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.
As always, thank you for tuning into HYPEBEAST Radio and Business of HYPE. Please don't forget to rate, comment and subscribe to our other shows MIC/LINE, The Anthropology, The HYPE Report and HYPETALKS.
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
Mister Cartoon
Salehe Bembury of Versace
Drieke Leenknegt
Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss
Edson Sabajo & Guillaume “Gee” Schmidt of Patta
Special Ep: Behind the Baller Podcast with Ben Baller
The Making of Business of HYPE
ICYMI: Melody Ehsani Tells Us How She Broke Into Streetwear’s Infamous Boys’ Club
adidas MakerLab Event Live at Brooklyn Creator Farm
Joe Freshgoods
Rob Cristofaro and Treis Hill of Alife
Miguel McKelvey of WeWork
Christina Paik
Liz Beecroft
Mike Cherman, Jeanne Grey and Scott Patt
Jason Markk
Sharifa Murdock of Liberty Fairs and ENVSN Festival
Tremaine Emory aka Denim Tears of No Vacancy Inn
Alexandre Arnault of RIMOWA ft. Kim Jones of Dior Men's
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
The HBR Show
MIC/LINE
HYPETALKS
The Anthropology
The HYPE Report