The fashion industry is entering a decisive regulatory phase.

With the rollout of EU frameworks such as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and product-level due diligence requirements, Digital Product Passports (DPPs) are unavoidable.

DPPs are not a simple digital label. They provide the infrastructure that connects regulation, supply chains, consumers, buyers, and the European single market, while also enabling direct-to-consumer channels for brands.From a simple QR code to a system that links verified product, material, and compliance data, DPPs redefine how information flows across design, sourcing, production, market entrance and resale.

We asked Renoon: how can regulation become an opportunity?

To understand how brands can move beyond compliance, we spoke with Renoon, our featured solution provider, working with 30+ fashion companies and contributing to United Nations-recognized case studies focused on supply chain transformation. According to Renoon, the opportunity lies in treating DPPs not as a reporting obligation, but as a strategic operating system and direct-to-consumer channel for brands.

What the Digital Product Passport actually is

In the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), the Digital Product Passport is a defined legal construct. The regulation describes the Digital Product Passport as a “set of data specific to a product or a batch of products, structured in a predetermined format, that is accessible via electronic means through a data carrier and a unique identifierˮ. In plain terms: the DPP is the formal, regulated digital identity of the product in the EU Single Market. It is a digital ID card for every product you put on the EU market. Behind that ID sits a structured file – a “digital container of product-specific informationˮ, as the Commission calls it – that travels with the product through its value chain.

It is, by all means, an infrastructure.

How to turn regulation into opportunity

This is where Renoon acts as an activator, with the Digital Product Passport as the enabling tool. By combining regulatory expertise, data validation, and supply-chain intelligence, Renoon helps brands move beyond checkbox compliance and build systems that work in practice and at scale.

Through this approach, brands can reduce compliance risk and future operational friction, translate regulation into scalable operating models, and build trusted, item-level product data. At the same time, they unlock cross-border access and efficiency in the EU market, creating measurable business value from regulatory alignment rather than treating it as a cost.

Rather than positioning compliance as an overhead, Renoon enables brands to use DPPs to strengthen decision-making, improve coordination across supply-chain partners, and unlock the full potential of the EU single market. The result is transformation across the ecosystem: businesses gain access to new business models, consumers receive reliable information about products, and regulatory authorities benefit from improved market surveillance and more streamlined trade and enforcement.

Why this matters now

Digital Product Passports are becoming a reality faster than many fashion companies expect. By 2026, they will be a baseline requirement rather than an innovation. Brands that move early gain control over their data architecture, reduce long-term compliance costs, and build stronger credibility with regulators and market partners. Late movers, by contrast, risk rushed implementation, higher costs, and limited flexibility at a moment when regulatory expectations are only increasing.

“DPPs matter beyond compliance: they make products more interesting & efficient. They create a dependable operational layer for product data that can strengthen resilience, improve efficiency, and support long-term business value” says Iris Skrami, co-founder and CEO of Renoon.