“Social responsibility is more than important to our business, it is our business,” Aurora James of Brother Vellies recently shared.

Since founding Brother Vellies, James has been intent on introducing her favorite traditional African footwear to the fashion world while also fulfilling the “goal of sustaining and creating artisanal jobs in Africa.”

Through her work, which has allowed her to travel extensively across the continent and, draw inspiration from diverse cultures, James has witnessed the positive impact of producing in Africa.

“South Africa was the first place we worked,” she said. “[Seeing] the development from then to now has been really inspiring. People riding bikes to work that used to walk, it’s the smallest things to me that are major indicators of improvements in everyday life there that make me smile.”

While social responsibility has been paramount to James’ journey, the CFDA + Lexus Finalist opened up about the evolution of her vision of sustainability. “The CFDA + Lexus Fashion* Initiative has helped me look at sustainability from a more 360-degree approach. When I started my brand, I spent so much time thinking about what could be done in Africa [that] I didn’t pay much attention to how we were operating in other ways [like] shipping.”

Reflecting on the entire footprint of her brand has allowed James to continue reducing its impact. “After a year of stressing,” she said, Brother Vellies has developed its first fully collapsible shoebox, which is on track to drastically reduce the brand’s carbon footprint.

“Yay!” exclaimed James.

James’s infectious commitment to social responsibility and sustainability is readily apparent in her advice to other designers: “Start doing your part here and there and trust me, [you] will find sustainability to be quite contagious!”

See more of the CFDA/Lexus Fashion* Initiative sustainability story by following #ReDesignFashion.