The challenge
In 2013, Deutsche Telekom, the parent brand of T-Mobile, faced a challenge familiar to many global companies: how to create a consistent, recognisable identity across Europe while respecting cultural differences. The business had invested in a new uniform design, developed centrally in Germany, but the rollout immediately ran into trouble.
What worked in one market jarred in another. The Netherlands preferred a casual look. Eastern Europe wanted something more formal. No one could agree – and without buy-in, the collection risked being rejected entirely. For a brand in the middle of a major transformation, that meant more than wasted investment. It meant losing control of how staff represented the company in stores, at events and even in customers’ homes.
That’s when Interbrand, Deutsche Telekom’s global brand consultancy, invited us to collaborate. It became one of Field Grey’s first major consultancy projects – a chance to show how collaboration and design can solve complex brand challenges.
The approach
The brief was clear: find a way to empower local markets to create their own solutions without losing sight of the brand. We worked with Interbrand’s Cologne office to create a set of pan-European uniform guidelines. These weren’t rigid rules, but a framework to help local markets source their own solutions while staying true to the brand.
We translated Deutsche Telekom’s brand personality – “approachable, reliable, inspiring, authentic, sociable” – into clothing that could flex across T-Mobile’s three lines of business: retail, technical service and events. We balanced classic professional garments with more casual options, explored safe and durable materials for technicians and left space for more expressive eventwear.
Bringing the guidelines to life
But paper guidelines only go so far. The breakthrough came with a workshop we staged in Vienna. Buyers from across Europe, most of them non-designers, worked together in teams to “build” wardrobes on mannequins, experiment with fabrics and colour combinations and apply branding to sample garments. The room was alive with debate, everyone testing what felt true to their market.
The results
By the end, the regional teams not only had a set of guidelines, but a shared understanding. Standard ”corporate wear” became branded clothing: a way to express local character while staying true to shared values. For Deutsche Telekom, it showed how collaborative design can resolve internal conflicts and strengthen brand expression in everyday moments.
For us, it was a turning point – the first time we’d worked at this scale with a global brand and a major agency partner. The T-Mobile project proved that the best uniform design is consultancy-led – grounded in insight, collaboration and culture. It’s about helping brands bring people together through clothing that communicates who they are, wherever they are.