--- description: Find out why Aurora James is one of the 100 most influential people of 2021. title: Aurora James: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt893c77db60ddcfbc/698a1ca701168203cb980f11/aurora-james-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 15, 2021 # Aurora James by Edward Enninful  Aurora James Emily Andrews Aurora James Emily AndrewsEmily Andrews When I think of the[ designer Aurora James](https://time.com/5878267/aurora-james-time100-talks/ "undefined"), founder of [Brother Vellies](https://brothervellies.com/ "undefined"), I see a woman who has not only shifted the culture in fashion but also rethought its economic power structures. These past two years have been a time of great upheaval for our industry, and have brought immense pain for the Black community. Yet James—a gifted designer and passionate activist—has risen up to take major retailers to task with her [15 Percent Pledge](https://www.15percentpledge.org/ "undefined") initiative, asking them to finally reflect the makeup of the U.S. population by stocking products from a proportionate number of [Black-owned businesses](https://time.com/5887425/entrepreneurs-of-color-coronavirus/ "undefined") on their shelves. It is the sort of tangible change that can have a real impact on society. Macy’s, Sephora and Bloomingdale’s count among the companies that have already signed on. As someone who started his career in fashion—first as a model, then a stylist—in London during the late ’80s, I know what it takes to make it as a Black person in this industry, that often you have to work 10 times as hard. James isn’t only working for herself. Her tenacity, vision and strength are an inspiration. You need to be able to see the whole picture to make a real difference, and James does exactly that. [_Enninful_](https://time.com/5886975/edward-enninful-british-vogue-interview/ "undefined") _is editor in chief of British Vogue and European editorial director of Vogue_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095806/aurora-james/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095806/aurora-james/"},"headline":"Aurora James","datePublished":"2021-09-15T11:19:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:13.445Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095806/aurora-james/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","T100 2021","T100 2021 Pioneers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt893c77db60ddcfbc/698a1ca701168203cb980f11/aurora-james-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt893c77db60ddcfbc/698a1ca701168203cb980f11/aurora-james-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095806/aurora-james/","name":"Aurora James"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Aurora James on How Big Retail Can Support the Black Community","description":"Aurora James, founder of Brother Vellies and the newly-formed 15 Percent Pledge, wants big business to move beyond performative allyship and create real change in their companies, by reserving 15% of their shelf space for black-owned businesses.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SKL8a5wA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-08-11T17:24:28.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SKL8a5wA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095806/aurora-james/","duration":"PT2M45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095806/aurora-james/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```