We present optical spectroscopy and optical and infrared photometry of the neutron star soft X-ray transient Aql X-1 during its X-ray outburst of 1997 August. By modelling the X-ray, optical and IR light curves, we find a 3-d delay between the IR and X-ray rise times, analogous to the UV-optical delay seen in dwarf novae outbursts and black hole X-ray transients. We interpret this delay as the signature of an `outside-in' outburst, in which a thermal instability in the outer disc propagates inward. This outburst is the first of this type definitively identified in a neutron star X-ray transient.