Aje CMO project brief · Response by Deena Colman
Aje campaign model wearing a sculptural olive dress
Aje / Occasion
Aje Studio wardrobe reference
Studio / Everyday
Aje Athletica lifestyle reference
Athletica / Movement

One world, three wardrobes.

aje.com should feel like walking into the best Aje store: a magazine cover on arrival, a world you want to explore, and service that knows you. The stores already show the brands work both alone and together (Aje-only, Studio-only, Athletica-only and combined formats), so the site serves both kinds of customer on one platform rather than forcing either model.

Explore the thinking

The thinking behind it.

Proposed digital flagship / Rough concept
The occasionWork & weekendMovement
Aje campaign diptych with a sculptural olive gownThe Guest List

One account · One basket · One Aje world

  • One platform underneath: one domain, checkout, account, wishlist, membership and customer view across all three brands. Consolidate ajeworld.com.au, .co.nz and .com into aje.com with local currency, duties-inclusive pricing and local returns, which also concentrates search authority.
  • Brand-led front doors on top: Aje, Aje Studio and Aje Athletica each get their own homepage, navigation, tone and paid traffic (aje.com/studio, aje.com/athletica), mirroring the single-brand stores. Aje is the house and the default, especially internationally.
  • A shared Aje world layer mirroring the combined stores: moment-led entry points (dressing for an occasion, work and weekend, move) and "complete the week" recommendations across brands, such as the $800 occasion dress, a Studio blazer for work and an Athletica set for pilates.
  • Customer-led, not structure-led: the customer view recognises whether she's an Athletica, Studio, Aje or cross-brand customer and leads with the right door, instead of three equal tabs.
  • Guardrails: each brand's prices and promotions stay on its own pages; multi-buy offers never appear on Aje or occasion pages; the homepage always leads with the current narrative, never a deal.
  • Hemisphere-aware merchandising: a London customer in June sees summer weddings, not Australian winter knits.
  • Store and online as one: styling bookable from product pages and CRM, an endless aisle so any store can order any brand, click and collect across every format, and a store locator that shows which brands and services each store offers.
  • Speed stays sacred: editorial built on lightweight, fast-loading templates.

International: one wardrobe first, three when the data says so. The international site already sells Aje only, which is the right starting point: lead with the house while the brand is being established offshore. Add Aje Athletica and Aje Studio market by market only when there's evidence of demand, such as wholesale sell-through (if they're wholesaled in those regions), branded search for each line, and international customers already buying them. Athletica is the more likely second wardrobe, because premium activewear travels well and fits the Aje world; Studio may stay domestic and wholesale-led for longer. The platform is built for three wardrobes everywhere, so switching a line on in a market is a merchandising decision, not a rebuild.

Delivery that fits every wardrobe. One $300 free-shipping threshold suits Aje, where a dress costs $500–$800, but likely penalises a Studio or Athletica customer buying a $70–$150 basket. That adds friction exactly where new customers enter the Aje world. Four fixes:

  • Push click and collect hard: free, prominent at checkout, and available at any store regardless of brand format, so an Athletica order can be collected at an Aje store. Every collection is a store visit, a chance to style and a chance to add on.
  • Free shipping as a member benefit: replaces the 10% welcome code and gives lower-spend customers a reason to join.
  • Use the threshold to build cross-brand baskets: "add a Studio top for free delivery" recommendations turn a cost into a reason to complete the week.
  • Test before changing the threshold: compare average order value and shipping-fee abandonment by brand, then trial lower thresholds for Studio- and Athletica-led baskets against margin.

Reference to show: Tory Burch launched Tory Sport in 2015 as a separate site and brand, and now runs it inside toryburch.com/sport with its own story and "shop by sport" navigation, in one basket. Put it side by side with Aje's three equal tabs and an annotated current homepage (sale in the navigation, 10% pop-up, dated editorial) next to a rough wireframe of the new one.