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The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is no longer a future concept. It is a legal requirement that will reshape how fashion brands design products, manage data, and communicate with customers and regulators, and 2026 is the operational year for implementation.
For brands, manufacturers, and retailers, the key question is no longer if preparation is needed, but how. This guide is written for non-technical teams looking for clarity: which regulations are coming, what they require, and what to watch closely to stay compliant.
The following sections focus on the essentials in a clear, practical way with only what matters.
Across Europe, regulators are moving from voluntary transparency to mandatory product-level information. The DPP is the tool enabling this shift.
In simple terms, a Digital Product Passport is a digital record linked to a physical product. It stores and shares information about materials, origin, durability, repair, and end-of-life: accessible to authorities, business partners, and consumers. It also vehicles digitalized information required for other regulations - it was born from ESPR but other norms already nominate it as a tool.
According to the European Commission, products placed on the EU market are responsible for over 80% of environmental impacts, largely determined at the design stage. This is why regulation is focusing on product data from the start.
Source: European Commission, Ecodesign Impact Accounting
The main regulation introducing the Digital Product Passport is the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).
What it is:
A new EU regulation that sets requirements for how products are designed, produced, and documented.
What it means for brands:
If you sell products in the EU, you will need to provide standardized, digital information about each product.
Key points to prepare for:
What to be careful about:
The ESPR does not define one single DPP format. Instead, it sets the framework. Specific requirements will be introduced gradually by product category: fashion and textiles are among the priority sectors.
This strategy supports ESPR and clearly states that textiles will require a Digital Product Passport.
Data must be consistent across systems. Marketing claims that are not aligned with DPP data may raise red flags during audits or checks.
While DPP focuses on products, CSRD focuses on companies. The two are closely connected.
A regulation requiring large companies (and gradually SMEs) to disclose standardized non-financial information.
Even if CSRD applies at the company level, weak product data can undermine your reporting credibility.
While CSRD focuses on company-level reporting, the EU is also tightening the rules that govern how brands communicate product information to consumers.
An update to EU consumer protection law that strengthens requirements around consumer-facing product information and restricts misleading commercial practices.
This directive is more imminent and broader in scope than claim-specific measures. It covers a wider range of product communication topics, including durability and reparability information, guarantee transparency, and limits on vague or unreliable product claims and labels. This makes product-level data increasingly important as a source of consistent, verifiable information.
Member States must transpose the directive by 27 March 2026, and it will apply from 27 September 2026. Because it applies horizontally across products and communication practices, brands should ensure that what they publish at the product level is consistent across channels and supported by structured data.
On this topic, the proposed Green Claims Directive focuses specifically on how environmental claims are made and substantiated.
This upcoming regulation addresses how environmental claims are made.
DPP is increasingly being mentioned in more and more regulations as a digitalization tool for product data, as part of the EU Single Market strategy.
While details will evolve, DPPs for fashion products are expected to include:
The key shift is from PDFs and internal files to structured, digital data.
At Renoon, we help brands turn regulatory complexity into clarity.
Our platform enables you to:
We don’t just focus on compliance, we focus on making data useful, usable, and credible for everyone involved.
If you are asking yourself:
You are already on the right path.
Book a demo with Renoon to explore how Digital Product Passports can be implemented in a clear, structured, and future-ready way.
The Digital Product Passport represents a collective shift toward: clearer information, better products, and stronger trust between brands, regulators, and consumers.
While regulation can feel complex, it also creates a shared language and a level playing field. By preparing early and focusing on reliable product data, we can move forward with confidence.
The future of fashion is not about more promises: it’s about better information. And together, we can build it.
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