Aje is a brand that values integrity and conscience, reflected in the individuals and culture of the company. It is paramount that each individual within the world of Aje is nurtured and protected, and that equality and social justice go hand in hand with creating a sustainable environment.

Aje has worked in-house and closely with external advisors to develop a Code of Conduct, available to read here.

The Aje Code of Conduct applies to diversity, inclusion and equality, environmental impacts, animal protection and welfare, responsible sourcing and procurement.

Aje is committed to working with carefully chosen suppliers and partners to promote innovation and transformation and to reduce the environmental and social impact of manufacturing and packaging.

This commitment and willingness drives the Aje team to continuously improve the efficiency of business processes and operations, as well as people’s working conditions in relation to our own activity and the ecosystem in which we operate.

Aje has always celebrated and respected the craftsmanship, techniques and care required to create its unique garments, historically working alongside artisan workers in a dedicated Bali studio.

As the brand has grown, Aje has continued to seek a level of connection and confidence in knowing who is making each collection. This requires an ongoing assessment and evaluation of fair working conditions to ensure the required standards are met. Aje is on a journey towards understanding the depth of complexities surrounding supply chain, and the barriers around full transparency.

As outlined in the Code of Conduct, Aje’s vendors and world partners are required to focus on labour practices that ensure all workers are treated respectfully and with dignity. This includes adopting the principles set out in the ETI Base Code, founded on the conventions of the International Labour Organisation.

Aje passionately believes in the equal rights of all humans within our world. Giving back and supporting a brighter future for those less fortunate is deeply important to the founders and wider Aje team.

In celebration of International Women's Day 2023, we are honoured to partner with RISE—Reimagining Industry to Support Equality—a collaborative initiative supporting fashion brands to advance equality for women working in global garment supply chains.

RISE brings together the four largest women’s empowerment programs in the apparel industry to build on proven approaches, scale impact and accelerate equality for women workers in international garment supply chains.

In partnership with RISE, we seek to empower women working within our supply chain by supporting both women and men with a 10-month training program, to embed and ensure gender equity at every level of our business practices.

In 2023, we will launch our first program to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in one of our key facilities and look forward to sharing this journey with you.

In the past 12 months, Aje has donated to and raised awareness of causes that need urgent attention in Australia, including the Royal New South Wales Fire Service, Rural Aid, Thread Together, Yalari and Adopt Change.

On an ongoing basis, the brand continues to support causes close to the founders’ hearts, working with partners to support Australian communities, Indigenous culture, the natural world and the education and empowerment of children.

In 2020, Aje collaborated with David Jones and the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation to create a tee with all proceeds supporting education for Indigenous children. A further charity tee initiative went live in November 2020 with charity Adopt Change founded by Deborra-lee Furness, to raise awareness of the almost 45,000 children in the out-of-home care system in Australia. 100% of proceeds went towards the Yesvember #aHomeForEveryChild campaign. Adrian and Edwina are proud to bring awareness of these initiatives to the Aje community.

It has been a difficult start to 2022. In our home of Australia, the East Coast and particularly the people of Queensland and New South Wales have had lives, homes and livelihoods destroyed by flooding.

At the same time, we have watched in horror from afar as the invasion by Russia of Ukraine has unfolded, and left the world aghast.

Aje Aware’s mission is to minimise our impact on earth and maximise our positive impact on humanity. As such, Aje and AJE ATHLETICA are donating essential clothing via Thread Together for fellow Australians in need at this time of crisis. Furthermore, a donation has also been made to UNHCR in support of refugees fleeing the conflict.

Aje will be ceasing wholesale shipments and online orders to Russia for the foreseeable future. This is a stand against the invasion, not our customers or retail partners.

We recognise the continued need for rallying cries for intervention - at home and abroad.

Our hearts go out to friends, near and far, in these troubling times. We stand with Ukraine. We stand for peace.

Aje acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work, live and learn, and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander custodians across Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. As we enter into discussions around sustainability, we recognise the leadership of all First Nations people around the world, and the deep connection to the land and wisdom the Aboriginal people of Australia have held for over 65,000 years.

Aje works with Aboriginal leader, mentor and Aje team honoree Yvonne Weldon, Chairperson of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council and proud Wiradjuri woman, to ever-evolve our knowledge and understanding of community and culture. The team recognises the enormous enrichment that cultural exchange has brought.

Aje has always strived to authentically celebrate and represent Australia’s Aboriginal heritage and culture over the past 12 years across campaigns and collections. Aje regularly profiles Aboriginal artists and thought-leaders, and in 2016, collaborated with the estate of one of Australia’s most important and iconic Aboriginal artists Minnie Pwerle for the Resort 17 Awelye collection, showcased at the Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.

“We are committed to being an active ally, and recognise that this requires social action.” Edwina Forest, Creative Director

In 2020 our Creative Director Edwina Forest collaborated with Marie Claire in an effort to help bring attention to the Uluru Statement From The Heart.

Being an ally requires ongoing reflection through listening and learning. With ongoing consultation, Aje will have some exciting initiatives to announce in 2022.

Aje is fiercely committed to inclusion and celebrating diversity, embracing talented people that align to our Code of Conduct; people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Aje supports polices and practises that prohibit discrimination against any person because of race, colour, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by law.

Working with diverse talent has long been at the heart of Aje. From the earliest days of the brand, Aje creatives have always collaborated with a diverse representation of models, artists and visionaries and the team continue to seek out the brightest and best in the industry; celebrating our long-standing partnerships and welcoming new creatives to our realm.

Aje supports and advocates for women of all races, ages, gender identities and sexual orientations by way of dressing, seeding and profiling across Aje channels.

Aje proudly stands shoulder to shoulder with the LGBTQI+ community. In 2018, the company ardently supported the YES campaign for marriage equality in Australia, encouraging the Aje community to stand on the right side of history. Australia said YES!

Actions speak louder than words; and the continued focus will remain on equal representation of humans of all backgrounds through Aje creative and activities.

Aje’s heritage lies in the use of natural fibres in designs, from cottons to linens to wools. These fibres continue to form a basis to each collection, however, not all fibres in our garments achieve the outlined goals for recyclability and sustainability.

Aje is continuously working towards adopting sustainable practices in design and the team has started researching and testing fabrics such as organic cottons, tencel and recycled polyesters in recent collections.

This will be an evolution over time, so we have started by identifying the processes and product categories that are most harmful to the environment in order to have the greatest impact, most quickly. As such, new sustainability initiatives will be launched over the coming 12 months focusing on jersey and denim.

Why Jersey?
A hugely popular fabrication among Aje customers, jersey has been identified as an essential area in which positive change can be enacted through the use of more sustainable fibres. The designers are working on exciting initiatives in this space that will be announced in the coming 12 months.

Why Denim?
Denim is a key part of the Aje range, but one of the worst environmental offenders globally. As such, Aje denim is manufactured at a location with a water waste recycling plant, ensuring the water system is cleaned and recycled, to drastically reduce toxic dyes being released into the local environment

Certifications
Fibre and fabric certifications are being sought on an ongoing basis, and prioritised as a part of our Aje Aware journey.

Animal Welfare
Animal welfare is important and a conscious decision has been made to ban angora, exotic animal skin and fur at Aje. Feathers, when used, must be collected without causing harm.

Only by-product leathers can be used and the team is researching recycled PU as a leather alternative, keeping a close watch on developments in this space.

Printing and Use of Dyes
In the vast majority of production, Aje uses digital printing over screen printing as it involves substantially less ink - and therefore waste - than screen printing. However, the water pollution that results from dyeing fabrics is one of the worst offenders of manufacturing. Aje is working with manufacturing partners to use water cleansing filter systems in key fabrications (denim) and requiring factories to have water recycling methods in place via the code of conduct.

Garment Care
Careful aftercare of any garment is the optimal way to prolong its life, maximising wears and minimising the impact on the environment. Aje is dedicated to both creating timeless garments designed for any age, and actively educating customers on clothing maintenance methods that are gentler on the environment.

Currently the majority of the Aje range is designed for delicate hand wash or hand/machine wash. By washing on cooler temperatures and air drying, the environmental impact of each individual garment is lowered.

For items that are dry clean or professional clean only, a chemical free or sustainable dry cleaning process will promote the ongoing sustainability of the garment. As transition is currently underway to move to sustainable providers within Aje operations.

Collaborations
The first Aje Aware collaboration with global footwear brand Superga was a worldwide exclusive organics partnership. Aje is seeking sustainable collaborators for ongoing product development. Expressions of interest can be sent to ajeaware@ajeworld.com

AJE ATHLETICA
The premier activewear capsule from Aje, is made from 70% consciously-sourced materials; as the Aje designers recognise the balance between humanity and planet Earth is the ultimate in wellness. The sustainbly-led athleticwear designs incorporate organic cotton to hero the natural processes in technology, as well as recycled nylon and recycled polyester which are fibres that are recreated from discarded materials, giving a second life to these otherwise disposed of materials. This capsule echoes many other pillars of the Aje Aware sentiment, as we continue to strive for the betterment of our impact on planet Earth.

Aje is continuously striving to eliminate the use of all non-recyclables throughout the supply chain.

The entire Aje team is committed to ongoing sustainable purchasing practices - from design and production teams in the process of creating new garments, to the sales and press showrooms presenting the collections and the retail teams working on the shop floor. Each step of the collection’s journey is considered in terms of non-recyclables.

Consumer Packaging
Our collective endeavour is to maximise the circularity of Aje packaging through the use of recycled and recyclable materials, with the commitment that all Aje packaging across our suite will be recyclable by the end of 2021.

Significant strides have already been made in this area, starting with the supply chain, where plastic bags are utilised to ensure garments remain in immaculate condition throughout the logistics process. From December 2020, all soft plastic bags will be made from recycled plastic, able to be recycled again at your local soft plastics recycling facility. To illustrate the pronounced commitment to this cause, Aje is setting up a soft plastics recycling scheme via our 20-strong store network enabling customers to bring their bags to be recycled. The designers continue to closely review the latest technologies in biodegradable packaging and plastics, and will integrate this into Aje’s supply chain as soon as technology allows.

Aje shopping bags distributed in stores are made from recycled cardboard. Online orders are delivered in cardboard or plant-based satchels, depending on the size of your order.

The team look forward to continued evolution in this space.

Aje Partners
Aje is also committed to avoiding adding more items into the world where they already exist. Wherever feasible, existing items such as hangers, garment bags and other reusable items will be kept in circulation within Aje and among wholesale partners.

Water pollution, air pollution, increased waste, depletion of natural resources, loss of biodiversity, destruction of ecosystems, cultural impacts on the lands of First Nations people and the threats of the global climate crisis are all areas in which Aje seeks to participate in the change and reduce impact. There are various local and international environmental guidelines which exist in countries in which Aje operates but it is recognised that in many places the bar needs to be set higher.

At Aje, the team is committed to design and manufacture our products with sustainable consideration, with an immediate focus on reducing our waste and the use of non-recyclables.

Practices are being instilled at every level across our operations to reduce unnecessary wastage.

Carbon Footprint
A concerted effort has been made to reduce the carbon footprint of Aje operations by consciously reducing the use of aviation in freighting logistics with the vast majority of collections now freighted via sea.

The team are setting ambitious goals towards transparency in all tiers of our supply chain by 2025 and will continue to keep our customers updated. Partner factories are required to uphold strict environmental standards as outlined in the Aje Code of Conduct around water pollution, the use of toxic dyes and emissions.

Aje is a supporting donor to Groundswell Giving, Australia’s first giving circle funding strategic, high impact climate action.

Store and Head Office Operations
A Sustainability Charter is upheld by the Aje team, who have committed to 10 principles of sustainable behaviour.

The change we seek begins at home, with the implementation of better systems across recycling and waste management.

Upcycling Within the Retail Network
Aje is a proud retail business, with beautiful store interiors that are carefully created using natural materials and non-plastic finishes wherever possible. Aje also advocates the upcycling and re-use of materials from previous interiors into new ones, with the recent example of the Macquarie refurbishment taking beautiful elements from the Sunshine Plaza pop up store and rehoming them in a lovingly repurposed space. The continued focus is on reusing, restoring and repurposing without detracting from aesthetic beauty is a cornerstone of Aje store design.

Stock Surplus
Aje fiercely condones the destruction of end of life stock, which is a practice in which the brand has never been involved. All end of life stock will be donated to charitable initiatives or recycled.

Diverting Plastic Packaging from Landfill

Aje ships online orders in biodegradable plant-based satchels or recyclable cardboard. The soft plastic bags inside can be recycled via Aje stores in our recycling scheme.