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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                           CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
                                 SECTION 302 OF
                         THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Julian R. Geiger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aeropostale, Inc.,
certify that:

     1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Aeropostale, Inc.;

     2. Based on my knowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue
        statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
        to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
        such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
        covered by this annual report;

     3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
        information included in this annual report, fairly present in all
        material respects the financial condition, results of operations and
        cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
        this annual report;

     4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
        establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
        defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
        registrant and we have:

        (a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
            disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
            supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
            registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
            to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
            period in which this annual report is being prepared;

        (b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
            and procedures and presented in this annual report our conclusions
            about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures
            based on our evaluation as of the end of the period covered by this
            annual report; and

        (c) disclosed in this annual report any change in the registrant's
            internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
            registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially
            affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
            registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

     5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
        our most recent evaluation on internal control over financial reporting,
        to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's
        board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):

        (a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
            or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which are
            reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
            record, process, summarize and report financial data; and

        (b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
            other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
            internal controls.

                                                 /s/ JULIAN R. GEIGER
                                          --------------------------------------
                                                     Julian R. Geiger
                                           Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
                                              (Principal Executive Officer)

Date: April 14, 2004