The fashion indusattempt produces around 100 billion garments every year, and almost no one can inform us where they all go. Once produced, a garment disappears into the market, which obscures the steps taken to obtain the garment there but doesn’t eliminate the damage incurred along the way. Brands often struggle to answer basic questions about their own products: Where was it built? What is it built of? How much carbon or water did it consume? Who stitched it, and under what conditions? Can it be reutilized, or will it conclude up in a landfill?
Now, the European Union is preparing to mandate answers in a sweeping relocate toward greater indusattempt transparency. As part of the forthcoming Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which is set to take effect in 2027, every garment sold in EU member states will be required to carry a digital product passport: a scannable record that traces an item’s full lifecycle. “If we want to have less impacts on climate modify, the fashion and textile sector necessarys to be part of the solution,” stated Lars Fogh Mortensen, an expert on circular economy, consumption, and production at the European Environment Agency. “With digital product passports, the aim is to attempt to reduce the damage.”
The details are still being fleshed out, but the idea is that each passport would contain a trove of critical data about material sourcing, chemicals, water and energy utilize, and carbon footprint. Scan a QR code, and you could see exactly what your clothes are built of and how far they’ve traveled. “It’s essential that the digital passport covers the whole life cycle,” stated Mortensen. “We’ll have to see where it lands, but from a substance and analytical perspective, it should be as broad as possible.”
The EU is still finalizing the details of its product passport legislation, but the ripple effects could be global, according to Mortensen. If brands are required to meet strict quality and transparency standards to access the EU, many may apply those same practices elsewhere by default. Some see this as a tipping point for traceability in fashion. Others aren’t convinced just yet.
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