All Is Fair on the Flipside: a Conversation with Peregrine Honig
Peregrine Honig, working with pattern designer Laura Treas, is forming a new line and store
All is Fair in Love and Wear, a brand comprising binders, packers, tuckers and cinchers that
allow the wearer to transform their body’s original shape. The new shop All is Fair is located
in the Bauer building in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District. The brand’s intentions on
whom it serves and why has been brought into question recently. In the interest of all
fairness, Informality is presenting Honig’s perspective on the project. I stopped by Birdies on
Tuesday afternoon to ask Honig about the venture
the future storefront for All is Fair
MM: What is your concept behind All is Fair?
PH: All is Fair in Love and Wear is a brand of middlewear binders, tuckers and cinchers patterned
by Laura Treas. Treas has thirty years of experience in the post plastic surgery garment
industry.
All is Fair is partnered with The KC Care Health Clinic. Bill Haw of Haw Contemporary, Sarah
Baum, and Kirk Isenhour. Myself and these great collaborators are working on an annual
series called Care Package with artists that provide limited edition necessities focused
specifically on transgender teenagers emerging from the foster care system. Boxes will have
basics: new pillowcases, a toothbrush, fresh socks, condoms, coupons implementing
positive self-care, and information about local health facilities and regional transportation.The
first boxes will be available in Spring at Bloom. an event that raises money for the hospice
and the Kansas City Care Clinic.
Since acquiring the lease in June, I have used All is Fair as a classroom for patterning
workshops offered to the public taught by Miranda Treas and as a studio for a visiting artist
collaborating on All is Fair garments. I’m working on getting a 501c3 to eventually provide a
micro residency, something Kansas City would benefit from.
I want All is Fair to be a space people can rent for a lecture, used for a show of someone’s
work that is having a conversation about gender identity. I want it to be a shop for people
who can pick up a garment that makes them feel better going about their day.
Images of various compression garments courtesy of Honig
MM: Are you collaborating with other artists on this project? If so are any of them part of
the LGBTQIA community?
PH: Yes. It is wonderfully unavoidable, Jennifer Neihouse, Teddy Tinnel, and Theodis William
among many. I have met many times with Neihouse and both Tinnel and William are models
of the garments for the Kickstarter. Luckily Teddy agreed to be a part of the project. He is in
the film for the kickstarter- I can’t use him as a model for binders anymore since he has had
top surgery with the assistance of an indiegogo campaign- you know- false advertising.
Teddy has taught me a lot about contemporary masculinity.
space for potential residency at All is Fair
MM: Im curious to how these shops – Birdies and All is Fair – relate to your studio practice.
Birdies especially as your work is always very feminine.
PH: My work is about public and private behavior. I am really interested in how people tell a story
with their body. I am a watcher, I watch people and their bodies and I am really comfortable
being with all different kinds of women. I opened Birdies as an installation and it has become
a successful business. Our first day was Valentine’s Day, people were grabbing their coffee
at YJ’s Snack Bar and I was printing birds on cotton panties and hanging them from a
clothes line. That was thirteen years ago.
I used to really try and separate my studio practice from my store. I would get really self
conscious and annoyed if someone would bring up my business when talking about my work
because it is a pink collar job. I was self conscious that I had to work really hard and I had
taught at the Kansas City Art Institute but that was not necessarily my calling. In terms of a
super regulated schedule, it took the same amount of energy to teach as it did to be in
studio. I don’t think that is true for everyone, but it was for me. When I opened Birdies I had
already been familiar with how to sell things because of the Fahrenheit art space. I took the
highbrow alternative gallery language and brought it to a tiny retail space that was 150
square feet.
I don’t really like to think about money when I am in my studio. I really want to be able to fail
and experiment and try different things. In retail it’s much more regulated.
MM: You said you prefer critique of your artwork and have a hard time with a critique of your
business, why is that?
PH: I rely on my business to pay for my studio and my rent. I want to have a personal experience
with my customers. I want this relationship with my collectors too but I think when somebody
says they don’t like a direction of my artwork, I am more familiar and comfortable with this
situation. I am newer to business than I am to art. No one can make my artwork but me, I am
responsible for that. If someone isn’t into my ideas I am cool with that. On the business end, I
want to provide a service for people that feels comfortable for me and my customers.
shop in progress at All is Fair
MM: What made you chose to take on this venture of All is Fair?
PH: My friend was transitioning and I saw what was available to him, and it was gross- not built
for his frame and poorly constructed. It wasn’t like I woke up in a sweat knowing what the
space was going to be. I got the space first, my amazing intern and employee of many years
Chelsea Huff was going to open up a makeup store and then decided to travel. I was able to
take over that lease, everyone in the building agreed that it was a good fit.
Do you feel that is what you are doing with All is Fair, applying that studio mentality to
the new space?
I think that working with Laura Trease and knowing what potential can come out of the West
18th Street Fashion Show. When you have a business, and you realize something is missing
from your industry, you have to use the Keep It Simple Stupid mentality with it. When you
make art, you want people to believe it happened flawlessly. Same in business. For sure, All
Is Fair has been a challenge. There is no Rosetta Stone for how to speak the language of
the transgender community. Everyone is learning, hopefully now, at a faster piece. This is
inspiring to me, we are living in a time where science and social structures are allowing
people to become what they want to become and we are living in a time where people are
demanding that they be addressed in the way they prefer to be addressed. This is great,
because the more comfortable someone is in their skin, the better life someone is going to
have. That’s what I really would like, through my artwork and through Birdies and All Is Fair,
my intention and umbrella for all of these projects is to make things a little more beautiful and
interesting.
garment detail image courtesy of Honig
MM: How will the garments for trans men differ for those for trans women?
PH: So far, All is Fair has four binders in two colors for trans men. Laura and Miranda Treas are
developing tuckers and cinchers for trans women. We have plans for packers as well.
Compression fabric is pretty limited so I hope we can get some custom colors in our
inventory.
MM: You said that you are seeking out online forums to discuss with transgender people
what their needs are?
Yes for years. So, Jody Rose, a very socially established transgender man that advocates for
the health and spirituality aspects of it, he and I have had long ongoing conversations. There
are established female to male men who are early advocates of being spiritual and being
sexual, getting to know that history has been really important.
I hope the kickstarter is successful, so that I can make a lot of these binders, send them out
to transgender boys and say “Take a Selfie, keep the binder” because who is better to
document the transgender community than the community itself. If I’ve learned anything from
my last exhibition, if you document yourself and you send it to someone else you’re being
directive and telling the other person, “This is how I want you to see me.” It would be really
nice to have at least 15 of these binders to send to have self documentation by those who
would wear them.
shop in progress at All is Fair
MM: Say there is a transgender person who cannot afford to buy a $75 binder. Your promos
that are planned would allow them to get one of these binders and use it rather than
the current methods – like compression tape – that are less comfortable?
PH: I think what’s important is that giving things away isn’t the answer. Give a man a fish, he eats
for a day, teach him how to fish and he will eat forever. It’s a much bigger conversation than
giving away binders for free. The idea is that I’m trying to make something that feels good,
looks good, is middle luxury, and accessible. If I have a successful kickstarter I can make
enough that people can have them for less, because the yardage is expensive for
compression fabric and patterning. I’m sure there is a luxury focused population of
transgender people. A campaign of trans boys in selfies in trade for binders would be fun and
create immediate diversity.
MM: Do you hope to employ members of the transgender community at the store?
PH: Yes. It is a moment where it is just another step in the right direction. I am interested in
meeting transgender people who are really good at retail. Undermining the project in an
attempt to try and make everybody happy is not smart. It has been really interesting learning
the etiquette and the language of transgender culture. You don’t want to walk up to someone
and say “Hey you’re transgender, do you want to work at this store?” Life is a lot more
sensitive and complicated than that.
A question I have asked myself with this is “How would you do a campaign of transgender
boys and girls” A lot of them have invited me into their forums. When I enter that space I
always post “Hi I am a cis-woman feel free to take this down if I am stepping on your toes.”
MM: Have the recent rise in transphobic attacks in Kansas City influenced you to reach your
customers in a new light?
PH: Declining an interview with The Kansas City Star to avoid having All is Fair be the counter
article to the misgendering of Tamara Dominguez was stressful but it made a statement.
Jenee Osterhelt, a columnist from the Star, is now writing a cover article that will include
interviews and perspectives from the transgender community set to be published in
November. There is horrible violence in Kansas City, and we could focus on that but we
could also shift our focus and make people feel cared for.
Owning a small business and being an artist both involve a lot of work and labor. Using
Kickstarter to launch the idea of All is Fair and raise money for material has been a part time
job. The transgender community was rightfully upset with the published misinformation about
Tamara and it was a real forest for the trees moment for me. I knew it might cost me losing
the battle to win the war, even if my battle was building the funds for better weapons. I knew
my fear of not meeting my kickstarter goal was far less important than not advocating for the
community I was advocating for, but failing publicly scares most people.
MM: One core argument that has been posed toward the shop is the financial situations of
the trans community – with the income disparity and discriminatory laws in both Missouri and
Kansas. Do you worry that the core community that would love to purchase your undergarments will
not be able to afford them?
PH: Just like everything, the higher the demand, the larger the production run, the cheaper and
more inhumane the labor, the less cost to the consumer. Our landfills are full because we
demand bulk items and create massive overstock. I am not sure what the supply and
demand will be for All is Fair. It’s 2015 and Laura Treas expects ready-to-wear garments to
fall between $45 and $100 with custom pieces taking longer and costing more.
I am exploring filling a niche because I saw what was available to the transgender
community and the garments I encountered were not built for trans bodies. I saw sportswear
and compression fabric masquerading as binders. To assume there isn’t a wealthy or luxury-
focused transgender population is small-minded, assumptive and incredibly disrespectful. I am
curious to find out who my customers are, what they need, and how they spend.
MM: Will there be ways for these garments to be made available for those who cannot
afford the price point?
PH: Providing a discounted or free compression garment to someone is not going to change
employment laws or help with issues of discrimination. Working to educate people and
navigate helping transgender youth emerging from the foster care system with the help of
The Kansas City Care Clinic will. The KC Care Clinic is the second oldest free health clinic in
America. It’s on 35th and Broadway and if you come in with health care, your insurance
essentially pays for someone who doesn’t have any.
MM: Is the fundraiser you did with the panty auction for Planned Parenthood something
you hope to do with All is Fair?
PH: Yes, not a panty auction but the boxes I mentioned earlier, they will help transgender teens in
foster care in Kansas City. I thought how nice it would be to make something that both art
patrons and people emerging from the foster care system could use. We can partner with
different artists and make limited edition objects, so that essentially it will work like Tom’s
Shoes, you buy one and give one. Toothbrushes, clean socks, etc. I want to be associated
with this box that makes people have a great day.
interior of Birdies panties
MM: Can you elaborate on your difference in decor from this space here at Birdies to that
of All is Fair? You say Birdies is meant to feel like a romantic turkish bedroom, but All
is Fair- in its current state, has a very stark art gallery style feel to it. What is your
intended mood for that space?
PH: Sterile, healing, cold and there is no such thing as neutral but minimal. When I look at how
long it has taken birdies to get closer to my dream state of how it could be, when I think of All
is Fair, I think about a swimming pool that hasn’t been built. I want to treat the floor that way,
blue and bright. But everything else pale green and white and crisp. I need the space to
remain open and sparse.
At All is Fair the furniture is very crisp, asian-inspired, mint colored, and linear. The curtains
we are going to make are all going to be pale nylon. I like this idea of it feeling clean. The
light in there is so different and the space is so tucked away and underexposed.
MM: Do you worry about the fact that is in an alley?
PH: I don’t worry about that at all. There are weddings most weekends at the Bauer. It’s not a
conventional alley. Its beautiful, and lined with flowers. Maybe in a space of the city that was
less developed or if it had a different feel, it may be burdened. It’s not suburban but it is
quaint.
MM: Do you think that is important for your audience? To have it tucked away?
PH: The space itself inspired me to open All Is Fair. It told me what it needed to be. You
don’t get to walk into a space and tell it what it is. I did not come to All is Fair from a
business standpoint thinking hmm… how much money can I make off the transgender
community, get a commercial lease and navigate like an imperialist. Instead I found a
space that was really clean, tucked away and safe. Everyone at the Bauer is on board.
From the hairdressers and aestheticians to the wedding venue. There is a feeling in
that building that I know is a safe and welcoming space. I wouldn’t open All is Fair if I
didn’t think that it was open, friendly, and considered.