How GENE SIMMONS Lasted A Year In The Fashion Biz
November 11, 2008, 16 years ago
Hollywood Today is reporting:
There have always been fans that mimicked musician GENE SIMMONS’s leathers, platform boots and eye makeup, but you can’t really wear them out except to a KISS concert.
Yet his new line of “regular” clothing, if that term can be used with anything related to Simmons, has Simmons & designer Jason Dussault excited as the pair celebrated their first anniversary of their Los Angeles store this Saturday November 8th.
Canadian Jason Dussault also nicknamed “Deuce” of Dussault Apparel and Gene Simmons launched their first Los Angeles store exactly a year ago while filming “Family Jewels”.
The store is located at 8010 Melrose and their only Westcoast store besides the Kustom retailer in New York’s Financial district.
Their first two clothing lines, Dussault Apparel and Moneybag were earlier available over the internet and at the Vancouver flagship store Deuce.
The concept of the store is “Dussault Apparel Motel” and the setup is a hotellobby at the checkout counter.
The Motel store sells street garb — a ready-to-wear collection of high fashion hoodies, denim jeans, tops and exclusive luggage from their Moneybag label.
Dussault said “Gene Simmons and I started the Moneybag label in May 2007 but Gene owns the logo for over 25 years that he uses for his record company, book imprints and magazines”
The Moneybag Limited Edition products and Gene’s t-shirt line are truly one of a kind custom feel because every piece is hand painted and detailed.
The line has a touch of nostalgic inspired materials, each t-shirt is made of two separate colors of cotton,woven together-then bleached and hand dyed.
The garments are signed by Simmons himself and no shirts are exactly the same.
Before shipping the T-shirts are enzymed-washed to soften and appliqued with embroidery.
For Spring 2009 fashion the designer team decided to debut a new line called “Trashed” denim at Phoenix fashion week in October earlier this year. The “Trashed line” later continued its launch in New York and was presented at a special event sponsored by Pave’liquer at Kustom retail store during the fashionweek here in LA.
Gene and Jason make people understand that “Each piece of “Trashed” denim is hand-sewn, hand-painted, dyed and washed thirteen times.
This process creates depth and layers and make them very unique to look at-just like '70’s rockstar.”
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