Daniel Smith has never seen the original rain jackets crafted by his great-grandfather’s Ketums shop in Paris before the Nazis shut it down in 1940. But before Smith set out to recreate the jacket — with some Bay Area updates — he did get a look at sketches and fabric swatches.
“That’s all I had to go on, but I think I’ve designed a jacket for men and women that is a close approximation of the original,” Smith said.
Smith, 28, lives in San Francisco and makes the the Bondy jacket — the cornerstone of his great-grandfather’s business — by hand at a factory in Oakland. Smith has no store. A one-man operation, he works out of coffee shops.
Smith founded the current incarnation of Ketums in February 2015, after leaving a career in the tech world a year earlier. The change in direction was a long time in coming. Nine years ago, while studying political science and architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, Smith traveled to Florida to spend time with his paternal grandfather.
“I made the trip to learn more about him,” Smith said. “My Grandpa Saul was not an outspoken guy, and my family has always been historically tight-lipped about leaving Paris and coming to the U.S. That all made me super interested to talk to him.”
On that trip, Smith did hear some family stories. “For the first time, my grandfather told me about his dad, Joseph Smutek, and his Ketums shop, which was located at 66 Rue de Bondy,” he said. Smith hasn’t been to Paris but friends have told him the building, in a residential area, is still standing.
“Ketums” is “Smutek” spelled backwards. When the family came to the U.S. — Smith isn’t certain of the year — the Immigration and Naturalization Service changed the family’s name to Smith.
Smith’s grandfather showed him one of Smutek’s business cards, along with two or three fabric samples and design sketches. For the first time, Smith saw a photo of his great-grandmother, Sara, who helped sew the raincoats. Smith also learned that his grandfather Saul had stayed in the garment industry after coming to the U.S., working as a pattern maker and dress designer in Manhattan.
“I wish he had been a better storyteller, because I didn’t get a lot of details,” Smith said. But what he did get was a big idea.
“I thought making an all-weather heritage coat 75 years after the shop was closed would be a cool continuation of my great-grandfather’s business,” he said. “I just don’t like the way the original Ketums story ended.”
Smith grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he attended a Jewish day school and went to Camp Ramah. Later, he worked as an intern for Michael Oren, the American-born former ambassador to the U.S. who now is Israel’s deputy minister in charge of public diplomacy.
Over the years, Smith had visited the Bay Area several times with friends, and he moved here in 2010. He took a job in the tech world, but already had decided that eventually he would start his own clothing company.
The first step was to enroll in design and drawing classes, studying at night after work. Smith sought out friends and “friends of friends” in the garment industry. He went to a fabric show in Los Angeles. He met with pattern makers, marketing experts and people who know about manufacturing clothes. And for inspiration, Smith gathered up a couple of jackets that he admires.
Slowly, the contemporary Bondy jacket took shape. Smith chose a waxed cotton fabric made in Scotland, with a combed flannel lining.
“I was going for something durable with a clean look, a little tapered, a jacket you could wear all day and into the evening, and something that would age with a nice patina,” Smith said. “I wanted this jacket to represent the Bay Area and also its Parisian roots.”
The first prototype was completed in August 2014, and that’s the jacket Smith wears to this day. For the next six months, Smith made design refinements. The first official version of the jacket debuted in February 2015 at ketums.com. “That’s when I took the website live and invited orders,” Smith said. “I shipped out the first jackets one year ago in June.”
Smith declined to say how many Bondy jackets have been manufactured or sold, but said the business is profitable. “New York is my biggest market, with San Francisco second,” he said. “So far I have shipped jackets to 25 countries, including Israel. Right now, I’m getting orders from Australia, where it’s winter.”
Smith’s next step, he said, is to figure out how to grow his business. Also, he has designed some new garments for the Ketums brand, including a flannel shirt, due out in the fall.
“Whatever else I decide to do, I want easygoing pieces, timeless pieces that are wardrobe staples, clothes with a San Francisco tradition, all made locally in Oakland,” Smith said. “That’s the dream.“