‘Penny & Drum’ Online Baby Boutique Opens
Bermudian Ilona Perry has spent the last ten years in various roles within the entertainment industry in Los Angeles and Montreal including that of screenwriter, location scout, actress, and producer.
Her latest project is just as creative, but also utilizes her business sense. Starting January 6th she launched an online baby boutique that leans toward unisex clothing called Penny & Drum.
The business is based in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles where she has lived for the last eight years. Silver Lake was deemed by Forbes magazine to be the hipster capital of the U.S. and is also known for its progressive politics, which drew Ms. Perry to the area.
Ms. Perry states, “My store is a curated boutique with quality, practical pieces that step away from the hyper-masculine and hyper-feminine clothes that are considered old-fashioned now.
“Many celebrities are naming their children with unisex names and even Kate Middleton has dressed her son George in pink. Times have changed but retailers are not keeping up.
“In my own purchases for family and friends, I found the lack of unique items that don’t perpetuate toxic gender norms to be very frustrating and I took it upon myself to bring what I was looking for all together in one place. Having choices is essential. How else can you express yourself without choices?”
She explains further, “The name Penny and Drum is a direct acknowledgement of my home country of Bermuda and my personal values of encouraging individuality and inspiration.
“The penny is a nod to the hog penny distinctive to our island. The drum is a reference to the saying, ‘dancing to the beat of your own drum’. My company’s motto is, ‘Let the kids be who they are!””
“I feel very strongly that every single person deserves to develop without limits placed on them based on racism, sexism, or homophobia which are parts of the same system of oppression. Every personality and potential is individual, and we are doing a disservice to the world when we refuse to allow growth.
“Even in small things, like the clothing we choose to dress our children in has contained hidden messages on what it is to be a girl or boy.
“There is no reason to enforce the idea that girls are weak and dainty, and there is no reason to believe that boys are incapable of behaviors beyond violence and control.
“If we want to empower our youth to be healthy complete human beings then we must start at the beginning. I can only hope that the effort snowballs into a more inclusive, loving society with a place for all.”
Penny & Drum launched on January 6, 2018. The website is www.pennyanddrum.com.
This is fantastic! This liberal approach to the industry should be lauded and supported. Gender is nothing but a twentieth-century artificial construct.
Sure it is a twentieth-century artificial construct. That’s why these medical researchers need to stop leading us astray by saying that certain illnesses are gender specific. The amount of a population segment who has ovarian cancer or prostate cancer has nothing to do with their gender. Right?
Another thing is these archaeologist with their mind in the gutter thinking they’ve dug up some phallic symbol from centuries ago. Don’t they realize those findings where just carvings of a type of stirring rod with hemisphere on top or people who were born with a third arm.
I agree that clothing or anything else we adorn ourselves with should be considered gender neutral since it is just pieces of textile we use to put on ourselves. That said, believing that, “Gender is nothing but a twentieth-century artificial construct.” is just ridiculous. Stating this means that you are ignoring centuries mammalian evolution that has set them apart from seahorses and earthworms. Nature made gender not humans. We just decided on the words to describe these distinctions.
If you want to talk about real artificial construction at present then let’s talk about Caitlyn Jenner.
So this is a US company with no delivery to Bermuda?
Hi Hope! Thanks for the interest! We are just starting out small but hope to implement International Shipping as soon as we can. Looking forward to being able to provide this service to the island! Best Wishes!
We are pleased to announce that Penny and Drum is now shipping to Bermuda and Worldwide! Thanks again to everyone who has supported our venture thus far.