Digital Product Passports (DPPs) have slowly been creeping into our clothing, whether or not you’ve taken notice of them is dependent on your commitment to sustainability. With the EU clamping down on DPP legislation, the proof of your favourite fashion retailers being ethical isn’t in the pudding, it’s in the DPP.
Brands from Chinti & Parker to Nobody’s Child were early adapters of DPPs to showcase their commitment to providing transparent, ethical garment manufacturing. Marking a huge milestone for DPPs, earlier this month, Tesco announced it would be implementing them across all of its F&F Clothing range.
Joe Little, Head of Technical from Tesco, said: “At Tesco, we’re committed to sustainability and strive to make a positive impact on our planet. DPPs represent an important step forward, encouraging and promoting sustainable and circular practices and we’re pleased to be leading the way with this pilot, collaborating with Fabacus on our F&F clothing range.”
Examples Chinti & Parker, Nobody’s Child and F&F all have one thing in common: their DPP trials were all facilitated by technology provider Fabacus.
Andrew Xeni is the founder of the fashion label Nobody’s Child as well as Fabacus, a tech company that provides supply chain and data services for digital passports. He said: “Our mission is simple: to close the gap between brands and their customers, whilst future-proofing against regulation, and growing value for both.”
So, what exactly are DPPs?
In recent years, the fashion industry has been criticised for a lack of transparency and part of the problem has been a lack of standardised information.
Nobody’s Child Digital Product Passports
A Digital Product Passport is a digital record that provides information about a product and its value chain from its inception to landing on local shelves. This includes everything from the origin of the product, materials used, environmental impact and disposal recommendations. Trials have seen retailers print barcodes on the labels of garments, which are scanned to reveal the above information.
After learning about a product’s environmental impact, customers can then make informed choices about where they want to shop.
When asked if DPPs have impacted customers’ experiences, Andrew Xeni said: “Absolutely. We even had customers going into stores to scan products and understand what a DPP is. It’s been very well received and our customers love the honesty and transparency. Although we can’t attribute an increase in sales directly to the DPP, we can measure increasing customer loyalty and purchase frequency, so all the KPIs are validating the value proposition.”
Pangaia Digital Product Passports
Not only are DPPs used to foster a deeper connection to a brand’s conscious community, but some even offer aftercare instructions as well as easy recycling and resale opportunities via these scannable codes, such as Pangaia.
Bleckmann is also a DPP provider, its Circularity Lead, Nicole Bassett, told TheIndustry.fashion: “Both resale and recycling require information that is not connected to the product, by adding a digital passport, brands can reduce costs for processing items into these two important channels. An investment in a digital ID will unlock revenue potential in resale and process efficiency in recycling.
“DPPs are a great channel to market. A new form of communication to their customers, building loyalty and presenting everything from products to services, as well as anything that extends the lifecycle of product.”
The main purpose of DPPs is to close the gap between the transparency demanded by consumers, investors, and other stakeholders and the current lack of reliable data on product journeys.
As more and more people are demanding transparency from brands, the EU has introduced the DPP as a key component of the proposed Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).
Bassett added: “Not only does adding DPP to a brand’s product meet legal compliance, it can offer some additional benefits throughout the operations of a company. In Bleckmann’s case, we offer full services for a client from freight forwarding, warehousing, fulfilment, returns, renewal, repair and resale opportunities. Having your data organised in a Digital Product Passport reduces the time spent on processing items while also improving accuracy through operations.”
Why is it important that British brands get on board?
Brussels is battling to boost supply chain transparency by rolling out legislation forcing companies to introduce DPPs. If approved, retailers across fashion, furniture, and more will have to provide detailed information on the materials used to create each product and their environmental impact.
Although they are not yet required, DPPs are expected to become mandatory by 2026. Not only will the new legislation provide information, but it will also install new requirements on how retailers manage their stock, such as banning destroying excess stock. Companies that do not comply could face fines and even be prevented from selling in the EU.
Not only this, but those brands that are cutting corners on sustainability are at risk of losing sustainably savvy shoppers if they’re forced to air their dirty laundry – or, in this case, their carbon footprint.
Avery Dennison, another provider of DPPs, is currently providing to brands such as Burton Snowboards. It has been “working with retailers to tag items and streamline supply chains for decades”. Via its atma.io connected product cloud platform, the company tracks over 30 billion items on behalf of clients throughout the supply chain, all of which use a digital identifier such as a QR code or RFID tag.
Debbie Shakespeare, Senior Director of Sustainability & Compliance at Avery Dennison, said: “Early preparation is key. The phased introduction of DPP begins in 2027 with apparel one of the first sectors to be impacted. Brands and retailers have to start capturing all the information that will be vital for DPP including carbon footprint data, origins of materials and re-use instructions. Depending on the size of the retailer and the complexity of the supply chain, this can take many months or even years so there is no time to waste.”
Who’s already on board?
Typically, brands renowned for their sustainable approaches to fashion have trialled DPP technology. Not only does it showcase their commitment to the planet, but it can also be used as a tool to recycle and resell clothing. Pangaia, Nobody’s Child, Chinti & Parker are some of the first British brands to trial the technology.
Chinti & Parker’s first collection to feature Digital Product Passports launched in April.
Xeni spoke at TheIndustry.fashion LIVE: Preparing for Peak event earlier this year, where he said: “We’re on a mission to convince the world you can produce better fashion consciously.”
Commenting on Fabacus’ recent partnership with Tesco, Xeni noted: “What its doing is, in essence, saying consumers should have the right and access to a level of information that enables them to make an informed buying decision so that they’re aware of the environmental impact of that product that they’re buying.”
So, why aren’t more brands doing it?
In short, larger retailers are adopting DPPs at a slower pace because introducing them is a “huge undertaking and a very complex challenge sometimes misconstrued as simple”, said Xeni.
Shakespeare from Avery Dennison noted: “For retailers that are already heavily digitised it will be much easier to introduce DPPs”.
“It’s a complex challenge and the data required to meet the DPP and legislative demands is currently sitting across multiple systems internally and multiple stakeholders within the supply chain, globally. Our role is to help them bring all the data together through technology and resources, to create a trusted compliant product data catalogue that enables scalable DPPs. In short, not easy for anyone at scale,” Xeni added.
Although Xeni couldn’t reveal the retailers Fabacus is currently working with, what he could reveal is that those they’re working with “represent over 50% of UK apparel”. Despite scaling Fabacus’s technology at a rapid pace, the company is taking a “very considered strategy” as its “primary objective is to drive standardisation, otherwise, it will bear a huge cost and challenge to suppliers, as well as hinder retailers in achieving success timely and efficiently”.
