In shoes she creates, Aurora James takes small steps towards big change

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[["a",["href","https:\/\/brothervellies.com\/"]],["a",["href","https:\/\/15percentpledge.org\/"]],["a",["href","https:\/\/store.aia.org\/products\/wildflower-a-memoir?variant=41694385307693"]],["b"],["em"],["strong"],["i"]],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cIt can\u2019t happen overnight,\u201d said Aurora James on making\nmeaningful social impact."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"But give the founder of "],[0,[0],1,"Brother Vellies"],[0,[],0,", a\nluxury accessory brand with the goal of preserving African practices, about two\nweeks, and she will disrupt the U.S. retail system in support of representation\nfor Black businesses."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"It happened with an Instagram post in the days following the\nmurder of George Floyd. Friends and colleagues in the retail industry were\nasking James for guidance as they struggled to find a worthy response to an\nawakened nation, and she answered with a bold and candid message. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cWe represent 15% of the population, and we need to\nrepresent 15% of your shelf space,\u201d she posted, on Saturday May 29, 2020,\ntagging major brands and terrifying her agent. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"By noon on Monday, James launched an online petition for\nbusinesses to formally sign in support of reserving 15% of shelf space for\nproducts from Black businesses and creators. By Tuesday, the petition was\nnearing 100,000 signatures. By\nWednesday, "],[0,[1],1,"15\nPercent Pledge"],[0,[],0," became a registered non-profit, and in the days\nthat followed, Sephora became the first corporation to commit. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"AIA President Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA, interviewed\nJames, now an"],[0,[2],1," author"],[0,[],0,", at\nthe 2023 AIA Women\u2019s Leadership Summit. They talked about the role creatives \u2013\nespecially women \u2013 can play in influencing change through the work they design\nand the passions they pursue. Here are highlights* from the keynote\nconversation."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],1,"Emily Grandstaff-Ric"],[0,[4,5,3],1,"e: "],[0,[6],3,"How\nmuch money has 15 Percent Pledge driven toward Black Businesses? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],1,"Aurora James:"],[0,[],0," $14 billion in annual revenue. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Since 2020, we\u2019ve publicly announced 29 of the biggest\nretailers in American \u2013 and the world. They have all signed multiyear contracts\nwith us; Nordstrom, for example, is the longest one, signed for 10 years. We are now in the process of allocating over\n$14 billion in annual revenue. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"People are looking for concrete ways to help. That number,\nthat concept of committing 15% of shelf space \u2013 a lot of times, if you can\u2019t\ntrack it at a corporation, you can\u2019t do it. So, what I was up against was a lot\nof people who were feeling a lot of angst and energy saying, \u201cWe want to do\nsomething. But we don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d How do you take that feeling and put\nit into something that is actionable that everyone can get behind? That was the\nmagic of that proposition \u2013 and the other magic was getting people to sign the\ncontracts."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[5,3],1,"EGR: "],[0,[6],2,"You advocated for others using\nyour own social capital and it made a change that lives beyond the individual."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],1,"AJ: "],[0,[],0,"Anyone with influence has a\nresponsibility to the people who have supported them along the way to continue\nadvocating for them. It\u2019s really tough to call yourself an activist and a\nfeminist if you\u2019re not actively doing that work. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[5,3],1,"EGR: "],[0,[6],0,"Anna Wintour, the famous "],[0,[4],1,"Vogue\n"],[0,[],2,"editor, once asked you: Are you going to be a fashion designer or an activist.\nYour response was?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],1,"AJ:"],[0,[],0," \u2018Respectfully, I think we can\nbe both.\u2019"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"There was a time when you could only be one thing. That was\nthe expectation. You go to school, you study a thing, and then you are that for\nthe rest of your life. Especially as it pertains to women, we\u2019ve never had the\nprivilege of being more than one thing. We\u2019ve always had to do it all, but we\nusually only get recognition in one category. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[5,3],1,"EGR: "],[0,[6],2,"You weren\u2019t trained in shoe\ndesign. You learned it from others?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"AJ: Absolutely. When I first started traveling around Africa,\nI thought I wanted to design jewelry. So, that was a pivot for me. Everything I\nlearned about shoes I learned really from people in Africa, South Africa,\nMorocco, Kenya, Ethiopia. I learned how to weave leather in Mexico, where we\nmake a traditional Mexican huarache."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],0,"EGR:"],[0,[4],2," And you don\u2019t use title designer. What\ntitle do you use and why?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[5],1,"AJ: "],[0,[],0,"Creative Director. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Because they are designing it \u2013 all the people along the\nway, the skill sets that they have - they are the designers. Even the beaded\npatterns. We work with people in Kenya who do beading. I\u2019ll say, \u2018This is the\ncolor story I love,\u2019 but it is up to them to do the exact pattern design,\nbecause that is their culture. I feel like a custodian of it to a consumer\naudience, but I don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s fair to be designer."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],1,"EGR: "],[0,[6,5],2,"Talk about the concept of slow\nfashion. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[5],1,"AJ: "],[0,[],0,"We have this conversation in fashion a lot \u2013 the difference\nbetween fashion and product. I think so often we mistake the two. The question\nI always ask myself is: Is it archival? Is it something that\u2019s worthy of\nactually maintaining space in a person\u2019s closet, potentially for the rest of\ntheir lives? And what does it take to make a product like that? And what does a\nperson need to feel to want to preserve that thing forever?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Because to me - and this I why I don\u2019t have any investors \u2013\nI\u2019d much rather prefer a woman to buy one pair of shoes from us and have it\nevery year for the rest of her life and resole it if necessary and keep that\nshoe and treasure that shoe, than have them come back every season \u2013 even\nthough we love those girlies, too. That\u2019s totally the opposite of how we are\nteaching consumers to think and feel. A lot of people don\u2019t even realize it. A\nlot of magazines will do those stories: Get the look for less. Ok \u2013 I get it.\nBut, at the same time, what does that do to supply chains. How are the women\nbeing treated along the way? For me, having a strong creative process and being\na feminist, I need to make sure that there are not women being exploited in my\nsupply chain in service of making a shoe with a flower on it. Because that\u2019s\nnot beautiful."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],1,"EGR: "],[0,[6,5],2,"There are parallels with that\nin architecture in terms of the design of buildings \u2013 bespoke versus mass\nmanufacturing. What do you suggest that we, as designers and creatives, do or\nthink differently in advocating for ourselves in that work?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],1,"AJ:"],[0,[],0," It\u2019s about advocating for\nyourself "],[0,[6],1,"and"],[0,[],0," others and considering how your design will impact the\npeople along thew way that are also going to be making it. Where is it? Who\nwill be making it? How are we sourcing materials? People say sustainable, but\nwhat they really mean is less bad. Sometimes it feels like a race to the bottom\nalmost. How do we get something that is carbon positive? I would love to see a\nbuilding with a direct air capture machine built into it. How can the existence\nof this thing be good instead of less bad? That\u2019s a tall order."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"We have to take small steps toward something that is a\nlittle bit better. And don\u2019t be afraid to make a mistake in the process,\nespecially if you make mistakes trying to push yourself forward. Stumbling is evidence\nof momentum, so don\u2019t be afraid to have a stumble. It means you\u2019re trying to\nget somewhere. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],1,"EGR: "],[0,[6,5],2,"You built your business\nfighting against fast fashion, and that directly ties to AIA\u2019s sustainability\nand environment justice goals. What advice do you have for leaders here beyond\njust making sustainability and justice central to our practice. How can we go\nfurther?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],1,"AJ"],[0,[],0,": The way that I like to fight\nagainst things is by being the thing that I hope more people can be. There are\na lot of people against things like affirmative action or against target goals\nfor 15 percent going to Black businesses. The way to eradicate some of that is\nby being incredibly successful in what you are doing."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"If we are putting Black brands on the shelf that are going\ninto the marketplace and they are crushing it and being top performers, which\nthey are - it isn\u2019t a charitable service. It\u2019s good business. How can we look\nat sustainable goals, look at inclusion goals and actually make it good\nbusiness? What is so fascinating to me\nis that intersection between capitalism and altruism. Some of the most\nfascinating designers and some of the most progressive businesses figure out\nthat sweet spot. And I believe it exists for everyone. It means asking, What are the things I\u2019m\ndoing? How can I do it slightly differently? We don\u2019t need to tear down the\nwhole system. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],0,"EGR: "],[0,[4],2,"Architecture and fashion are visual mediums.\nWhen you\u2019re collaborating with your clients, what are the keystones of your\nprocess and your creative thinking?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],1,"AJ:"],[0,[],0," First, it\u2019s really\nunderstanding what they want to get across in that moment. Then, how do I\ndesign something that is going to support them in that process? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"You don\u2019t want the dress or the shoe to be the thing. You\nwant the woman to be the thing. Really talking through with people about how\nthey want to experience that design, first and foremost is absolutely critical.\nThen, how and what is that piece of design communication to the rest of the\nworld. What\u2019s the first impression? How does it make them feel?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],0,"EGR: "],[0,[4],2,"That\u2019s an act of storytelling. Storytelling\nas an agent of change is something you embraced. How have the stories you\u2019ve\ntold helped you in your creative journey?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"AJ: The way that I have really experienced the world has\nbeen the creative journey. My father was born and raised in Ghana. My mother\nwas adopted at birth. One of the ways she wanted to teach me about different cultures\nwas through fashion. We almost had this anthropological lens when we\u2019d visit\nmuseums and different groups of people."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"That journey of understanding culture, understanding where\nit came from, understanding how it I wanted to amplify it and tailor it and\nthen being transparent around the process was as just as much about the\ncreative journey as actually assembling the shoe is today."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],1,"EGR: What is your hope for us as creative\ndesigners: "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[5],1,"AJ:"],[0,[],0," That you will take that one step toward things that make you\nwant to speak out \u2013 whatever it is \u2013 just that one step, and when you are\ntaking that step you are looking to your left and your right to see if anyone\nelse is taking the steps along with you."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The 15 percent pledge \u2013 100,000 signatures \u2013 that was people\nlooking to the left and looking to the right and taking time out to support me.\nSo, as much as it was my idea, it belongs to everybody. There are thousands of\npeople I will never even meet that helped in the process in really profound\nways. Because we worked together, we now have this astounding impact. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"It takes community and the best community that you guys have\nis in this room right now."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[6],1,"*Conversation edited to print for length and\nclarity. "]]]]}