Aje: Tough Femininity Meets Chic Fashion Style

Lovers of chic fashion styles have likely been interested in Aje clothing and its brand for a long time. Aje embraces tough femineity, always incorporating it into their designs. In this blog post, we explore the brand, where they came from and what they represent, highlighting why the brand is an obvious inclusion at our department store.

The Beginning

Aje was founded in 2008, in Australia, by two best friends who shared their passion for art, creativity, and fashion. Together, their creative energy flowed into creating a comfortable but chic clothing line, eventually reshaping the street fashion in coastal Australia to a mixture of urban and beach styles.

Adrian Norris always had a passion for art, and Edwina Forest dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. Together, the two would create some outstanding garments. Before founding their brand, Norris studied at the Venetian Art School, while Edwina had more of a fashion background, with her successful career at RUSSH fashion magazine.

The pairs’ creative background in the arts can be seen across their collections, using bold colours, texture, and volume to create some stunning statement pieces alongside a range of high-quality basics.

Tough Femininity

For Aje, tough femininity is creating chic fashion styles focusing on structure, colour, and volume to explore femininity in new ways. Aje's statement garments are about creating structural chaos. Aje takes what is traditionally feminine; soft pastel colours, flowing skirts and dresses, combining them with a bit of raw, rough-around-the-edges details.

Aje embraces vintage-style elements, bringing them together with modern silhouettes to create beautiful, unique, and empowering pieces to wear. Some of our favourite pieces that represent the brand's idea of tough femininity include the Casabianca Shirt Dress. A loosely fit, buttoned shirt, a belt to bring in the waist, a flowing skirt, and of course, the statement: big, billowing sleeves to bring shape into the garment.

Craftsmanship

With Aje, you can be confident in the detail and raw effort that has gone into producing your garment. The attention to detail is always immaculate, from intricate embroidery to simple stitching; quality is at the forefront when creating their collections. To craft their garments, Aje takes advantage of traditional techniques, holding pride in their detailed, hand-crafted approach to fashion.

By prioritising craftsmanship, Aje creates long-lasting clothes to avoid contributing to the growing fast-fashion industry. Known for their stunning details, whether it's hand-casted belt buckles, gorgeous beading, or creating a ruffled sleeve, the Aje silhouette is always unique and effortless.

The creative backgrounds of the founding pair have contributed heavily to Aje’s aesthetic and style. The pair understand how to use shape, volume, and proportion to create bold pieces and the label never shies away from experimenting with new designs.

Whether you want a statement piece, like the vibrant Medina Tiered Skirt, or an everyday basic, like the Springs Tapered Trouser, you can be confident in the quality of your garment. Sustainability is a priority in the production of Aje, with their Aje Aware initiative. The brand is taking accountability for fashion's environmental impact and ensures that working conditions at each level of the supply chain are fair. They are looking to reduce the waste the industry leaves behind. The brand is currently in the works of developing a sustainability strategy to better combat fast fashion and the negative environmental and social impact it has.

Discover Your Tough Femininity with Aje

Thomas's Department Store carries Aje’s collections, waiting for you to embrace the rough-around-the-edge-chic style. Whether you’re looking to embrace unique styles or want to shop more consciously, Aje is the ideal brand to choose. Discover the intricately designed collection at Thomas's and step away from fast fashion and into tough femininity; we're not afraid to be rough around the edges!

Thomas's top priority is to fight fast fashion, curating a collection of brands that reflect our values. Clothing shouldn't be something you buy consistently; it should stick by your side, holding stories and memories in every stitch. Explore Thomas's collection and start building a conscious closet. Shop online or drop into our lovely department store today.