Publishing is full of rankings, from power lists to best-dressed lists to under-40 lists. The CULT100 is different. There is just one criterion for inclusion—but it’s a high bar.

To qualify, a candidate must be actively shaping and changing our culture in real time. The people on this list represent five generations and hail from the worlds of food, publishing, art, fashion, activism, and entertainment. To put this group together, CULTURED‘s editors leveraged the full strength of our network, tapping artists, writers, and cultural leaders to tell us who they look to when they want to feel challenged, hopeful, and inspired.

Some members of the CULT100 are household names; others have been working behind the scenes to make possible the cultural encounters that stop us in our tracks. In a time of binary thinking, the creators featured in this year’s list are embracing contradiction, bouncing willfully between disciplines, and refusing to take no for an answer. They have guts, vision, and a potent cocktail of realism and optimism. None of them is shying away from the anxiety of our moment. Instead, they are thinking big, sharing generously, and embodying courage. The good news is, their work makes us all a little bit braver, too.

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Christopher Sherman
Photography by Christopher Sherman

Aurora James

FOUNDER, BROTHER VELLIES AND FIFTEEN PERCENT PLEDGE

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION TO CULTURE?

I hope the work we’re doing with the Fifteen Percent Pledge shapes the culture, and ultimately the economy. By making more space for Black brands on retail shelves, we’re building a pipeline to move 14 billion dollars to Black founders, who then spend money in their communities and pass on generational wealth, all working toward ultimately closing the racial wealth gap.

NAME AN INFLUENCE OF YOURS THAT MIGHT SURPRISE PEOPLE.

Nature and the outdoors really inspire me. Time in the wild grounds me in what I’m building with Brother Vellies—all of my designs are rooted in place and community.

“I hope the work we’re doing with the Fifteen Percent Pledge shapes the culture, and ultimately the economy.”

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF IN YOUR INDUSTRY? LESS OF?

The fashion industry still has more to do when it comes to championing young creatives. I hope fashion brands continue to trend toward sustainable practices to reduce the outsized negative impact our industry can so often have on the climate.

WHAT’S COMING UP FOR YOU IN 2024?

I recently launched a podcast about building and scaling Black-owned businesses, called Friends and Family with Aurora James, featuring some of my favorite peers and mentors. Our hope is to make it a little easier for founders who lack access to traditional fundraising

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