Reflections from Ukraine: A Journey Through Saint Javelin’s Growth and Production

In this personal reflection, our founder Christian shares insights from a recent trip to Ukraine. From visiting manufacturing partners across the country to collaborating with Ukrainian shipping giants like Nova Poshta, this blog post offers a glimpse into the heart of Saint Javelin’s mission: supporting Ukraine while producing high-quality gear inspired by defenders.

Two weeks ago, we received the best compliment about our clothing that we could hope for.

It was during a photoshoot for this year’s Defender collection (sidenote: will drop very soon). We were shooting at a mechanics garage in Kyiv which is used to repair Ukrainian military vehicles and equipment. That day, they were repairing old Humvees, Soviet-era fuel trucks and even a “trophy” Russian BTR that Ukrainian troops had captured from Russian soldiers. 

On all our shoots, we hire Ukrainian soldiers, medics, and volunteers as our “models”. 

A military medic, Iordan, came up to Julia, our Head of Marketing, and told her that our fleece was so good he wanted to wear it “to work”. For me, there’s quite honestly no better sign that we’re on the right track.  

My goal is to produce items that are strong enough for the men and women on the frontlines who have to wear them in the worst conditions, and if they give it the thumbs up, then I know they are good enough for the rest of us. 

It’s genuinely incredible how far we’ve come from that first sticker.  

We have spent over 2 years testing and experimenting with different partners and we now have incredibly strong manufacturing relationships across Ukraine, from Kharkiv to Lviv. We source raw material from some of the best textile manufacturers in the world, including the legendary American company responsible for “Polartec” fleece, and Japan’s YKK zippers. We’re even using environmentally friendly materials like 100% recycled polyester, and OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 certified fabrics which are tested against a list of over 1,000 harmful substances and certified harmless to human health.

As Saint Javelin became famous as the “Protector”, we have ideas to create and produce clothing and accessories that protect against the elements – from wind, sun, rain, snow, and even fire.

The idea is to produce clothing that is “Ready for Anything”.

To show you our progress on that path, let’s take a week-long look behind the scenes of Saint Javelin.

On October 8th, I had the opportunity to talk about the work Saint Javelin has done in front of hundreds of European military members, diplomats, bureaucrats, and analysts in Vilnius, Lithuania during the “Defending the Baltics” conference. Right afterwards, I hit the road and landed at the airport in Rzeszow, Poland, which is where most of Ukraine’s military support passes through before it crosses the border. 

We drove from Rzeszow to the border crossing at Medyka, walked across the border into Ukraine then made the drive to Lviv. In Lviv, we met with the manufacturing team currently making our new backpacks. 

This summer, we began working with this team on the design for our backpack. It was based on a “Two Day Assault Pack” that they’d been sewing for the Ukrainian military since 2017. After some testing, and some back-and-forth suggestions on design adjustments to make it more suitable as an everyday carry for civilians, we locked it down and they got to work.

They took us around their facility to show us the step-by-step production process, and it was so fulfilling to actually see this idea come to fruition. Ever since the launch of our Defender collection last year, I’ve been trying to find new items we can bring to the collection, and I thought that this backpack was the perfect fit. 

We didn’t get to spend a tonne of time with them because we still had to drive to Kyiv, but before we left Lviv, we stopped at our storage warehouse. There, we took a look at 3,000 pairs of Merino wool socks we recently produced as part of our “Buy one, Donate One” concept for Ukrainian soldiers. Every time you buy a pair of socks at Saint Javelin, we’re committed to giving away a pair of these Merino wool socks to soldiers. The reason we made these from merino wool is because it’s the best moisture-wicking material to keep feet dry, and that becomes critically important in the fall and winter in trench warfare. 

That night, we made the 6-hour drive to Kyiv, and arrived just before the military curfew set in. 

The next morning, we drove to meet our newest, and one of our most long-anticipated partners, the Ukrainian courier giant Nova Poshta. These guys are famous for delivering packages across Ukraine faster than anyone else, no matter what. After the full-scale invasion, their ability to get packages delivered to areas that seemed impossible became a meme in and of itself. For example, as Ukrainian troops began to liberate previously occupied parts of Ukraine, one of the first things you’d see in that newly liberated town was a Ukrainian flag, and the second would often be a Nova Poshta truck delivering packages.

One of our new reps at Nova Poshta told us about a review they received that they like to share. It was from a girl in Kharkiv who said one night, she could not sleep through the relentless Russian bombardment of her city, so she began scrolling through her phone, and bought a book online at 3 am. Around 7 am, when she was leaving her apartment to go to work, she was utterly shocked to step outside and find the package in the postbox near her apartment building. 

These people are hugely responsible for the continuation of economic life in Ukraine through the full-scale invasion, and we’re incredibly proud to finally say that we’ll begin shipping our products to our customers around the world from Ukraine, using Nova Poshta. 

To show us how it’ll work, they invited us to their massive distribution center outside Kyiv, where we’ll be one of their first international fulfillment clients. Although they are the biggest and best in Ukraine, their presence globally is still very small compared to the giants like FedEx. Right now, they have offices or operations in the UK, USA, Poland, Turkey, Germany, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic, France, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, Canada, China, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Australia, and Philippines.

They have big global plans, and it’s very cool that we can be with them on that journey. 

Our next stop that day was a 2-hour drive away, to the manufacturing facilities of the team in charge of our fleece jackets and fleece quarter zips. Located in the Chernihiv oblast, the town of Pryluky was nearly besieged by Russian soldiers during the early days of the full-scale invasion but Ukrainian troops were able to hold them off, while other towns in the area were not as fortunate.

To me, this was one of the most special visits because we only began working with this team in the spring, and they’ve proven to be one of the most professional, outstanding partners. Prior to the full-scale invasion, they were known for their coats and jackets, but ever since, they’ve become an important partner for the Ukrainian military, sewing many of the items that Ukrainian soldiers wear every day. 

From the start of our work together, they’ve taken our initial designs, and then given incredibly valuable feedback to help us iterate to our final versions. The end result we saw during our visit is just remarkable, and it really gave me faith that the things we want to do are all possible now that we’ve found people like them. 

Something that’s very importantly to me as well is that you can really tell they care about their people. They have a litany of certifications, acknowledgments, and awards for the way they produce, which includes the treatment of their staff. 

 The fleece full zip hoodie, the fleece quarter zip, our sweatpants and our thermals are just outstanding pieces of clothing, and I’d rank them with any fall / winter items you can get from brands like Patagonia, Arcteryx, North Face, etc.

Later that night, as we arrived back in Kyiv, one of our reps from Nova Poshta met us for dinner and dropped off this gift bag. Inside, it included some NP coffee, some NP socks and most special to me, they gave me a book for my son, and I’ll never ever forget how thoughtful that was.

The next morning, I started by meeting and hiring our newest team member, before moving onto an interview at the Ukrainer offices, and then a visit with 2402 Foundation, which was started by two journalist friends of mine after the full scale invasion. As a former journalist, these were some of the people I was thinking about the most after the russians attacked on February 24th, and when they came to me to talk about the needs for Ukrainian journalists, it was a no brainer. I’m incredibly happy to have been able to support them to the large extent we did in the early days of Saint Javelin, and we’re now going to launch a little collaboration of sweaters with them. 

Later on that day, we got to meet face-to-face with a team that I have admired so much for a very long time. The people at the famous Ukrainian brand Riot Division invited us over to their new space in Kyiv called MOJAVE, which is a retail store carrying Riot Division as well as a select few Ukrainian “military” brands.  

It was so interesting to hear from people who’d been doing it so long and to hear their origin story, as well as some of their funnier anecdotes about building a clothing brand in Ukraine. 

I was very reassured to see their reaction to our fleeces and thermals. Immediately, they began to inspect the garments and commented positively on the quality of the stitching, and the materials. They were also super impressed that we were using Polartec fabrics. 

Over lunch, they invited us to officially become a part of MOJAVE, so we’re so happy to finally announce that for the first time, a select assortment of Saint Javelin products will actually be available to shop, try on, and purchase in downtown Kyiv. We couldn’t have asked for a better place to do it than MOJAVE.

Finally, on our last two stops that day, we visited a fabric distributor in Kyiv who helps us find the right raw materials, and can bring them into the country whenever we can’t do it ourselves. They’ve got decades of experience doing this, and they know all the best mills around the world.

To cap off the whirlwind of partner meetings, we took an hour drive to the outskirts of the city to visit one last manufacturing partner who focuses on t-shirts and sweaters for Saint Javelin. For the first time, with their help, we’re going to be introducing a variety of different varieties of basics, both for men and with specific cuts for women. 

All of this is such a level up from what we’ve been doing, and it feels like it’s just the start. We’re still learning so much everyday, and I know that means we make mistakes. We know it has been painful sometimes, and it’s always so upsetting when that happens. Believe me when I say that we obsess about the customer experience you guys are having with Saint Javelin because we all feel a strong responsibility to represent all this work our partners have done in the best way possible. 

We’re improving how we do that from top to bottom, including with a completely new website, shipping solutions, and items we put out into the world.

It’s been a crazy but fulfilling experience so far knowing that our work has helped so many people, and it feels like there’s still so much more we can do so please stick around with us as we work hard to continue building this thing.