Fredericton clothing designer wears his business on Dragons' Den

He's Fredericton's very own fashionista, and this week, Jeff Alpaugh got his own catwalk onto the Canadian TV seriesDragons' Den.

The Fredericton business owner was featured on Thursday night's episode for Jeff AlpaughCustom, outfitted by his shopat 649 Queen St., which supplies custom-made shirts with wild patterns tailored in Vietnam. The product is known to consumersas "Dangerous DressShirts."

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On Thursday, Alpaugh and partner Emilee Boychuk struck a deal with the CBCshow.

They gave up a 30 per cent share in the start-up company for $100,000 in capital investment from Michele Romanow, a tech entrepreneur, and Mike Wekerle,investment banker.

Meanwhile, they also received a guaranteed order of $50,000fromWekerle, just in time for the reopening of the El Mocambonightclub in Toronto.

During the show, Alpaugh said, he was more starstruck than anything else and he's never missed an episode.

"I'm a massive fan of those six dragons," he said. "I mean that's better than meeting Brad Pitt or some big Hollywood star. I didn't even feel like they were judging me."

The company started in February 2016 and have sold more than 1,700 dress shirts to555 people in eight countries. The shirts are made by young men in Vietnam, a tradition that's been passed down from generation to generation.

"It's acraft that's passed down," he said.

Alpaugh said the custom shirts are transformative, allowing a person to feel more confident. In his shirts, his customers walk differently, stand differently and talk differently .

"People notice that about you," he said in an interview with Information Morning Fredericton. "That's a dangerous dress shirt."

How it was sewn together

Alpaugh remembers being a poor dresser growing up, and ithad a huge impact on both his personal life and the start of his professional one. Often, he said, he had a hard time landing a job from aninterview.

"I looked like such an idiot," he said, laughing.

"I was such a terrible dresser it actually caused me a lot of problems."

Why am I wearing a shirt because Hugo Boss told me to wear that shirt?-JeffAlpaugh

He went into Harry Rosen Inc. in Toronto, a men's clothing storesimilar to Robert Simmonds Clothing in Fredericton, and asked if he could get a job.

"They said, 'No, because you look terrible,'" he said.

He settled for a job at MooresClothing for Men, where he was taught how to dress. Then he went back to Harry Rosen and eventually got a job there.

Over time, the designer learned how to improve his wardrobe and gain his self-confidence. He eventually went back to Harry Rosen.

"They said, 'We remember you and you start tomorrow,'" he said.

But over time, Alpaugh grew tired of wearing the same old button-up shirt and was looking for something more distinctive. He came up with the idea to design his own.

"You go to a lot of stores and there will be like a blue shirt on the shelf, you flip up the cuff and there's this pattern that's a bit crazy underneath," he said. "Inmy mind I want the whole shirt to be that crazy pattern let's do it, why are we holding back?"

Krista Ross,CEO of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, was happy with Thursday night's episode and is looking forward to seeing where business takes the duo in the next year.

Ross knew about the TV appearance months in advance and said the couple have been working hard to create both an interesting and unique product.

"It's a very visual product that was able to be highlighted in that type of opportunity," she said."Even if they hadn't made a deal, the national exposure in participating is still beneficial."

Over the next few months, he's hoping to sell at least1,000 shirts and hire more employees, which shouldn't be a problem given his new claim to fame.

"Why am I wearing a shirt because Hugo Boss told me to wear that shirt?"