by Emily Blake

Aurora James founded her “slow fashion” brand Brother Vellies in 2013. Since then, James and the Brother Vellies brand have not only received honors such as a CFDA award, but have set a precedent for designers and the fashion industry at large. In interviews with podcast hosts such as Sophia Amoruso at Pia Baroncini, James emphasizes the importance of the African artisans that create Brother Vellies shoes, leather, and products, and how prioritizing those artisans often pushes back industry accepted standards on everything from the ethics of non-vegan leather, labor sources, and more.

The Brother Vellies website includes their founding story, emphasizing the brand was founded with the goal of keeping traditional African design practices, and techniques alive while also creating and sustaining artisanal jobs. Now handmade artisanally across the globe, creating luxury accessories that celebrate cultural histories and timeless design. On the front page of their website shows their new products with the words “from Kenya, with love.” James describes herself on the website as having a background “in fashion, journalism, art, music, photography, and horticulture joins a forever-passion for artisanship, design, and humanitarianism to create truly one-of-a-kind pieces that will remain in your wardrobe forever.”

Both Brother Vellies’ mission and James herself illustrate the significance of this brand is in its multi-disciplinary impact and attention to not just the fashion world, but responsible labor, sustainability, and racial equity.

In September Vogue, James is interviewed regarding the “15% Pledge”– a call to the world’s biggest retailers “to devote shelf space to Black-owned businesses and suppliers, prioritizing the talents of underrepresented communities to level the playing field.” James cites the multiple layers of inequity of Women of Color in the fashion industry and economically at large, citing “to this day [she] still doesn’t have a business credit card.”

The details and realities of BIWOC’s barriers to starting major fashion brands, the realities of institutions like CFDA and major fashion houses, and especially the often harsh labor conditions associated with self-proclaimed “sustainable” or even “woke” fashion brands are often concealed. Aurora James and Brother Vellies is shedding some much needed light on the vast impact of fashion and some much needed intersectional perspective.