After nine years in business, Brother Vellies founder Aurora James felt like it was time for strategic growth. She has hired the label’s first chief executive officer, naming Behnaz Ghahramani — who was until recently the chief marketing officer at Stuart Weitzman — as the woman to lead her company forward.
“I have done an incredible job at building a company with a strong point of view that made people question prominent narratives in fashion and have focused on how to make amazing product in a way that is thoughtful. But being a CEO is a different skillset,” James said of the decision to hire a lead executive, freeing her up to focus on creative strategy.
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The designer founded her brand with $3,500 and a booth at the Lower East Side’s Hester Street Fair and has scaled to become a leading voice for female and Black designers worldwide with a store in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and key wholesale accounts including Nordstrom and MatchesFashion.com. In June 2020, in the fallout of the murder of George Floyd, James expanded her platform by founding the 15 Percent Pledge nonprofit, which has gotten companies including Sephora, Moda Operandi and Macy’s to commit to giving 15 percent of their shelf space to Black designers.
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Now Ghahramani will look to take “what Aurora has built to the next level,” she said. “What she has built has authenticity, community and values. She built the company values that resonate with what I stand for — I have championed women my whole life so to be able to do that and to have an impact as well as grow the business is an incredible opportunity.” Prior to Weitzman, Ghahramani held senior marketing roles at Gucci North America and Ralph Lauren.
When asked if she always had aspirations to be a CEO, Ghahramani said: “Ultimately for a woman in business to reach the top ranks of senior leadership, yes that has always been an ambition. I have always had a strong appreciation and respect for entrepreneurs, especially small businesses trying to take themselves to scale. When Aurora approached me, I had been following her work for some time and was very honored and flattered to be considered. I am so inspired by everything she’s achieved and our work ethic is very similar.”
James felt that Ghahramani was the best candidate for the job because “she stood out as someone who truly gets it — she understands the brand and what I am trying to do. As a woman and a woman of color, which is rare in the footwear industry, it was important to have a woman’s point-of-view [in the role].”
In the past year, James has made significant inroads like her “Tax the Rich” Met Gala dress designed for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that received significant attention (good and bad), as well as growing her Something Special subscription program, which sends consumers one global artisan-made product each month for under $50. Most of Brother Vellies’ accessories continue to be made by artisans in Africa, who James feels a responsibility to as she has an eye on growth.
The subscription service’s unexpectedly quick success meant that Brother Vellies’ store became a multipurpose environment — part fulfillment center, part office and also a store. “The pandemic made it difficult because we were scaling so quickly. Our cloud socks completely took off and the store ended up being a multipurpose space and not so much a retail store in the conventional sense. I think as a smaller business owner you end up doing so many different things, so the store has definitely changed a lot,” she said.
For Brother Vellies, which is mostly direct-to-consumer, revitalizing the store concept and improving the brand’s online and customer service experiences will be key to Ghahramani’s vision. Specifics relating to their strategy are still being ironed out, she said. While James declined to disclose numbers, she said that overall her company is profitable.
“Aurora has built this all organically and I think in terms of growth, once we align on strategy moving forward I do think we will have something special. Her pivot from just accessories and footwear to being in artisanal home crafts during the pandemic when people could not travel was a way to support her community in a meaningful way,” said Ghahramani.
“There is so much opportunity in multiple categories for Brother Vellies, there is a foundation built on accessories but we’ll see some exciting collections coming. The subscription model has so much potential to grow as a brand and we will continue to evolve and build the business. The pandemic has accelerated people’s expectations — not only how they shop but they are also expecting authenticity, culture and values,” said Ghahramani.