STANDING TALL
James wears Brother Vellies shoes and Christopher John Rogers dress. Photographed by Tyler Mitchell.
On an unseasonably warm, sun-soaked February afternoon, Aurora James is taking a break from the whirlwind of New York Fashion Week at the Italian restaurant Gemma. In the past week she has thrown a gala for her nonprofit, attended shows by Brandon Maxwell and Rodarte, and, presently, is sitting down to discuss her memoir, Wildflower.
If this all sounds like a feat of multitasking, it should come as no surprise from James. Over the last three years, aside from writing her first book, she also launched the industry-changing nonprofit Fifteen Percent Pledge—a drive to push retailers toward committing at least 15 percent (the size of America’s Black population) of their shelf space to Black-owned brands—while continuing to run her successful, CFDA-winning label of mindfully made shoes and accessories, Brother Vellies. “I felt like it could only ever help to be fully honest and transparent,” James, wearing a knit Brandon Maxwell dress, says of her decision to publish a memoir at the age of 38. “When I meet young girls, they always ask, ‘How did you get to do what you do?’ And it’s hard to answer that without people understanding where I came from and how I was socialized in the world.”
This story is from the May 2023 edition of Vogue US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2023 edition of Vogue US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Spinning a Web - Not muscle, not bone, but fascia the network of tissue that connects it all is grabbing the therapeutic spotlight.
Are you in pain?” Cadence Dubus, a Brooklyn-based fitness instructor who has developed a program for “fascia release,” asks, sending me spiraling before our session begins. There’s that twinge in my shoulder and the carpal tunnel at night—but aren’t such annoyances simply the conditions of modern life, of getting older? “Some,” I answer, shy to cop to any of it. Dubus then has me walk back and forth, squinting at my gait.
Coming Up Rosy - The new blush isn't just for the cheek. Coco Mellors feels the flush.
If the eyes are the window to the soul, then our cheeks are the back door. What other part of the body so readily reveals our hidden emotions? Embarrassment, exuberance, delight, desire, all instantly communicated with a rush of blood. It's no wonder that blush has been a mainstay of makeup bags for decades: Ancient Egyptians used ground ochre to heighten their color; Queen Elizabeth I dabbed her cheeks with red dye and mercuric sulfide (which, combined with the vinegar and lead concoction she used to achieve her ivory pallor, is believed to have given her blood poisoning); flappers applied blush in dramatic circles to achieve a doll-like complexion, even adding it to their knees to draw attention to their shorter hemlines
Different Stages
A trio of novels spirits you far away.
The Wizard
Paul Tazewell’s costumes for the film adaptation of Wicked conjure their own kind of magic.
THE SEA, THE SEA
A story of survival on a whaling ship sets sail on Broadway. Robert Sullivan meets the crew behind the rousing folk musical Swept Away.
STAGING A COMEBACK
Harlem's National Black Theatre has been a storied arts institution in need of support. A soaring new home is shaping its future.
Simon Says
Simon Porte Jacquemus, much like his label, resonates with the sunny, breezy French South-but behind the good life, as Nathan Heller discovers, is a laser focus and a shoulder-to-the-wheel work ethic.
MOTHER SUPERIOR
The character of Rose in Gypsy is the acting Everest for many one-name acting legends. This fall, Audra McDonald takes it on.
WALK THIS WAY
THE FASHION FOR OUR FUTURE MARCH HAD A SINGULAR PURPOSE: TO GET OUT THE VOTE.
Written in Stones (and Etched in Metal)
Three years after taking the reins at Bottega Veneta, Matthieu Blazy unveils his first fine jewelry collection.
