AOC at Met Gala - "Tax the Rich"

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133. The representative herself said that she "was partnered with James". Who did the partnering?

The Met Gala ( i.e. Anna Wintour) pairs celebrities with brands to promote the celebrity, the brand, and the event. That's why the sophomore congresswoman and Aurora James walked the red carpet together.

The Met Gala chooses up-and-coming designers to feature their work at the event. Celebrities who wear their fashions get to attend the event for free.

https://www.newsweek.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-gets-mixed-reviews-tax-rich-dress-worn-met-gala-1628719

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While the dress derives major elements of it's design to the 1954 Dior classic, it's unclear exactly where this particular dress came from, given that Aurora James designs, manufactures, and sells exotic skin footwear and purses, and Brother Vellies does not have a clothing line.

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Brother Vellies is a very successful business, having survived a harrowing delay in shipment of ostrich skin due to a transportation strike it's very first year in business.

BROOKLYN, United States — At a critical juncture in producing her first collection of shoes, creative director Aurora James was faced with a sourcing snafu. She had managed to procure a supply of some of the world’s finest ostrich leather from Oudtshoorn, a South African village renowned for breeding the largest ostrich population on earth. Unfortunately, workers in the area had staged a transportation strike and the factory was three days’ drive away.

“We ended up having to get a helicopter to fly this ostrich to where we needed it,” she laughed.

https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/brother-vellies-makes-shoes-conscience

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Vellie shoes have a long and interesting history, and in the US are commonly called chukka boots.

Veldskoene or colloquially vellies are South African walking shoes made from vegetable-tanned leather or soft rawhide uppers attached to a leather footbed and rubber sole without tacks or nails.

The name comes from Afrikaans vel ("skin" ), later assimilated with veld ("field" ), and skoene ("shoes" ). They were first made in the 17th century by the first Dutch settlers in South Africa. Their design is believed to be based on the traditional Khoisan footwear observed by these settlers. The footwear was later embedded into the Afrikaaner psyche when velskoene were used as the footwear of the Great Trek.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veldskoen

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Fashion is a funny thing:

A shoe worn by Namibian farmers has become a hipster must-have in the world’s fashion capitals

One of the most iconic producers of veldskoene (pronounced “felt-skooneh”), African Leather Creations, has been making the shoes from a small town on Namibia’s coast for more than fifty years. The company got its start when Ewald Schier moved to Namibia from Germany and opened a tannery in 1938. Surrounded by farms, open veld, and endless desert, Schier knew his customers needed a durable, comfortable shoe. While a type of veldskoen was already worn in the region, Schier was one of the first commercial producers to choose the shoe’s now iconic soft kudu hide as the most flexible and durable material.

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Today, the African Leather Creations factory employs a dozen people and makes 1,500 to 2,000 pairs of shoes a month. Its Swakop Vellies are stocked in stores aimed at farmers and some small boutiques. The factory also fields direct orders at 550 to 600 rand a pair (between $38 and $42), and has found a small customer base in Europe. Phillip Schier lives in Munich, and sells limited stock from his basement, a testament to the family’s refusal to mass-produce their product.

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Some ambitious competitors to African Leather Creations want to take the shoes further, capitalizing on their newfound trendiness.

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Schier isn’t bothered by this competition, saying that the Swakop Vellie’s history and craftmanship will remain consistent even as the customer changes.

“We’re not reinventing the shoe, we make a simple, basic affordable shoe for every man and woman,” Schier says. “If people want to buy the shoes somewhere else, they can, but with us, they’re buying a story.”

https://qz.com/quartzy/1374719/a-shoe-worn-by-namibian-farmers-has-become-a-hipster-must-have-in-the-worlds-fashion-capitals/

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Canadian-born, Brooklyn transplant Aurora James' version of the "basic, simple, affordable" shoe starts at $265. Don't wait for a sale, though. Apparently profit margin is non-negotiable.

We do not put our products on sale. Their value is assigned based on materials and fair labor practices, which are unaffected by the traditional commercial consumption cycle.

https://brothervellies.com/pages/sustainability