And I think for me, there's always been so many things that I wanted to achieve in my own life. And I'm just wondering if other people have reacted as I have when they found out that you've really had to kind of scratch and claw your way to everything.Īurora James: You know, I think we spend so much time as humans just kind of straightening out our own costumes of identity, right, to be presentable to others. Let me put it this way:it's kind of eye- popping. Michel Martin: You come from this unusual background. "And not being completely transparent about how incredibly hard it has been would only be a disservice to other people who are putting in the work and not having an easy path of it themselves."Ī condensed version of Michel Martin's interview with Aurora James follows. "I feel incredibly proud of everything that I've managed to accomplish," she said. After her mom married a man who she said mistreated her and her mom, she was forced to find her way on her own. Well before she became established in the fashion world, she sold marijuana to make ends meet. James said that she has only reached her current success after years of scrambling. She tells that story in her memoir, Wildflower. But while there was huge demand for her shoes, James constantly felt mired in debt. The Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund awarded her Brother Vellies the top prize in their annual contest in 2015. Most South Africans call veldskoens "Vellies," pronouncing the "V" like an "F." When James met someone on that job who happened to be wearing a pair of veldskoens, South African-made field shoes, the trajectory of her future changed. She also delved into a modern gardening business. "So people in Kenya and Ethiopia and Haiti and I really work with them on doing things that they've done for many generations."įashion was a world familiar to James - she had a brief stint in modeling and worked for Fashion Television. "What most people don't know is that I work with artisans all around the world who've been historically excluded from participating in fashion," she told NPR's Michel Martin.
James is the creator behind the Brother Vellies brand, luxury shoes that she designed on a shoestring budget until sales took off.
Since she began this quest, more than two dozen major retailers like Nordstrom, Macys and Sephora have signed on. James wanted to also challenge companies to commit to economic justice. George Floyd's killing in 2020 had created a tidal wave in social justice. Three years ago, fashion designer Aurora James created the 15-percent pledge, challenging retailers to devote 15 percent of their shelves to products made by Black-owned companies. Wildflower is the new memoir from Aurora James, founder of the luxury accessories brand Brother Vellies as well as the Fifteen Percent Pledge.
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