Happy Monday, and welcome back to Line Sheet, which’ll still be fresh in the morning, I promise. I hope those in London are closing out their Bank Holiday barbecuing—or what we call “grilling” in America, where it’s Memorial Day.

Today, I’m bringing you my conversation with Aurora James, the founder and creative director of Brother Vellies, a 10-year-old New York-based label known for its African-made shoes. Over the past decade, James has emerged as a person of influence, and not only in the fashion industry. With the launch of the 15 Percent Pledge, conceived at the height of the pandemic, she also became a person to watch in the wider world, advocating that every retailer devote 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses.

James recently released a memoir, Wildflower, which frankly documents both the dark corners of her personal life and the challenges of running a fashion business as a woman of color here in the U.S. She and I spoke about all of this and more, including the newish controversy around the “Tax the Rich” dress she designed for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to wear at the 2021 Met Gala. One of the best words to describe James is “unfazed,” and I think our exchange reflects her general attitude about the fashion business and explains why she’s still bothering with it.

But first…

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