Aurora James of Brother Vellies

The New York based designer, by way of Toronto, created her cult label Brother Vellies in 2013 after discovering her love for Veldskoen (known as vellies or “desert boots”) during a trip to Africa. Worn by numerous celebrities from Beyonce and Solange to Zendaya, Brother Vellies garnered a cult following, having won the CFDA Fashion Fund in 2015. Rather than a one-to-one model, Aurora created Brother Vellies in hopes to give jobs to local artisans in Africa by collaborating with their workshops to commission shoes and sell them back in the U.S. She emphasizes that America’s constant need for “fixing” overseas countries have caused a depletion of jobs in Africa—large donations being one of them. Brother Vellies has managed to create roughly 2,000 jobs overseas whilst maintaining an ethos of sustainable practices—utilizing vegetable tanned leathers, recycled tires and locally sourced materials from farmers worldwide. Six years into the business, Aurora still feels the brand has much more to go, despite their rampant success. Tune in as she later discusses the importance of making sacrifices as an entrepreneur, the common misconception of fashion and much more. For more info: Brother Vellies Website: https://brothervellies.com/ Brother Vellies Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brothervellies/?hl=en Aurora James Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aurorajames/?hl=en https://hypebeast.com/radio https://anchor.fm/businessofhype https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/busines