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Aurora James & The Dirty Business of Fashion Economics

In a candid conversation, the designer and activist discusses her big break, some financial lessons learned along the way, that A.O.C. dress and more.

James has made a career of pushing buttons—she has some naysayers, who believe that she only pokes the bear when it’s self-serving—and yet the end result is typically net positive.
Aurora James has made a career of pushing buttons—she has some naysayers, who believe that she only pokes the bear when it’s self-serving—and yet the end result is typically net positive. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Lauren Sherman
May 29, 2023

The first time I interviewed Aurora James was in 2015, at her store at the South Street Seaport, the touristy micro-neighborhood at the bottom of Manhattan that looks like it could be interchanged with any cobblestone historic district in any East Coast town. It was one of those situations where the developer had cleared out the uncool tenants and was offering young brands rent based on a portion of monthly sales, which helped to explain why James could afford a storefront for Brother Vellies, a shoe line she had launched just two years earlier. (At one point, Milan’s famous concept store 10 Corso Como opened a spot there, too. And like most retailers that come from a place other than New York City and try to open in New York City, it closed within two years.)