The country's largest manufacturer of work clothing began producing “elite” workwear

Managers and owners of large companies are often tormented by the question “What to wear?” if they have to visit a mine or drilling site, and the temperature outside is minus 45 degrees. A cashmere coat and leather-soled boots are clearly inappropriate here. What should I do? Especially for such cases, the Vostok-Service company, the country's largest manufacturer of work clothing, began producing “elite” workwear. The idea was submitted back in 2001 by the then head of YUKOS, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. “He often visited oil companies abroad, brought special clothing from there and asked us to make it like theirs,” recalls Evgeniy Shuvalov, senior vice president of Vostok-Service. Italian and Swedish designers participated in the development of the models.

What does expensive workwear look like? Waterproof jacket made of breathable fabric with Thinsulate insulation, which is one and a half times warmer than natural down. Jumpsuit with self-release pants: unbuttoned on the side so you can undress without taking off your shoes. High boots with natural fur, frost-resistant soles with spikes and a special impregnation that repels both oil and gasoline. The clothes ordered by the former head of YUKOS were approved only after the “third fitting.” In 2002, oil workers purchased 1,000 sets for managers of the parent company and production subsidiaries, and then another 1,000 to reward production leaders. Then purchases stopped.

Now Vostok-Service has decided to launch the development for YUKOS into mass production. Instead of $1000, the kit costs $300. Buyers: divisions of TNK-BP, Sibneft, Surgutneftegaz. The orders are not large, but Vostok-Service is not upset. “If we made a suit that the director liked, he will order us regular workwear for the entire enterprise,” Shuvalov hopes.

Special fashion from Khodorkovsky