Luxury Brand Staff Wardrobes: Our Process

1. Discovery

We begin by listening. Who are the teams we are dressing, where do they work, and what do they do through the day? A sales associate in a flagship store, a host at a private event and a driver collecting clients from the airport all represent the brand, but in very different ways. We ask about the number of people, the locations and climates, the timeline and the budget, and about any existing garments that should be kept or replaced. We also ask about the practical side: who will manage sizes, where garments will be laundered or dry cleaned, and how new team members will be dressed.

The result is a written brief that both sides agree on before any design work begins.

2. Brand immersion

A staff wardrobe has to speak the brand’s language, so we spend time learning it. We study the house’s archives and collections, its stores and their materials, the way it presents itself in print and on screen, and the clients it welcomes. We visit stores and spaces in person whenever we can, because colour, light and scale are hard to judge from photographs. We look for the codes that matter most: a colour, a cut, a material, a detail, a degree of formality or ease. The aim is not to copy the product collections, which can make staff look like mannequins, but to create something that sits naturally alongside them.

We also talk to the people who will wear the wardrobe. Store teams know which fabrics show every mark under bright display lighting, which shoes they stand in all day and what clients remark on. Their experience shapes the brief as much as the brand guidelines do.

3. Mood and design

From that research we build a mood: references, colours, fabrics and silhouettes gathered into a clear direction. We usually present more than one route, so the conversation is about real choices. Once a direction is chosen, we move to design, with sketches and technical drawings for each piece.

Planning a system, not a set of outfits

We plan the wardrobe as a system. Which pieces are shared across roles and which are specific, how they combine, and how the wardrobe shifts between seasons. Every design decision is checked against the brief from discovery: movement, climate, care and the practical needs of each role.

4. Fabric sourcing

Luxury staff wardrobes call for fabrics that look and feel right next to the brand’s own products while standing up to much harder use. We source from mills and suppliers we know, judging handle, drape, depth of colour and performance together. We request test data on colourfastness, pilling and abrasion, and we wash or clean samples the way they will be treated in practice. Availability matters as much as quality: we check that a cloth can be reordered in the same shade in the years ahead, or we plan stock to cover replacements. Our notes on uniform fabrics set out how we weigh these choices.

5. Prototypes

Each design is made up as a prototype in the chosen fabric, or as close to it as we can get. This is where the design meets reality. We check proportions, construction and finishing, and details such as buttons, linings and trims. The first prototypes almost always lead to changes, and that is the point: this is the stage where adjustments are quick and inexpensive.

Where we can, we review prototypes next to the brand’s own products, in a store or showroom, to check that colours and finishes sit well together rather than competing for attention.

6. Fittings

Prototypes are then fitted on members of the team, chosen to represent the range of heights and builds the wardrobe has to serve. We watch them move, sit, reach and walk, and we ask how each piece feels. For client-facing roles, we also look at how the garments read in the actual space, under the store’s own lighting. Patterns are refined after each round until the pieces work on real bodies, not just on a fit model.

7. Made-to-measure sizing

For luxury wardrobes, standard sizing is often not enough. We measure each team member and either grade the pattern across a fuller size range or cut individual made-to-measure garments.

The sizing file

Each person’s measurements and preferences are recorded in a sizing file, along with any alterations. That file becomes a working tool: it makes later orders straightforward and means that a jacket delivered to a new store matches the fit of one made for the flagship.

8. Production

Production follows the approved prototypes and the sizing file. We work with workshops whose standards we know and keep a close eye on quality throughout: fabric checks before cutting, inspections during manufacture and a final check of every garment before it leaves. Labels, care instructions and any embroidery or branding are completed at this stage, so the wardrobe arrives ready to wear.

9. Delivery

Delivery is organised around the way the client works. Garments can be packed and labelled by person, by store or by department, with a clear list of what each person receives. For brands with several locations, we coordinate shipments so that every team changes over on the same day. For larger projects we often hold fitting days at delivery, so final adjustments can be made on the spot, and a short care guide goes to each team member and to whoever manages the wardrobe.

10. Aftercare and replenishment

A staff wardrobe needs looking after long after the launch. We offer alterations and repairs, replacements for worn or damaged pieces, and supply for new team members using the sizing file. We plan replenishment with each client, keeping fabric and trims in reserve or scheduling repeat production, so that new pieces match the old ones in colour and quality. When the brand evolves, we can update the wardrobe gradually, introducing new pieces or seasonal variations without starting again from scratch.

A wardrobe, not a costume

Throughout the process we keep one question in mind: would the people wearing these clothes choose them for themselves? When the answer is yes, they wear them with confidence, and that confidence is what guests and clients notice. Many of the same principles apply in hospitality, as we explain in how to design a hotel uniform staff will love.

You can see a selection of our work on the uniforms page. If you are considering a staff wardrobe for your brand, tell us about your teams.