Aurora James is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

creative director,

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

, and

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashi ...

. In 2013, she founded the fashion label Brother Vellies, with the goal of promoting traditional African design practices and techniques. In 2020, James founded the

15 Percent Pledge The 15 Percent Pledge is a US-based non-profit organization that encourages retailers to pledge at least 15 percent of their shelf-space to Black-owned businesses. The foundation conducts audits, shares its database of Black-owned businesses, a ...

as a non-profit organization to support

Black-owned businesses Black-owned businesses (or Black businesses), also known as African-American businesses, originated in the days of slavery before 1865. Emancipation and civil rights permitted businessmen to operate inside the American legal structure starting in ...

Early life

James was born to a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

father and Canadian mother in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. Her childhood was split between Canada and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

. In 2010, James relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

and later to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Career and brand

After traveling across Africa in 2011, James spent the next few years experimenting with design, testing designs at local markets in New York and working with various artisan groups. She launched Brother Vellies in January 2013, started with $3,500 in savings, with a goal of promoting the work of African artisans. The first formal Brother Vellies collection was produced for the spring 2014 season and was created entirely with shoemakers in South Africa. James later expanded to working in other countries within Africa and beyond, including Mexico and Honduras, to continue producing desert boots, shoes, slippers, and sandals. In 2015, James began producing handbags for Brother Vellies, the same year she won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize. In 2020, James was featured on the cover of the September issue of ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' magazine, in a portrait by Jordan Casteel. Brother Vellies has been worn by activists, celebrities, artists and musicians, including Beyoncé,

Solange Knowles Solange Piaget Knowles (; born June 24, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, performance artist, and actress. Expressing an interest in music from an early age, Knowles had several temporary stints as a backup dancer for Destiny's Child, whi ...

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents. ...

, and Elaine Welteroth. James designed the "Tax the Rich" dress worn by

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of ...

at the 2021

Met Gala The Met Gala, or Met Ball, formally called the Costume Institute Gala or the Costume Institute Benefit, is an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City. It is popularly ...

The 15 Percent Pledge

In 2020, in the wake of the murder of

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twe ...

and the wave of

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brut ...

activism that followed, James launched an initiative called the

, with an

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

post on May 29 that ''

'' writes "immediately went viral and resulted in an outpouring of interest." The 15 Percent Pledge Foundation was then created as a non-profit organization to urge major retailers to commit 15 percent of their shelf-space to Black-owned businesses. The foundation offers large corporations accountability and strategy suggestions as well as consulting services. The goal of the foundation is to advocate on behalf of Black-owned businesses and to build generational wealth in Black communities; according to its website, the initiative "was born from seeing multiple acts of social injustice and police brutality in the United States, with a lack of corporate accountability for the systemic issues at play." ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' magazine writes that James wanted to "find a way that companies could make a tangible change", and "from there, the 15 Percent Pledge was born." Cam Wolf writes in '' GQ'' magazine that "James is careful to note that the 15 Percent Pledge is not the only solution", and that James said, "This is a really tough time for everyone, and people shopping is by no means going to ease the pain of the lives that we have lost ... There are also a lot of other things that we need people to be doing, like donating to bail funds."

Awards and honors

* 2015 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund – Winner * 2016 Inductee to the

Council of Fashion Designers of America The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and headquartered in Manhattan, is a not-for-profit trade association comprising a membership of over 450 American fashion and accessory ...

(CFDA) * 2016 CFDA Awards, Swarovski Award for Accessory Design – Nominee * 2016 Vogue Talents Award – Winner * 2016-2018 CFDA Fashion Incubator Member * 2018 CFDA Awards, Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent – Nominee * 2019

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

Influencer Award * 2019 CAFA Award: International Canadian Designer Award – Winner * 2019, Crain's New York Business 40 Under 40 * 2020 British Fashion Award, People * 2020 The Bloomberg 50 * 2020 ''

Footwear News ''Footwear News'' (sometimes referred to as ''FN'') is a weekly print publication on the topic of women's, men's, and children's footwear. Founded in 1945, its coverage is for the fashion design and fashion retail industries. It was originally pub ...

'' Person of the Year * 2021 ''Time'' 100, ''

''s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world

References

External links

Brother Vellies website
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Aurora Living people Activists from Ontario Canadian art directors Canadian fashion designers Canadian women activists Canadian women in business Canadian people of Ghanaian descent Black Canadian businesspeople Canadian businesspeople in fashion People from Guelph Canadian women fashion designers 1984 births