- ESPR · Apparel & Garments
- Industry DPP
Digital Product Passport for Apparel
Shirts, dresses, jackets, and every finished garment you sell will need a Digital Product Passport under the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. Fibre content, care instructions, origin, and certifications — scannable from a single hang tag, built directly in Shopify.
2028
Apparel & textiles deadline
12+
Years EU compliance experience
Free
Plan — up to 10 products
5 min
Average setup time
A digital record that travels with every shirt, dress, and jacket
A Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a machine-readable and human-readable data record tied to a finished garment. Apparel and textiles land in the EU’s ESPR 2028 rollout wave — but a finished, wearable garment carries data a bolt of fabric doesn’t: size, fit, garment lifespan, and repairability, on top of fibre and origin data. It’s accessed by scanning a QR code on the hang tag, care label, or packaging.
Every SKU — or every unit, if you choose — gets its own scannable code linking to a live, always-current passport.
Fields conform to ESPR's product-level data schema — fibre composition, durability, and sustainability, structured the same way across brands.
The passport must stay accessible for the garment's expected lifetime, updated automatically whenever a supplier or certificate changes.
Resellers, repair shops, and recyclers scan the same code to find fibre breakdown, repair guidance, and end-of-life routing.
Required DPP data
What your apparel DPP must include
ESPR specifies four mandatory data categories for finished garments. PassoNext guides you through each one with pre-built, compliant fields.
REACH-aligned substance declarations
- Percentage breakdown of every fibre used
- Recycled vs. virgin material content
- Substances of concern (REACH list)
- Lining, trim, and button/zip materials
- Microplastic shedding indicators for synthetics
Full traceability, tier by tier
- Country of origin for fabric and assembly
- Manufacturing and cut-and-sew facility details
- Supply chain tier mapping
- Fair labour and working condition certifications
- Batch and lot-level traceability
Extending garment lifespan
- Washing, drying, and ironing instructions
- Size, fit, and garment weight specification
- Estimated garment lifespan
- Repair, mending, and alteration guidance
- Spare parts (buttons, zips, trims) availability
GOTS, OEKO-TEX, and beyond
- GOTS, OEKO-TEX, and similar certificates
- CO₂ and water footprint indicators
- End-of-life recyclability share
- Social compliance declarations
- Take-back and resale programme details
Live passport preview
See a garment passport, exactly as a shopper would.
Every field below is generated automatically from your Shopify product data and stays current as fibres, suppliers, or certificates change.
- Fibre composition, down to the percentage point
- Country of origin and manufacturing facility
- Care, repair, and expected garment lifespan
- Certifications like GOTS and OEKO-TEX, shown prominently
Who must create the apparel DPP?
Under ESPR, the “economic operator” placing the garment on the EU market carries full DPP responsibility — regardless of sales channel.
If your label is sewn into the garment, you're the responsible party — even when a third-party factory manufactures it.
Companies bringing finished garments from outside the EU must confirm a valid passport exists before sale.
Cut-and-sew facilities and finishers share responsibility for the accuracy of material and origin declarations.
Non-EU brands can appoint an EU-based representative to carry DPP obligations on their behalf.
How it works
A compliant apparel DPP in 6 steps — from Shopify
No coding, no consultants, no compliance headaches. PassoNext plugs into your existing Shopify catalogue.
Fibre breakdown, origin, care instructions, and certificates — your design or compliance team likely has most of it already.
One-click install from the Shopify App Store. Connect your store in under two minutes — no developer needed.
Guided fields validate entries against ESPR's apparel schema as you type, with templates for common garment types.
PassoNext validates the data and creates a compliant Digital Product Passport for the product or variant.
A unique GS1 Digital Link QR code is automatically generated and linked to the DPP, ready for printing on hang tags, care labels, or packaging.
Print the QR code on the product. If product information changes (supplier, materials, certifications, etc.), the DPP updates automatically while the same QR code continues to work.
Delegated acts for apparel land in 2028 — with a short window to comply.
Build your DPP infrastructure now, while the rollout is still ahead of you instead of behind you.
- Templates pre-built for apparel
- Syncs directly with Shopify products
- Multi-language EU market support
- QR codes generated automatically
- Live updates, no re-printing tags
- Free plan — up to 10 products
Frequently asked questions
When exactly is the DPP deadline for apparel?
Apparel falls under the same 2028 implementation wave as textiles in the EU’s ESPR working plan. Because garment supply chains are long, EU manufacturers and retailers are expected to start requesting DPP-ready products from suppliers well before the formal deadline — early adoption can mean an earlier seat at the table with EU buyers.
Is an apparel DPP different from a textiles DPP?
They fall under the same ESPR product category, but a finished garment carries data a raw fabric doesn’t — size and fit, garment weight, construction, and repair guidance for the finished item. PassoNext’s apparel templates include these garment-specific fields on top of the shared fibre and origin data.
Does this apply to online sellers on Shopify?
Yes. ESPR applies to any economic operator placing products on the EU market, including e-commerce and Shopify sellers. If you ship shirts, dresses, or jackets to EU customers through your store, you’ll need a valid passport for each product — the regulation makes no distinction between physical retail and online channels.
What garment data do I actually need to provide?
At minimum: the percentage breakdown of every fibre in the garment, country of origin, care and maintenance instructions, size and fit information, and any sustainability certifications you hold (such as GOTS or OEKO-TEX). PassoNext’s guided fields walk you through each requirement so nothing gets missed.
How long must an apparel DPP remain accessible?
Under ESPR, the passport must stay accessible for the garment’s expected lifetime. PassoNext hosts and maintains the record, and the QR code on the hang tag always points to the live, current passport — so a fabric or certificate change never requires a new label.
