On forging her own path, leveraging her privilege and the power of community
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Aurora
“Comparison is the thief of joy: if we’re constantly looking on social media or at other people
and how they’re doing, we’re always going to feel
like our situation isn’t enough”
£660
Stell Mule in Ivory
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£1,108
Mermaid Doodle Cowboy Boot
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£323
Dunes Tan Leather Vellies
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£381
Women's Greg Shoe
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£766
Negril Tennis Club Tote
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£1,445
Lijadu Bird Bag
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Makeup by Shirley Anne Dapaah, using the Jordana Ticia Nude Divinity Palette and Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Ford Blitzer
Words: Lily Russo-Bah
HAIR: Michael David
Makeup: Uzo at AFrame
DESIGN: Treasa Burns
CHIEF SUB-EDITOR: NICOLA MOYNE
Aurora James founded her accessories label Brother Vellies in 2013, with the goal of keeping traditional African design techniques alive whilst also creating and sustaining artisanal jobs. By 2015 James had won the prestigious CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize and went on to become the Vice Chair of the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America). In 2020 she launched an initiative called the Fifteen Percent Pledge, which asked businesses to dedicate 15 percent of their shelf spaces to Black-owned brands. Then, in 2023, she released her first book, a memoir called Wildflower.
In short, the designer, activist and author is a talented multi-hyphenate who uses her platform to champion the causes that are close to her heart. Here, as part of our Women Who Win series, James speaks to Lily Russo-Bah about the American politics, being a female fonder and the power of purpose...
“I realised that one of the best things we
could do is to tell artisans around the world that what they’re making has major value”
“Success for me doesn’t look like having a
billion-dollar exit. Success for me means having a healthy company that’s able to support people
and tell stories about culture”
“Doing small acts in the community for the greater
good is important. I think our detachment from our community and spending so much time online is a huge problem that negatively impacts democracy”
“I try to use the things that people might discriminate against me as my strength”
“My mother was adopted at birth and my father was born and raised in Ghana, but he passed away when I was really young. Because my mother was adopted, she didn’t really know where she came from. This was before DNA testing services, so she really wanted to figure out where she was from. She would tell me this Nigerian proverb that says: ‘Until the lion has a historian, the hunter will always be the hero’. Often you have to look for women's stories and histories in unexpected places – and a big catalyst for that tends to be fashion.
“Together, we would study all different types of traditional cultural apparel from women around the world – even Danish clogs. She would say, ‘Let’s think about which types of trees grow in Denmark and what makes it conducive for carving’. [She was] always tying fashion into agriculture and anthropology. It’s really just about asking what are people’s skills in the community and how do we integrate those into what we’re doing?
“For me, the ‘Vellies’ shoe, in particular, was one of the very first shoes that I fell in love with. It is a traditional Southern African shoe that started off as leather that was wrapped around the foot and then eventually evolved into multiple pieces of leather tacked together – similar to a moccasin. When British people came to South Africa, they saw that shoe and fell in love with it – in fact, it was the basis for Clarks.
“It’s the storytelling behind traditional cultural apparel that has been reappropriated within the larger fashion industry, and stripped of its original identity, that forms a big part of Brother Vellies. We focus on the ‘Vellies’ shoe and cowboy boots – there are, of course, other shoes available too – but those are my sweet spot and sit at the heart of the brand.”
TELL US ABOUT THE START OF YOUR JOURNEY AS A FEMALE FOUNDER...
“I started Brother Vellies at a flea market. I applied online to have a table, they said yes, and I paid my $70 (about £55). I showed up on a Saturday morning at 6am and put some shoes out. That was the beginning. I think the biggest failure is not trying.”
“When you think about these big fashion brands you think of a debut runway show; a sold-out collection; being stocked in a big department store – and whilst that might have been Alexander Wang’s story, it’s not mine and that’s okay. Comparison is the thief of joy: if we’re constantly looking on social media or at other people and how they’re doing, we’re always going to feel like our situation isn’t enough. But, at any given moment, there’s another person in the world that would give everything to be in exactly your shoes.”
How did you turn it into a business?
“Yes, it’s the ‘Vellies’. It’s a phenomenally made shoe and I just think it’s a style everyone should have in their wardrobe.”
Do you have a favourite piece in your collection?
“When I first started working on the ‘Vellies’ shoe we were based in a multi-generationally owned artisan workshop. We’re still manufacturing there but a lot of the workshops have closed down now as there wasn’t as much demand in the local market. People would ask me why I cared so much about the ‘Vellies’ shoe in particular and I think, for me, I realised that one of the best things we could do is to tell artisans around the world that what they’re making has major value. So, what makes me really proud is that a lot of the ‘Vellies’ workshops that were about to close are still open – and now there’s more demand in the local market. In short, it was about reminding people of the value they bring.
“When I think of my contemporaries, there are many who are breaking glass ceilings and it can be hard. Sometimes I think it would be great to sell 10,000 pairs of shoes but for me to do so means I would need to put my price points way down; I would need to get my margins way higher – and all of these things will compromise the DNA of the brand. Success for me doesn’t look like having a billion-dollar exit. Success for me means having a healthy company that’s able to support people and tell stories about culture; that’s able to take care of items and their value.”
What has been your proudest moment?
“I feel like I just did five minutes ago when I was on the floor petting my dog. I know it sounds a little Pollyanna, but being able to have a house and a dog – the idea that not only can I care for myself, but I can care for another living being, and create a stable environment for that being to thrive and be happy – is huge. To me, there is no other bigger, better way to celebrate success.”
How do you celebrate success?
“It has to be Kamala losing the election. It’s been really hard for me this year and it’s still very fresh in my mind. The reality of what that’s going to mean in the world can be scary at moments. I try not to catastrophise, but when I think about all of the people who might be adversely affected by the result it really freaks me out. All you can really do is hope for the best. So with regards to coping, it’s about how do we exist as humans when it’s so easy to go online and see so much pain, anguish and destruction? Sometimes I just break down because, if you really take a moment to tap into some of the pain that exists in the world right now, it’s unfathomable.”
“For me, I only can exist as a human knowing that I can take small actions. I think that’s why I work on the Fifteen Percent Pledge and other projects. I designed [the capsule collections] ‘Artists for Kamala’ and ‘Designers for Democracy’ and, over the holidays, I think I’m going to post a dog adoption programme too. It doesn’t have to be monumental; doing small acts in the community for the greater good is important. I think our detachment from our community and spending so much time online is a huge problem that negatively impacts democracy. Whether it’s joining a book club, a cooking club or a volunteer programme… we’ve got to do it because there’s so much data around how important it is for humans [to have face-to-face contact]. We’ve got to a point in society where people are casting their vote just for themselves, when you’re supposed to be casting your vote for what you think is best for society.”
What has been your biggest challenge to date and how did you overcome it?
“Yeah, all the time. I mean, I think for women in fashion it’s so difficult. There are so few female designers when we look at the big fashion houses. I’ve carved my own path and I focus on the people that are leaning in and ignore everyone else. For the most part, I try to use the things that people might discriminate against me as my strength.”
Have you ever felt discriminated against as a female founder? And what would you like to change for women?
“In America, I would love healthcare for everyone. To be growing up in a country where people feel they cannot see a doctor without financial repercussions is totally insane. If women actually banded together, we could achieve anything. But we’re also fed content like The Bachelor, where there can only be one final rose, and that’s just drilled into us from a young age. I don't want that guy’s rose. Why do we think that this is a rose worth having – let alone worth competing for? I think there’s some reframing that has to happen [within] ourselves.”
What could we all achieve if we supported each other?
“With some companies, yes. When you walk into a Sephora it’s a completely different store now. It has so many diverse offerings; it stocks so many more female founders and so many more women of colour. It’s really astounding and its sales are fantastic. Caring about diverse points of view can be a really rewarding experience, but there are other people that don’t necessarily value diverse points of view – whether it’s on the shelf, in the boardroom or in the office. I don’t know that I can change their minds, but I am grateful to know who they are so I know not to shop there.”
With regards to the Fifteen Percent Pledge, do you feel that there’s been a shift in the industry’s behaviour?
“After I won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2015, my mum told me that although she was happy she was hopeful that now I had enough external validation that I would no longer feel the need to compete in systems that were not designed for me. That stuck with me and made me think of these systems of validation that we’re constantly trying to strive for and the reasons for that.”
“But, listen, I love the Fashion Fund. I’m a judge on the Fashion Fund now and it’s the only time that anyone’s ever given me $300,000 for free. So I highly recommend it for young emerging fashion designers. Whilst my mum had a point, all things can be true.”
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
“Posting the idea of the Fifteen Percent Pledge was really hard for me. The idea was that 15 percent of the population is Black, so retailers should commit 15 percent of their shelf space to them. I had to outline the potential impact on the American economic landscape if major retailers started committing in that way and I wrote it all out in the notes section of my phone. I then posted it to Instagram and tagged a bunch of people that I thought should commit to the idea.
“I’m not very confrontational on social media. I love having tough conversations, but I usually do so in private, so that took a lot. But it was 2020, it was in peak pandemic and I was at home. I was safe, and I just felt that we’re all responsible for leveraging our privilege into action.”
What would you say is the bravest thing you’ve ever done?
“I used to be very good at [achieving the right] work/life balance, but since 2020 I have not been very good at it and it’s something I’m pretty vocal about. It’s also just another thing that we make ourselves feel bad about, whether that’s having a bad balance or too much screen time. For me, I think that there are times where you’re going to have a good work/life balance and there are other times where it’s probably going to be crappy. And right now I’m not good at it – and that’s okay.”
“I can recognise it, so yesterday when I got home I watched a movie and did some colouring instead of opening my laptop. I need activities that take my attention, whether it’s knitting, colouring in, playing the harp – something I love to do. I also love painting my nails myself, even though I suck at it. Basically, anything where I can busy myself in a way that feels vaguely creative instead of just scrolling and looking at someone’s weird content.”
“I also did something that felt really cathartic over the weekend: my friends and I looked up the most toxic people on instagram, like Donald Trump and Putin, then we looked at who we follow followed them – and unfollowed them. That was really fun. I just don’t need it in my eye line. We’re in an attention economy, so it’s about where you spend your attention, who you follow – all of that jazz is powerful.”
How do you achieve the right work/life balance?
“I think being able to have conversations with people who have different lived experiences than me; to have tough conversations and maintain a curiosity about people no matter what their perspective or point of view is – and still finding a way to love that person as a fellow human. I love talking to people with radically different opinions to me because I genuinely want to understand them more.”
What is your superpower?
“I always go to markets and vintage shops. I don’t have a vintage store that comes to mind, but, wherever I am in the world, I open up the 1stDibs app and search the geo locations of stores.”
What are your favourite places to visit in London?
On forging her own path, leveraging her privilege and the power of community
James
Aurora