On Both Coasts, Aurora James Celebrated the Release of Her Memoir Wildflower

Throughout all she does, Aurora James has championed, empowered, and celebrated the under-celebrated. In fashion, James founded her shoe and accessories label, Brother Vellies, to preserve African design techniques and create a network of jobs for local artisans. Then, in the peak of the pandemic and amid protests following the murder of George Floyd, James founded the Fifteen Percent Pledge, which called on major retailers such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, and Sephora to commit 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned brands; in doing so, she helped to generate $10 billion in sales in just one year. Now, the Brooklyn resident is releasing a highly anticipated memoir, Wildflower, which chronicles it all, from her childhood in Toronto to her “complicated” relationship with her mother. James tells Vogue she hopes the book will give other women who come from a similar background a sense of belonging.

To fete the book’s launch, James celebrated with two soirees (one at home in New York and one in Los Angeles), and on both occasions, she welcomed an intimate group of industry peers. First, in New York, Diane von Furstenberg and Huma Abedin joined James in co-hosting a small gathering at the Rizzoli Bookstore, celebrating alongside Carly Cushnie, Prabal Gurung, Brandon Maxwell, and Veronica Webb. Just days later, the entrepreneur touched down on the West Coast and headed to Los Angeles’ Chateau Marmont, where she was joined by Emma Grede and Emily Bode to commemorate the launch, with the help of Google, with a rooftop brunch overlooking the Sunset Strip.

Bode opened the late morning event with a heartfelt message to her friend; “It’s such a rare thing to be able to have insight into one of your dear friend’s childhood and their journey,” she told the group. Grede, who met James around the same time she began writing the memoir, congratulated the hard work she’d seen James put into everything first-hand.

James then read a couple of passages from her book to the table (“It still feels very oddly personal to read it out loud,” the designer said). One of them was dedicated to her mother on the eve of Mother’s Day.

“I think the telling of these stories, especially women’s stories and especially women of color’s stories, is still not happening frequently enough,” James said after Saturday’s gathering for which friends such as Amber Valletta, Rachel Zoe, Rupi Kaur, Marianna Hewitt, and Olivia Perez came out to support. “So I think being able to celebrate some of that telling is really lovely. I’ve had a nice time.”