The annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards took place yesterday on November 2nd, where African footwear label Brother Vellies has been awarded the top prize, alongside (for the first time ever) two other labels.
With such amazing talent to consider for the prize, the team selecting the winners decided that rather than allocate one winner with the prize and have two runners-up, there would instead be three equal winners, making Aurora James of Brother Vellies, Rio Uribe of Gypsy Sport and Jonathan Simkhai of the eponymously-titled label this year’s recipients, who will each receiving $300,000 to invest in their brands.
The talented Ms James has been championed by top magazines and editors, and the likes of Beyonce and Solange Knowles, appearing on both stars’ websites, but noted encouragement for her work began at home, saying at the ceremony;
“My mom was the first person to believe in me and told me that I could literally do anything I wanted to do.”
The talents will also receive one year of mentorship with an industry veteran, which will provide invaluable knowledge to improve their businesses, previous winners and runners-up of the prize including Alexander Wang, Joseph Altuzarra, Tabitha Simmons and Thom Browne who’ve each benefitted from their prize.
With this being the first time three labels have shared the prize equally, we at SPICE are sure each designer is ecstatic with the outcome, but will wish Ms James of Brother Vellies a big congratulations especially, since we can’t get enough of her South Africa, Morocco and Kenya-made slippers.
Image source: Beyonce.com, Intothegloss.com
