Combat medic and former creative director of Ogonёk Odesa store Iordan Konstantinidi presented his brand RBTNK - it was a relaunch of his eponymous Rabotnik line, created in 2020. RBTNK's first drop features chevron t-shirts dedicated to defenders, medics, volunteers, rescuers and journalists. DTF Magazine talks about the new brand in more detail.
About the launch of RBTNK
Three years ago, in 2020, Ogonёk presented a collaboration with the KSENIASCHNAIDER brand — a collection of t-shirts and caps with the inscription "Worker of the Year". Then the drop was dedicated to "all those who did not give up in the quarantine year and continued to work."
In 2021, a separate Rabotnik brand emerged from the collaboration, with an expanded range of products. And t-shirts, caps, notebooks and cups began to be supplemented with the updated inscription Rabotnik of the Year . According to Jordan, in 2022, he and his team were developing a new project for his brand, but everything stopped after the start of a full-scale war.
Iordan Constantinidi joined the Armed Forces, first as an orderly, and then as a combat medic. Currently, he works as the head of the battalion's medical center.
"I went to serve, and of course, at that time I gave up the brand because I had other tasks. Then there were no ideas at all, no strength at all, but there was a certain pressure inside - I was very angry that I might lose my dream along the way. So I didn't lose hope."
In the spring of 2023, after changing his position to an administrative one, Jordan developed the idea of "what the brand should be this year", but the "cornerstone" was the name.
" Before the full-scale war, he was called Rabotnik - in Latin, because we wanted to create a neologism in English, a word that would mean 'a person who works'. I wanted to keep the meaning, but get rid of the Russian word. My private Telegram channel came to the rescue, where I asked my subscribers for advice. So Rabotnik became the abbreviation RBTNK."
He adds: "I deciphered the title as really busy, talented n' kind ("really busy, talented and kind") and everything fell into place. Because these words describe those for whom I created the brand, and the idea of the neologism remained."
RBTNK still lives up to the slogan that the team came up with in 2021: "who works well, dances well."
Jordan explains it like this: "Nothing has changed for me since then. Yes, I am in the military now, but I can afford to dance, listen to music, sing with my brothers and relax after a hard day's work, because otherwise it is impossible. We are the same people. We are the same employees who want corporate events, team building, and this is important. Without it, it is impossible to build a team. If you want to complete the tasks with your team, you have to spend time with them not in a combat environment, outside of work."