Keepa Kouture: Where Yarmulke And Fashion Meet

Two enterprising teens found inspiration for their company in synagogue.

The stylish minds behind Keepa Kouture: Jonathan LeVian and Joseph Kamali. They’re students by day and fashion entrepreneurs all of the time.

by Jeremy Bilfeld

‘Can I call you back in five minutes?” Jonathan LeVian hung up his cell phone after his newest fabric supplier called him. He quickly texted his business partner, Joseph Kamali, for an emergency meeting in the hallway. Afterwards Jonathan ran back into class to catch the end of his College Writing course. Joseph slunk into AP biology. A senior and junior at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School, Jonathan and Joseph are already leading double lives. They are not only full-time students, but also young entrepreneurs.

Finding Inspiration
While sitting in shul in June of last year at Share Shalom in Great Neck, Jonathan and Joseph noticed that most of the men were wearing plain, old-fashioned dark blue and black suede kipot. Jonathan

always dreamed of establishing his own kipa company that everyone could enjoy, but he never really had all the pieces to the puzzle. In this day and age teenage boys are just as fashionable (if not more fashion-conscious) than girls, and bar mitzvah aged boys really care about the look of their party favor kipot.
Jonathan and Joseph, childhood friends, quickly pounced on this societal and consumer trend. Since they always had an interest in starting a small fashion business, they decided that they were going to make this kipa company dream a reality.
When Jonathan first brought this idea to his mother, she had doubts that this fashion line could officially become a business. Could two teenagers in high school really create their own company? Despite any setbacks, they continued to pursue their much-loved kipa company.

Making It Happen
The two new business students went to Joseph’s uncle’s fabric factory to pick out the material they were going to use for their kipot. The fabric that they picked out was lining from the inside of suits. This lining is more silky and trendy than the average kipa. They thought that this would look good for a new style of fashionable kipot.
Next the two partners needed to find a factory to make the kipot. After hours of online searching, Jonathan and Joseph finally found the right factory. It was very hard to find the right fit because the factory that you choose acts as your new family (well, not literally).

“When a mother is looking for a babysitter to watch her child she makes sure that it is the right person, just like finding a factory to make your kippas,” Joseph said. The most important consideration for an appropriate factory is being able to trust the people you work with.

A very important element of running a business is having a catchy company name. Jonathan and Joe chose the name Keepa Kouture because they liked the repetition of the “k” sound and they wanted the name to sound upscale.

The next step in becoming a sufficient business was a customer web page. Jon’s cousin was able to design a Keepa Kouture logo and Web site (www.keepakouture.com) that would attract kipa customers. The company logo contrasts black with lime green colors and was specifically chosen because of its playful look. Between the words Keepa and Kouture is a head wearing a black kipa with green trim. This web site, which should be up and running in the next six months, will feature pictures and different styles of beautifully stitched linen, seersucker, leather and silk kipot.

This dynamic duo divided their fashion enterprise into separate collections: Kouture Black (the black tie line), Kouture Sport (the sporty line), Kasual Kouture (every day wear), Destroyed Denim Kouture (fashion forward line), and the Limited Edition Line (for the fashion risk-takers who are not afraid of funky fabrics and bold colors). The collections will hopefully be a starting point to expand their company nationwide.
Bumpsin the Road

There isn’t one business company in the whole world that doesn’t have start up problems. Keepa Kouture had a few of their own. First, the factory that they chose wanted to charge more money for the kipot than they would actually sell them for. The high-quality labels for the inside of bar mitzvah kipot would be very expensive
Also the factory had trouble making the kipot into the correct form. Some of them were too triangular in shape while other prototypes were wrinkled or too small. Fortunately they got around these dilemmas by negotiating with the manufacturer and persisting until the kipa design was just right.

Jonathan and Joseph conquered every obstacle in their way and never gave up. But that’s not to say that they didn’t get good advice and support from their fathers who work in the retail and jewelry industry.
“I told Jonathan and Joseph that in business you will always have ups and downs but if you have a plan, stick to your guns and do the hard work, eventually you will succeed,” said Eddie LeVian, Jonathan’s father.

Persistence
and Success
A few months after bringing the idea up to his mother, Jonathan showed her the prototypes that the factory made. Naturally she was very impressed with this and had faith in Jonathan that he could make this dream come true. “No matter what the results, we’ll never forget our first payday,” Jonathan said. “We enjoy making kippas and better yet, we enjoy satisfying our customers.”
To date Jonathan and Joseph’s major accomplishment has been supplying kipot for bar mitzvahs in the Long Island area. Keepa Kouture produced as many as 500 kipot for a single affair. These kipot were navy blue and paisley in design. The biggest sign of this company’s success has been the rate at which the products have flown off the shelf at bar mitzvahs.
Keepa Kouture will soon sell their products in local Judaica stores and online. The kipot sell for $8 to $12.
What young people can learn from Jonathan and Joe is that the most important thing about starting a business is not necessarily the idea, it’s the execution. The satisfaction of knowing that other people are wearing their designed kippas was enough for this duo.
“This kippa company was our dream and we made it a reality,” said Jonathan. n
To order kipot from Keepa Kouture e-mail info@keepakouture.com or call (516) 906-3333.
Jeremy Bilfeld is a sophomore at North Shore Hebrew Academy in Great Neck, L.I.

Westchester Jewish Conference

Westchester’s Jewish Community Relations Organization