Meet The Woman Responsible for the Furry Shoe Trend

(Photo: Getty Images)

Aurora James used to get Starbucks for Ashton Kutcher. Now she’s on the Vanity Fair Best Dressed List, with a CFDA emerging designer award, and champions like Gucci’s Alessandro Michele and Vogue’s Anna Wintour hyping her sustainably designed fuzzy flats. (She’s also talking to Hillary Clinton’s campaign staff, because: Millennials.)

How’d it all happen? And what’s next for the rising shoe star? We visited the CFDA’s Americans in Paris showroom to meet with the Toronto native and find out.

Yahoo Style: Your full name is Aurora Dawn James, right? That’s pretty great.

When I lived in Los Angeles, nobody would believe it. They would say, “Aurora Dawn? Is that your stage name? What’s your real name?” I was like, “Guys, I’m not an actress. I work for an urban gardening non-profit. Why would I have a stage name?” It’s shouldn’t have surprised me, though. Los Angeles is a vortex of weirdness.

You were a gardener?

I went through a phase where I thought, “The world needs more plants.” I joined a vertical gardening project, where we literally put plants on walls all over Los Angeles. Then we started putting plants into chain link fences that surrounded schools. Then I was like, “What if we grow food in these gardens, and let kids eat the fruits and vegetables as part of their school lunches?” We ended up planting a thousand gardens in California in a single school year.

How did you jump from non-profits to shoes?

My heart’s always been in fashion. First I worked in retail. Then when I was 18, I worked at Next Models in Canada. I modeled when I was a child at Next, and one day, I told my agent, “Your job seems amazing. Can I be your intern?” They didn’t know what an internship was. This was pre-The Hills. Nobody knew what a fashion intern was. I was like, “I work here for free, and you show me what you do all day. And I’m the ‘coffee bitch’—I’ll get you all coffee. That’s my job.”

That’s amazing. Did you work with any models you still use now?

Only Ashton Kutcher! He was our big star, and he would come into the office a lot when I first started… Wow. I just totally dated myself there, didn’t I?

It’s cool. People should know success takes time.

It never happens overnight. I’m 32. And every single year since I’ve had a job, I’ve been working my ass off. People always say, “Wow, you’ve done a lot.” But I’ve never felt that way. I’ve never been like, “Yeah, I’ve really accomplished everything, so I’m going to chill for a bit.” My friends went backpacking through Europe after school. I thought it sounded amazing, but I knew that wasn’t my path. I wanted my career to be my passion, so I knew I’d have to work doubly hard to do what I love and actually get paid for it.

How did Brother Vellies start?

My grandmother, my mom’s mom, always sponsored kids from Africa growing up. They became pen pals of mine. That was a big part of my childhood, because she sponsored 20 kids! Some of them came to Canada, went to college, we met them—and when my grandmother passed away, I was struggling with how to support that legacy. I was living on my own in Toronto. I was like, “How do I help these children? How do I continue my grandmother’s work?” The commercials say, “It only takes pennies a day,” but the reality is, when you’re 21 and literally have less than a dollar in your bank account, those pennies are crucial for things like food and rent. But it was always in the back of my mind—how do I find a way to help the same communities that my grandmother helped?

Solution: shoes?

My mom traveled a lot, and she had brought me back these cool traditional shoe shapes from Morocco once, and I fell in love with them. Then I was coping with the loss of my grandmother. And when I started meeting the people in Africa who were making these shoes, and losing their income and their way of life because factories were taking over their small family-owned businesses, I was like, “This is what I can do. This is how I can get involved.”

Was it scary to visit Africa by yourself?

You know, when I was younger, I had some low moments. I think I was less scared because I had less to lose. I think sometimes when you’re young, having that young angsty moment of depression and feeling lost—those moments are amazing petri dishes for personal growth and creative growth and adventure. To be real with you? I was going places then that I would never go now.

This sounds like a movie…

It was bad. I rented a car off a random stranger in Morocco. I drove across the country in a strange guy’s car. I got myself into some not-amazing situations in Nigeria also, in the middle of the night. It was not a great idea. If I’d known how dangerous it was, I probably would have run for the hills.

(Photo: courtesy Brother Veilles)

Your furry shoes have the same vibe as Gucci’s. Is that weird for you? Or are you and Alessandro Michele friends?

We’re not, but he’s very nice, and I’m really happy to have his support. He came to my presentation in Milan a few weeks ago. He’s cool. But it’s true that lately, a lot of other people’s shoes look like my shoes. And so I’ve been thinking, honestly, how do I feel about that?

Any answers?

I don’t know yet. I’m really into “slow fashion.” I believe in sustainability. I believe in craftsmanship and excellent materials and fair wages and making things that last. What bothers me isn’t [Gucci], it’s when things are so trendy and made so fast that they become disposable. There’s no longevity.

So when Zara knocked you off…

Seeing my designs at Zara is not fine. It’s not.

What did you do?

I called the CFDA to see if I had any recourse. I also called someone in Hillary Clinton’s camp. I said, “When Hillary wins, we have some things we need to do to support and protect the arts.” The CFDA worked really hard a couple of years ago to get a fashion piracy bill passed. It didn’t happen the way we hoped it would happen. And to protect American businesses, I do think we have to keep pushing for that bill to pass.

In your mind, can fast fashion and young designers co-exist?

Knockoffs are never going to stop. What’s important is consumer awareness. Shoppers need to think more about what they’re actually buying, and what impact their choices have on the rest of the country, and the rest of the world.

Do knockoffs hurt your bottom line, or are they just annoying from a creative standpoint?

It’s getting in the way of our business, for sure. People will be like, “I love those [Brother Vellies] shoes… or I could just buy the ones from Zara.” Meanwhile, our core customers were outraged and horrified because the shoes aren’t just things. They support job creation. They support micro-economies and communities in Africa. But if I obsessed about the knockoffs, I’d go insane. I need to look forward. I need to think about what’s next for the brand. So that’s what I try to do.

You’ve had a few celebrities photographed in your shoes. Which one has the biggest impact on your sales?

Our own Instagram sells more shoes than any celebrity so far. Which I think is really cool. But I do send shoes to celebrities on occasion, and I’m still trying to figure out if it helps us in any real way.

Who’s the last person to get free shoes from you?

Sofia Richie. I saw some pictures of her and I was just really into her. We had a pair of fluffy purple shoes and I was like, “She should wear them. They seem like her thing.” So I wrote a note and I sent these shoes to Sofia Richie, and she’s been wearing them everywhere!

And who’s your dream client?

Angelina! Zahara’s from the same little town that I first started sourcing materials from. I think Shiloh was born there, too. So I have a soft spot in my heart for that place.

I love that you know where Shiloh was born.

Oh, I used to work at Entertainment Tonight in Toronto! I quit the day after Tom and Katie had Suri Cruise. Which is a whole other story. “Tom and Katie had the baby and you’re late!” Last straw.

Practical Question: If I get a pair of fuzzy shoes, what do I do if they get grimy?

It’s sort of like having a dog! You brush them out. Nobody wears shoes harder than I do. I get caught in the rain in my shoes, and I go home and blow dry them. Just like a dog.

Getting on the Vanity Fair Best Dressed List is kind of like getting a fashion Oscar. Did you get a statue or something?

I didn’t even get a phone call.

Nobody told you?!

I had no idea. I found out at the Ryan Roche presentation during New York Fashion Week. It was raining, and [Lady Gaga’s designer] Brandon Maxwell comes sprinting into the room, drenched. And he says, “I’m soaking wet, I’m a mess, and you’re on the Vanity Fair Best Dressed List.” That’s literally how I found out.

(Photo: Getty Images)

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