the war in Vietnam when the "Flying Cossacks" unit performed combat tasks there. That's why we decided to design this jacket in the style of our series dedicated to them. The jacket turned out to be comfortable, it has 4 large patch pockets on the front, which are traditional for this model, a tie on the waist, and a stand-up collar (although with a hook-and-loop fastener) with a concealable hood. The sleeves have protective flaps to shield the hands from the weather. It used to have a different patch on the sleeve, the original patch of the "Flying Cossacks" with the unit number and trident in slightly different colors. But now we have changed it to a more relevant one — a cross and trident which is one of the symbols of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On the back is a printed slogan "Fight like Ukrainians".When we created this jacket (and the series in general), we had only one task, one thought, and one goal: to tell about the Flying Cossacks and their efficient military campaigns. That is how the slogan "Fight Like Ukrainians" appeared, and with it we wanted to emphasize that Ukrainians know how to fight in a way that sets an example to the world. Many people then perceived this slogan as a little exaggerated and too pretentious. A few years have passed, and this slogan no longer seems controversial. Ukrainians showed the whole world that they know how to fight for their country, their values, and their culture. We were given 3 days, but we’ve been holding on for much longer and we will hold on for as long as it takes. People all over the world are inspired by Ukrainians, and Ukrainians have become an example of resilience and unity. So our slogan went far beyond a little story, and now anyone in the world can say "Fight Like Ukrainian" and everyone will understand what it means.