PARIS — As part of its ongoing repositioning, French luxury hotel chain Sofitel has tapped Cordelia de Castellane to design the uniforms for its 25,000 employees worldwide.

De Castellane, an interior designer and creative director for Dior Maison and Baby Dior, has created a collection of 45 clothing items and accessories adapted to various climates, occupations and body types, designed to blend French elegance with practicality.

“I wanted a wardrobe that reflects the Sofitel spirit of effortless chic,” said Maud Bailly, chief executive officer of the Accor Group luxury and lifestyle division that runs the Sofitel, MGallery and Emblems hotels. “Each employee can put together the outfit they feel best in.”

Bailly connected with de Castellane after admiring her redesign of the Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay, an upscale hotel located in a 12th-century Cistercian abbey on the edge of the Rambouillet forest near Paris.

“She truly embodies the French spirit,” the executive said. “We launched our rebranding two-and-a-half years ago, and we wanted to reflect this in the care that we bring to our staff, who should embody this renewal. To that end, we opted for beautiful, fluid, precise cuts.”

De Castellane worked with navy as a base color for city locations and beige for resort hotels, with touches of pale pink, light blue and celadon. Allover prints, hardware and buttons feature the hotel chain’s link logo, meant to symbolize the ties between French culture and the local communities of its various locations.

“We didn’t want to impose anything as rigid as a uniform. We just wanted them to feel really beautiful and proud,” de Castellane said.

Among the key women’s looks is a belted shirtdress. “I find that it’s flattering to most body types, and it was very important to me that women feel both comfortable and beautiful, so there are a lot of things that are slightly nipped at the waist,” she said. There is also a selection of pants, including a knit version.

For men, she channeled a “Parisian dandy” spirit with double-breasted jackets with logo buttons and braided half-belts.

It’s the latest high-profile project for Sofitel, which marked its 60^th anniversary last year by collaborating with Courbet on a jewelry collection incorporating the link motif, encrusted with lab-grown diamonds. It has also inked partnerships with porcelain maker Bernardaud on a votive light, and Air France on mattress pads for its business class seats.

As part of its ongoing commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its hotels, Sofitel has partnered with sustainable fashion body Paris Good Fashion to oversee the production cycle of the uniforms, which are designed to be durable, repairable and recyclable.

Currently in the test phase, they will be presented in a runway show at an owners’ convention later this month. Hotels will then place orders for a rollout in 2026.

“The usage rate will be a good indicator of our ability to respond to needs adequately. We’re also opening 32 Sofitels in the next three years, and we hope that owners who join the brand will all widely adopt this turnkey solution,” Bailly said.

Sofitel has 123 hotels worldwide, of which a third are undergoing renovations, including its New York City location in midtown Manhattan. Among recent openings are the Sofitel Al Hamra Beach Resort near Dubai, the Sofitel Cotonou Marina Hotel & Spa in Benin, and the Sofitel Cairo Downtown Nile, its largest with 615 keys.

De Castellane said her childhood memories were filled with powerful memories of staying in historic hotels like the Sofitel Legend Old Cataract hotel in Aswan, Egypt, which was immortalized in Agatha Christie’s novel “Death on the Nile.”

“These were the trips that probably had the biggest impact on my imagination,” she said.

The tastemaker distills lifestyle advice in books like “Life in a French Country House: Entertaining for All Seasons.” A mother of four, she is the founder of Studio Cordelia de Castellane, a multidisciplinary agency that specializes in interior design for luxury hotels, restaurants and private clients like Ladurée. 

She and Bailly are already cooking up their next collaboration for one of Accor Group’s other brands.

“I take on very few projects besides Dior and when I do take one, it’s really something that’s close to my heart. I really believe in what Maud is doing, so I thought it would be fun to be a part of this big renewal at Sofitel,” de Castellane said. “I was very happy to be able to make my own small contribution.”