We Are Aware.

We acknowledge the fashion industry has a far-reaching and wide-ranging effect on the planet and its people; and believe we must work together as a collective to make sustainable practices and behaviours commonplace, with a greater conscience towards the human and environmental cost of clothing.

We understand that change begins with us, one action at a time.

We value integrity and transparency. For this reason, we want to share our ongoing journey and commitment to participating in positive change for our industry.

We understand that fashion requires greater accountability around our impact on the Earth, and to ensure fair working conditions for all humans throughout our supply chain.

We have been through a period of introspection and critical evaluation, identifying where we can make immediate and long-term changes in our sphere, because every conscious action we take now, will bring about the change that is needed.

There is still much to do.

AJE’s Head of Production and Supply Chain has been working closely with our partners and supply chain to date, and we are excited to announce that in early 2022 AJE hired their first Sustainability Officer to work with us.

We will continue to share our progress along the path ahead, for visibility and accountability, to ensure that when you wear AJE, you know we are wholeheartedly making conscious decisions to do better together and be better for the beautiful world we live in.

Our mission is to Minimise Our Impact On Earth and Maximise Our Positive Impact On Humanity.

This Is AJE AWARE.

Edwina Forest and Adrian Norris
Co-Founders, AJE.

Our Story So Far.

AJE’s head office is on Gadigal land, where we pay our respects to the Elders past, present and emerging. AJE acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands on which our teams work, live and learn throughout Australia.

AJE was founded in 2008 and has always purposefully designed against trends, to ensure that every piece is unique and stands the test of time, able to be worn again and again, regardless of your age.

Since the brand’s inception, AJE has worked in close proximity to garment makers in both Bali and China.

In the early years, the AJE team operated from the Bali studio themselves, with Co-Founder Adrian Norris based out of Indonesia. Since returning to Australia and opening up manufacturing in China, CEO Adrian Norris has visited all AJE factory partners to ensure they meet rigorous standards.

AJE has long recognised the importance of inclusion and community. Diversity is celebrated and a founding principle of the brand, taking inspiration from multicultural Australia throughout all visual communications since inception.

Community is central at AJE, and the Co-Founders have a proud history of using the AJE platform to advocate for people with less of a voice. AJE has strived to shine a light on causes that affect Australia, from droughts and bushfires on the land, to the rights of our First Nations people and the LGBTQI community.

AJE is also a passionate ally to the Arts community and proudly collaborated with the estates of Brett Whiteley and Minnie Pwerle, two of Australia’s most revered artists. Edwina Forest was also a founding supporter of the Atelier program at the Art Gallery of NSW.

Discover the eight AJE AWARE pillars, the guiding principles for how Aje will
minimise our impact on Earth and maximise our positive impact on humanity:

AJE has developed a Supplier Code of Conduct (Code), to help communicate our values to our supplying partners. All supplying partners must sign up to this Code and adhere to it at all times.

Our Code is based on the ETI Base Code and outlines not only our values, but our minimum requirements of doing business with AJE in relation to environmental, social and ethical issues along our supply chain.

The following principles are embedded in the Code:

Commitment to Human Rights, Equal Opportunity and Employment Responsibility
Commitment to Animal Welfare and Environmental Responsibility
Commitment to Ethical Responsibility and Transparency
Commitment to all First Nations Peoples
Commitment to AJE Business Values
Commitment to Suppliers and Mutual Respect by AJE

In a case where our Code is not upheld or has been breached, communication between the Supplier and AJE is the first step. Continuous improvement is key and corrective action plans to solve problems will be devised and implemented in collaboration with the Supplier and AJE. If there is no improvement and a positive outcome cannot be reached, AJE will be within its rights to terminate its contracts and relationship with the Supplier.

AJE Supplier Code of Conduct is available to read here.

AJE has always celebrated and respected the craftsmanship, techniques and care required to create its unique garments, historically working alongside garment 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, and as such AJE has built a robust and credible Social Compliance Program that 100% of manufacturing suppliers must adhere to.

Within this Program, our supplying partners must firstly sign up to our Supplier Code of Conduct, and then provide full visibility of their supply chain.

AJE has traced 100% of our manufacturing facilities.

Across AJE and AJE ATHLETICA we have 25 manufacturing facilities, located in China, India, Indonesia and Australia.

AJE is on a journey to trace back to the fibre and will continue to update you on our progress here.

Each of our supplying partners are required to register on Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX), complete a detailed self-assessment questionnaire and upload a valid ethical audit, completed by an independent third party.

Data from both the self-assessment questionnaire and audit data are used to support our AJE AWARE Audit program, which restricts orders being placed on facilities that do not meet our standard.

If you would like to hear more, please feel free to email our ESG Manager at AJEaware@a-j-e.com.au

We Are Aware.

Our Story So Far.

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