How does a fledgling designer manage to launch his first line with a high-profile show at the Commodore Ballroom featuring a live performance by the Swollen Members? Jason Dussault, the smooth-talking mastermind behind the high-end street-wear Deuce Custom Ink believes that if you're gonna do something, do it right. “If I throw a barbecue, it's not just a barbeque. It has to have a theme. We'll have goodie bags and a chef will be cooking. I want to make everything an experience,” Dussault says when the Georgia Straight sits down with him at the new Deuce boutique (56 Powell Street). (You need a loonie to get in the store's door. An arcade-style coin slot has been rigged at the entry, and after depositing your coin you enter a photo booth. Press the button, smile, and say cheese. Staff let you in and give you your picture as you peruse the merch.)

With the help of long-time investor friends and a great publicist, Dussault made it happen. It doesn't hurt that he counts Swollen Member Prevail among his pals and has connections at Leone's L2 boutique, where it is currently the number one seller. Plus, the launch was a fundraiser for the Canuck Place Children's Hospice. (The silent auction raised around $10,000.) The chosen theme for his July 13 Commodore debut was “Deuce's Wild Carnival”. The event came complete with a clown emcee, played beautifully lewd by actor Peter New, and the Underground Circus, a group of trapeze/acrobat performers.

Given that the line consists of little more than jeans and hoodies, a gimmick was definitely needed to keep us interested. That's not to say that the individual pieces aren't interesting. They're very well made at the Deuce studio and at a local factory, and they're all one of a kind. Using his own ideas along with the expertise and artistry of local designers Jenny Cummer, Peter Tsang (cocreator of the local line PierreJale), and tattoo/airbrush artist James Acrow, Dussault delivers street couture that's done just the way you want it.

“I know things are going to be hot almost before they happen,” Dussault says, “and it sounds really egomaniacal, and I don't want to sound like that, but what I wanted to do was bring that not just to myself, but I wanted to give that to the world.”

All the jeans have hand-done custom details, from multicoloured embroidery on back pockets to dead-stock vintage fighter-jet or bed-sheet fabric in a cowboys-and-Indians–print on the inner waistband and other pockets. Only 1,500 pairs were produced. All are signed, dated, and numbered. Dussault will custom-fit the classic straight-leg jeans, adding whatever details you want. For example, you can bring in your favourite blankie from childhood, and he'll sew it into your jeans. Starting at $375 off the rack, they go up from there, depending on how you personalize them.

Hoodies start at $200 for an unlined, basic number and hit between $500 and $600 for somethin' fancy, like one with an original cartoon or tattoo-art influenced embroidered appliqué and fully lined with retro fabric, silk, or velvet. Dussault created one for Nicole Richie, personalized with a red-and-white print lining and a cute little “R” appliqué.

Famous people aside, we wonder who can drop half a month's rent on a hoodie? Apparently there are young?'uns out there afflicted with terminal cooliosis who have pledged to save up just to have the hippest, most custom hoodie evs! Oh, and Deuce also makes a lightweight Italian lambskin shirt-cut jacket that is so soft it's beyond butter and it goes for $2,000. Start savin', kids.