Palm Springs Drag Queen Honey Davenport launches new and inclusive hosiery brand

Honey Davenport, a former contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race, is beginning what they say is their most ambitious project yet: becoming an entrepreneur.

Davenport spent time traveling the world, performing drag on stages in London, Dublin, Sydney, and Berlin. And after becoming a Drag Race alumni following season 11, Davenport knew there was more work to do in the future. Although Davenport loved the hustle and bustle of New York City and Los Angeles, they knew it was time for a different pace of life. So, Davenport packed up and moved to Palm Springs, where drag is both influential and intrinsic to the community. That's when Davenport got the idea to start their own business.

"This felt very bare," said Davenport, opening up to News Channel Three's Tori King inside their Palm Springs home. "This is very much my dream. This is what I want to do, but in the beginning, I didn't even know how to make it happen on my own."

From humble beginnings to worldwide fame, launching a new business was the next mountain to climb for a Queen who prefers to walk in six-inch heels.

"Palm Springs gave me the resources to make this dream a possibility," said Davenport. "But I won't lie, it's intimidating to start your own company. That fear, it's crippling when you're going into something that you don't know. And I didn't know anything about running a business up until that point."

For decades, Davenport personally saw a need in the Drag community, and a lack in product in the marketplace for one non-negotiable product used during performances: hosiery.

"In my 18 years of experience in drag, I could not find hosiery that matched and fit," said Davenport. "I realized it was a problem for so many other people in my industry. And for so long, I had been dyeing my own tights. When I started doing drag out I would dye my tights with coffees and teas, anything I could do to get them to match my color, because they didn't come in it. And when you perform, you have to wear four to five pairs, and they would rip, or get runs and just not last very long at all."

That realization pushed Davenport to create 'Honey's Hose', a black-owned, queer-owner line of pantyhose tailor made for Drag Queens, with performance in mind.

"'Honey's Hose' is a size and color inclusive line of tights geared towards the drag community, but also for tights wearers of every size, shape, color and gender," said Davenport. "The material is stronger, so you don't have to wear as many of them to achieve the look you want, and they won't rip as easily. Where I really see this going, my really big hope for this is for all performers, not just drag performers. I'm talking ballet dancers, Broadway performers, the Vegas show girls that need to wear hosiery, they see this, and they know that there's something for them too."

The line was designed with more than eight shades and skin tones, and the sizing is unique as well.

"When people buy these I want them to feel empowered. So I created names that felt empowering for the size that they are," explained Davenport. "So we start at a size 'star', and then we have a size 'legend', and then we have our 'diva' size, and then we have our 'goddess' size. These are all names that when you're purchasing it you can buy them knowing that 'I am a goddess, I am a star, I'm a legend,' you take that on stage with you. You know? It's confidence. It's confident self-love."

Not wanting to do this business endeavor solo, Davenport turned to two local organizations to help bring this dream to life. Davenport also spent several weeks taking business classes, and enrolling themselves in mentorship programs in Palm Springs to jumpstart a grassroots effort.

One of those agencies that Davenport leaned on was the SBDC Network, an organization in Southern California that helps startups create strategies for a successful business blueprint. Hugo Loyola is the business consultant with SBDC who helped give Honey's Hose, legs to stand on.

"We have helped thousands of new businesses here in California," said Loyola. "We see clients at every stage of their business life, from startup to when they launch and beyond. We do things like viability studies. We do market research to find out 'Who are their main competitors, what is the market in the industry? Where are they? With the life cycle of that?' And all of that data goes into the strategic plan."

Davenport also utilized Caravanserai Project, a non-profit that has experts in business mentorship, micro-grants, and access to funding. Davenport got connected with Mihai Badru, the Chief Executive Director for the organization, calling him a mentor over the past year.

"Since 2018, we served about 3500 entrepreneurs," said Badru. "Our mission is to help them with business planning, financial management, financial literacy, marketing, and website design. Really anything that an entrepreneur and the business owner needs to grow."

Both agencies worked in tandem with 'Honey's Hose,' to give Davenport the tools they needed to not just survive, but thrive.

"This was like a perfect alignment of opportunity, and a great product idea,"
said Loyola. "We already know who the target audience is going to be, and Palm Springs, I mean, this is the perfect place to get this off the ground."

"It's giving them the right tools that represent them, from the color of the product, from the texture, from the size of the product," said Badru. "I think it's very important for any community, like the drag community and performers, to feel that they can find products that define them and make them comfortable."

As for Davenport, this is only the beginning, but they are thankful for the mentorship they received along the way.

"Connecting with Caravanserai Project, and SBDC was amazing," said Davenport. "Every question that I've had, if they didn't have the answer, they knew somebody to call who would, and connected me to all of the pieces I needed right here in the community."

'Honey's Hose' is set to launch on Friday for pre-order. Davenport is also setting up a crowdfunding page for interested parties and investors. For more information on the new hosiery line, click here.

Davenport is also hosting a launch party on Friday, from noon to 4:00 p.m. at Toucan's Tikki Lounge in Palm Springs. During the party, the new hose line will debut during several drag performances. There will also be panel discussions on drag, cocktails, mocktails, food, and more. For more information on the launch party click here.