diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9c82bb8ea9..05e76c4caa 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Gemfile.lock
 conf/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/*.po
 !messages.po
 lms/static/sass/*.css
+lms/static/sass/application.scss
 cms/static/sass/*.css
 lms/lib/comment_client/python
 nosetests.xml
diff --git a/lms/envs/aws.py b/lms/envs/aws.py
index df80d5a924..a3d5cb653f 100644
--- a/lms/envs/aws.py
+++ b/lms/envs/aws.py
@@ -114,6 +114,11 @@ DEFAULT_FEEDBACK_EMAIL = ENV_TOKENS.get('DEFAULT_FEEDBACK_EMAIL', DEFAULT_FEEDBA
 ADMINS = ENV_TOKENS.get('ADMINS', ADMINS)
 SERVER_EMAIL = ENV_TOKENS.get('SERVER_EMAIL', SERVER_EMAIL)
 
+#Theme overrides
+THEME_NAME = ENV_TOKENS.get('THEME_NAME', None)
+if not THEME_NAME is None:
+    enable_theme(THEME_NAME)
+
 #Timezone overrides
 TIME_ZONE = ENV_TOKENS.get('TIME_ZONE', TIME_ZONE)
 
diff --git a/lms/envs/common.py b/lms/envs/common.py
index 3c133a1e6b..64012d1f53 100644
--- a/lms/envs/common.py
+++ b/lms/envs/common.py
@@ -110,6 +110,9 @@ MITX_FEATURES = {
 
     # Enable URL that shows information about the status of variuous services
     'ENABLE_SERVICE_STATUS': False,
+
+    # Toggle to indicate use of a custom theme
+    'USE_CUSTOM_THEME': False
 }
 
 # Used for A/B testing
@@ -167,12 +170,12 @@ MAKO_TEMPLATES['main'] = [PROJECT_ROOT / 'templates',
 
 # This is where Django Template lookup is defined. There are a few of these
 # still left lying around.
-TEMPLATE_DIRS = (
+TEMPLATE_DIRS = [
     PROJECT_ROOT / "templates",
     COMMON_ROOT / 'templates',
     COMMON_ROOT / 'lib' / 'capa' / 'capa' / 'templates',
     COMMON_ROOT / 'djangoapps' / 'pipeline_mako' / 'templates',
-)
+]
 
 TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = (
     'django.core.context_processors.request',
@@ -714,3 +717,31 @@ MKTG_URL_LINK_MAP = {
     'HONOR': 'honor',
     'PRIVACY': 'privacy_edx',
 }
+
+############################### THEME ################################
+def enable_theme(theme_name):
+    """
+    Enable the settings for a custom theme, whose files should be stored
+    in ENV_ROOT/themes/THEME_NAME (e.g., edx_all/themes/stanford).
+
+    The THEME_NAME setting should be configured separately since it can't
+    be set here (this function closes too early). An idiom for doing this
+    is:
+
+    THEME_NAME = "stanford"
+    enable_theme(THEME_NAME)
+    """
+    MITX_FEATURES['USE_CUSTOM_THEME'] = True
+
+    # Calculate the location of the theme's files
+    theme_root = ENV_ROOT / "themes" / theme_name
+
+    # Include the theme's templates in the template search paths
+    TEMPLATE_DIRS.append(theme_root / 'templates')
+    MAKO_TEMPLATES['main'].append(theme_root / 'templates')
+
+    # Namespace the theme's static files to 'themes/<theme_name>' to
+    # avoid collisions with default edX static files
+    STATICFILES_DIRS.append((u'themes/%s' % theme_name,
+                             theme_root / 'static'))
+
diff --git a/lms/static/sass/application.scss b/lms/static/sass/application.scss.mako
similarity index 63%
rename from lms/static/sass/application.scss
rename to lms/static/sass/application.scss.mako
index 6a1ef8743e..434475c6ac 100644
--- a/lms/static/sass/application.scss
+++ b/lms/static/sass/application.scss.mako
@@ -36,3 +36,16 @@
 @import 'news';
 
 @import 'shame';
+
+## THEMING
+## -------
+## Set up this file to import an edX theme library if the environment
+## indicates that a theme should be used. The assumption is that the
+## theme resides outside of this main edX repository, in a directory
+## called themes/<theme-name>/, with its base Sass file in
+## themes/<theme-name>/static/sass/_<theme-name>.scss. That one entry
+## point can be used to @import in as many other things as needed.
+% if not env['THEME_NAME'] is None:
+  // import theme's Sass overrides
+  @import '${env['THEME_NAME']}'
+% endif
diff --git a/rakefile b/rakefile
index cef93e67eb..20101a14db 100644
--- a/rakefile
+++ b/rakefile
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+require 'json'
 require 'rake/clean'
 require './rakefiles/helpers.rb'
 
@@ -7,6 +8,13 @@ end
 
 # Build Constants
 REPO_ROOT = File.dirname(__FILE__)
+ENV_ROOT = File.dirname(REPO_ROOT)
 REPORT_DIR = File.join(REPO_ROOT, "reports")
 
+# Environment constants
+SERVICE_VARIANT = ENV['SERVICE_VARIANT']
+CONFIG_PREFIX = SERVICE_VARIANT ? SERVICE_VARIANT + "." : ""
+ENV_FILE = File.join(ENV_ROOT, CONFIG_PREFIX + "env.json")
+ENV_TOKENS = File.exists?(ENV_FILE) ? JSON.parse(File.read(ENV_FILE)) : {}
+
 task :default => [:test, :pep8, :pylint]
diff --git a/rakefiles/assets.rake b/rakefiles/assets.rake
index 0369968fdf..ef77d4fea7 100644
--- a/rakefiles/assets.rake
+++ b/rakefiles/assets.rake
@@ -1,3 +1,36 @@
+# Theming constants
+THEME_NAME = ENV_TOKENS['THEME_NAME']
+USE_CUSTOM_THEME = !(THEME_NAME.nil? || THEME_NAME.empty?)
+if USE_CUSTOM_THEME
+    THEME_ROOT = File.join(ENV_ROOT, "themes", THEME_NAME)
+    THEME_SASS = File.join(THEME_ROOT, "static", "sass")
+end
+
+# Run the specified file through the Mako templating engine, providing
+# the ENV_TOKENS to the templating context.
+def preprocess_with_mako(filename)
+    # simple command-line invocation of Mako engine
+    mako = "from mako.template import Template;" +
+           "print Template(filename=\"#{filename}\")" +
+           # Total hack. It works because a Python dict literal has
+           # the same format as a JSON object.
+           ".render(env=#{ENV_TOKENS.to_json});"
+
+    # strip off the .mako extension
+    output_filename = filename.chomp(File.extname(filename))
+
+    # just pipe from stdout into the new file
+    File.open(output_filename, 'w') do |file|
+      file.write(`python -c '#{mako}'`)
+    end
+end
+
+# Preprocess all static assets that have the .mako extension by
+# running them through the Mako templating engine. Right now we
+# just hardcode the asset filenames.
+def preprocess_assets
+    preprocess_with_mako("lms/static/sass/application.scss.mako")
+end
 
 def xmodule_cmd(watch=false, debug=false)
     xmodule_cmd = 'xmodule_assets common/static/xmodule'
@@ -32,10 +65,20 @@ def coffee_cmd(watch=false, debug=false)
 end
 
 def sass_cmd(watch=false, debug=false)
+    # Make sure to preprocess templatized Sass first
+    preprocess_assets()
+
+    sass_load_paths = ["./common/static/sass"]
+    sass_watch_paths = ["*/static"]
+    if USE_CUSTOM_THEME
+      sass_load_paths << THEME_SASS
+      sass_watch_paths << THEME_SASS
+    end
+
     "sass #{debug ? '--debug-info' : '--style compressed'} " +
-          "--load-path ./common/static/sass " +
+          "--load-path #{sass_load_paths.join(' ')} " +
           "--require ./common/static/sass/bourbon/lib/bourbon.rb " +
-          "#{watch ? '--watch' : '--update'} */static"
+          "#{watch ? '--watch' : '--update'} #{sass_watch_paths.join(' ')}"
 end
 
 desc "Compile all assets"