You’ve read about the regulation. You understand that the Digital Product Passport is coming. Now the question is: how do you actually build one?
Most guides on this topic jump straight to platform comparisons or drown you in technical standards. This one doesn’t. It walks you through the full process, from organising the data you already have, to publishing a live passport your customers can scan, in the order things actually need to happen.
We wrote this for brand owners and small teams. If you have a Shopify store, a handful of suppliers, and a catalogue of 10 to 200 products, this is your playbook. No supply chain consultants required.
Table of Contents
Before you start: pick your pilot products
The single biggest mistake brands make with DPP preparation is trying to passport their entire catalogue at once. Don’t do this.
Instead, pick three to five products. Choose items where you already have decent data, you know the fabric composition, you know where they’re made, you have care instructions written down somewhere. Your best-sellers are a natural choice, but even a basic t-shirt works fine for a pilot.
The goal of the pilot isn’t perfection. It’s discovery. You want to find out where your data gaps actually are, and you want to find out with five products, not five hundred. Everything you learn here will make the rest of your catalogue dramatically easier.
Write down the names of your pilot products. Now let’s build their passports.
Step 1: Get your product identification sorted
Every Digital Product Passport needs a globally unique identifier. In the DPP world, that identifier is a GTIN, a Global Trade Item Number, managed by the GS1 organisation.
If you already sell through retail or on Amazon, you likely have GTINs (they’re the numbers encoded in your barcodes). If you sell exclusively through your own website and have never needed barcodes, you probably don’t have them yet, and you’ll need to get them.
Here’s how GS1 registration works. You apply through your country’s local GS1 office (for instance, GS1 Switzerland, GS1 UK, GS1 US). You purchase a GS1 Company Prefix, which gives you a block of numbers to assign across your product catalogue. Each unique product variant, meaning each combination of style, colour, and size, gets its own 13-digit GTIN.
A few practical notes. The cost varies by country and by how many GTINs you need. For small brands, packages of 10 to 100 GTINs are typically available at a reasonable annual fee. The registration process takes a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on your GS1 office. Don’t wait until the last minute, this is a straightforward step, but it’s a dependency for everything that follows.
If you already have GTINs, confirm they’re correctly assigned. One common issue: brands that assign a single GTIN to an entire style rather than to each variant. Under the DPP system, each size and colour combination will need its own identifier.
What you should have at the end of this step: A GS1 Company Prefix and a GTIN assigned to each variant of your pilot products.
Step 2: Gather your material composition data
Material composition is the most fundamental data point in any fashion DPP. Not just “cotton” or “polyester,” but a precise breakdown by percentage: “95% organic cotton, 5% elastane” or “70% recycled polyester, 30% virgin polyester.”
For most brands, this information exists somewhere, on a supplier spec sheet, in a tech pack, buried in an email chain. The challenge isn’t that the data doesn’t exist. It’s that it’s scattered, inconsistent, and often not structured in a way a DPP platform can ingest.
Here’s how to gather it properly.
Start with your tech packs or product specification documents. For each pilot product, extract the fibre composition for the main fabric, the lining (if any), and any significant trims or components (ribbing, elastic waistbands, zipper tapes). If your spec only says “cotton” without a percentage, go back to your fabric supplier and ask for the detailed composition.
For blended fabrics, you need the exact percentages. “Mostly cotton with some stretch” is not sufficient. “96% cotton, 4% elastane” is what you need. Your fabric supplier has this information, it’s on the mill’s test certificate.
Separate your composition by component if the garment is made of multiple distinct materials. A jacket with a polyester shell and a cotton lining should list both, not average them together.
What you should have at the end of this step: A spreadsheet or document listing each pilot product with its complete fibre composition, broken down by component, with exact percentages that add up to 100%.
Step 3: Document your manufacturing chain
The DPP requires you to know, and disclose, where your products are made. At minimum, this means the country of final assembly. As requirements evolve, expect more detailed traceability to become necessary: the locations where spinning, fabric production, dyeing, and garment assembly each take place.
For your pilot, start with what you know and build from there.
Tier 1, Your garment manufacturer. This is the factory that sews your finished garments. You almost certainly know who this is and where they’re located. Record their name, country, city, and if possible their Open Supply Hub ID (a free, open-source global facility identifier at opensupplyhub.org).
Tier 2, Your fabric and trim suppliers. These are the mills or suppliers providing your fabric, buttons, zippers, and labels. You may deal with them directly, or your garment manufacturer may source on your behalf. Either way, find out who they are and where they operate.
Tier 3 and beyond, Raw material origins. Where was the cotton grown? Where was the yarn spun? For most small brands, this level of traceability is difficult today and is not expected to be mandatory in the first phase of DPP requirements. But the direction is clear: brands that start mapping upstream now will be ahead of the curve.
Our supply chain mapping guide covers this in detail.
A practical tip: send a simple data request template to your suppliers. Don’t ask them to “tell you about their sustainability practices.” Ask them to fill in specific fields: facility name, full address, country, what processing stage they perform, and any relevant certifications. Specific questions get specific answers.
What you should have at the end of this step: For each pilot product, a list of at least your Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers with their names, locations, and the role they play in your production chain.
Step 4: Prepare your care instructions and SVHC declaration
Care instructions are familiar territory, you already have them on your garment labels. For the DPP, you need to make sure they’re structured and consistent across your catalogue: washing temperature, drying method, ironing guidance, and any special care notes.
The less familiar part is the Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) declaration. Under the EU’s REACH regulation, brands are required to declare whether their products contain any SVHCs above a threshold of 0.1% by weight. This isn’t new, it’s an existing legal obligation, but the DPP makes it visible and auditable.
For most fashion products made with standard materials from reputable suppliers, the declaration is straightforward: your product does not contain SVHCs above the threshold. But you need to be able to back this up. The easiest way is to request an SVHC compliance statement from your fabric and trim suppliers. Many already provide these as part of standard quality documentation, especially if they hold certifications like OEKO-TEX Standard 100.
If you’ve never asked your suppliers about SVHC compliance, now is the time. A simple email requesting a written statement of REACH compliance is usually enough to get the process started.
What you should have at the end of this step: Structured care instructions for each pilot product, plus a written SVHC compliance statement from your main suppliers.
Step 5: Collect your certifications and supporting documents
If any of your pilot products carry sustainability certifications, GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard), OEKO-TEX, Bluesign, Fair Trade, or any other standard, you need the actual certification documents, not just a mention on your website.
This matters because of the anti-greenwashing context. From September 2026, EU rules prohibit unsubstantiated sustainability claims. In a DPP, if you state that a product is GOTS certified but can’t produce the certificate, that claim will be displayed as a “self-declared claim”, which is exactly the kind of trust erosion you want to avoid.
For each certification, collect the certificate document (PDF), verify it covers the specific products in your pilot (not just your brand in general), check the expiry date and make sure it’s current, and note the certification number and issuing body.
If you don’t have any certifications, that’s completely fine. A DPP doesn’t require certifications, it requires honest, structured data. A passport that accurately states “100% conventional cotton, manufactured in Portugal, no certifications” is more trustworthy than one that makes vague claims about sustainability without evidence.
What you should have at the end of this step: A folder of valid certification documents linked to specific products, or a clear acknowledgement that no certified materials are used (which is a perfectly acceptable starting point).
Step 6: Add environmental and end-of-life data (if you can)
This step is optional for now but will likely become mandatory once the textile delegated act is adopted. Environmental impact data, typically derived from a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), includes metrics like carbon footprint per product, water consumption, and a Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) score.
If you already work with an LCA provider or use environmental scoring tools, include this data in your pilot passports. It will make your passports significantly more compelling to customers and position you well ahead of compliance requirements.
If you don’t have LCA data yet, don’t let it block your progress. The most important environmental data point you can provide right now is a clear end-of-life instruction: tell your customer what to do with the garment when they’re done with it. Can it be recycled? Should it be donated? Do you offer a take-back programme? Even a simple statement like “This garment is made from a single fibre type and is compatible with textile recycling streams” adds meaningful value.
What you should have at the end of this step: Whatever environmental data you can honestly provide, whether that’s a full LCA profile, a basic carbon estimate, or simply clear end-of-life guidance.
Step 7: Structure everything in a DPP platform
You now have all the raw data you need for your pilot passports. The next step is turning that scattered information, spreadsheets, supplier emails, PDFs, spec sheets, into structured, published Digital Product Passports.
This is where a DPP platform comes in. You could theoretically build your own system, but for most brands, it’s faster, cheaper, and safer to use a purpose-built tool that handles the technical requirements: GS1 Digital Link URL generation, JSON-LD machine-readable data, QR code creation, compliance with the EU DPP registry, and certified backup storage.
When choosing a platform, here’s what to look for.
Step-by-step guidance. The platform should tell you what data is required, what’s optional, and what you can skip for now. You shouldn’t need to read the ESPR text to figure out what to enter.
Import from your existing systems. If you sell on Shopify, a one-click import of your product catalogue saves enormous time. You’ll still need to add compliance data manually, but at least your product names, images, and variants are already in place.
Open standards. Your DPP data should be portable. Look for platforms built on GS1 standards and open data formats (like ODSAS) so your data belongs to you, not the platform. If you ever want to switch providers, you should be able to take everything with you.
Beautiful public passports. Your customers will see these pages. A DPP that dumps raw data on a white page isn’t just ugly, it’s a missed brand opportunity. Look for platforms that let you customise colours, upload your logo, and present information in a way that feels like an extension of your brand.
Sensible pricing. Some platforms charge per passport, which gets expensive fast. Others charge a flat monthly fee. For a small brand, look for pricing that doesn’t penalise you for having a larger catalogue.
Once you’ve chosen a platform, the process is typically: import or create your products, fill in the data fields using the information gathered in Steps 1–6, review the generated passport page, and publish.
What you should have at the end of this step: Your pilot products entered into a DPP platform, with all available data fields populated.
See our DPP platform evaluation checklist for the full criteria
Step 8: Generate QR codes and attach them to your products
Publishing a passport in a platform is only half the story. Your customers need a way to access it, and that means a QR code on the physical product.
Most DPP platforms generate QR codes automatically when you publish a passport. The code should be in SVG format (vector graphics that print crisply at any size) and should resolve to a stable URL that follows GS1 Digital Link standards.
Where you place the QR code depends on your product and your brand. Common options are the hang tag (most visible to the customer at point of purchase), the care label (permanent and stays with the garment throughout its life), packaging inserts (easy to add without changing your label production process), or directly on the product page of your website (as an embedded widget or link).
For your pilot, the simplest approach is to start with hang tags. You can print QR codes on existing hang tags with a basic label printer, or add them to your next print run. No need to redesign your entire label system for a pilot, you’re testing the process, not launching at scale.
Test every code. Scan each one with your phone to make sure it resolves to the correct passport page. This sounds obvious, but print-quality issues, incorrect URLs, and encoding errors are common first-time mistakes.
What you should have at the end of this step: Printable QR codes for each pilot product, tested and resolving to live passport pages.
Step 9: Review, refine, and learn
Your pilot passports are now live. Scan one yourself. Better yet, hand a product with a QR code to someone who knows nothing about DPPs, a friend, a customer, a team member, and watch what they do.
Ask yourself a few questions. Does the passport page load quickly? Is the information clear and easy to understand? Does anything feel missing or confusing? Does it look like it belongs to your brand, or does it look like a government form?
Then look at the data itself. Where did you struggle to get information? Which suppliers were responsive and which were difficult? Which data fields were easy to fill in and which felt like guesswork?
Document these lessons. They’ll shape how you approach the rest of your catalogue.
Common issues brands discover during the pilot phase include suppliers who can’t provide exact fibre percentages (solution: make it a requirement in your next purchase order), missing GTIN assignments for certain variants (solution: register them now, before the next production run), care instructions that are inconsistent across similar products (solution: create a standardised care instruction library), and realising that “manufactured in China” is too vague, you need the specific city and factory (solution: update your supplier data request template).
Step 10: Roll out to your full catalogue
Once you’ve learned from your pilot, expanding to the rest of your catalogue follows the same process, just at larger scale. The key is to build systems and templates rather than treating each product as a one-off.
Create a standardised data collection template that you send to suppliers for every new order. Build a material library in your DPP platform so you’re not re-entering “95% organic cotton, 5% elastane” every time you use the same fabric. Set up a workflow: new product goes into your e-commerce platform, gets imported into your DPP platform, gets its data filled in, gets a QR code, goes to print.
Don’t try to be perfect across your entire catalogue on day one. It’s far better to have published passports with honest, partial data than to delay everything waiting for complete perfection. You can update and enrich your passports over time as you collect better data from your supply chain.
The regulation itself is designed to evolve in phases, a simplified DPP first, with more detailed requirements following later. Your passport should do the same.
A checklist to track your progress
Here’s a summary of what you need for each product. Use this as a working checklist.
- Product identification: GTIN assigned (one per variant), product name, brand name.
- Material composition: Fibre types and exact percentages, broken down by component if the garment uses multiple fabrics.
- Manufacturing data: Country of final assembly at minimum. Factory name and city for Tier 1. Fabric supplier details for Tier 2 if available.
- Care instructions: Washing, drying, ironing, and any special care notes.
- SVHC / REACH declaration: A compliance statement, either “no SVHCs above threshold” or a disclosure of any relevant substances.
- Certifications: Valid certificates (GOTS, OEKO-TEX, etc.) linked to specific products, or an honest “no certifications” position.
- Environmental data (optional but recommended): Carbon footprint, LCA data, PEF score, or at minimum, clear end-of-life and recycling guidance.
- QR code: Generated, tested, and attached to the physical product.
You don’t need to know everything to start
If there’s one takeaway from this guide, it’s this: the DPP is not an all-or-nothing exercise. You don’t need complete Tier 4 supply chain traceability to publish your first passport. You don’t need a full Life Cycle Assessment. You don’t even need every data field filled in.
What you need is a structured starting point and a system that grows with you. The brands that will be in the strongest position when the textile delegated act lands are not the ones with perfect data, they’re the ones who started early, learned from a pilot, and built their processes while there was still time to iterate.
Your first passport won’t be your best passport. That’s fine. Your best passport will be the one you’ve improved after publishing, updating, and learning what your customers actually want to see.
If you want to see what a finished passport looks like before you start, scan or click the QR code below, it’ll give you a concrete picture of what you’re building toward.
Click or scan this QR code to open a sample DPP
And if you’d rather walk through the process with someone, book a free 20-minute demo. We’ll look at your catalogue together and figure out the fastest path to your first published passport.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to create a Digital Product Passport from scratch?
For a single product with good existing data (you know the composition, the supplier, and the care instructions), the process can take as little as an hour once your DPP platform is set up. The real time investment is in the upfront preparation: getting your GTINs registered (1–2 weeks), collecting supplier data (days to months depending on supplier responsiveness), and choosing a platform. Most brands report that their first pilot, from “I have no DPP” to “I have 3–5 live passports”, takes two to four weeks of part-time work.
Do I need a different passport for every size and colour?
It depends on the level you choose. At the product level, you can create one DPP per style (covering all sizes and colours of the same design). At the batch level, you’d create one per production run. At the unit level, every single garment gets its own unique passport. For most brands, product-level passports are the practical starting point and are expected to satisfy initial compliance requirements. If the material composition, manufacturing origin, and care instructions are identical across sizes and colours of the same style, a single passport per style is appropriate.
What if I don’t know the exact material percentages?
Ask your fabric supplier. Every commercial fabric has a tested composition that the mill can provide, it’s usually on the fabric’s test certificate or data sheet. If your supplier can’t give you this information, that’s a red flag about the quality of your supply chain documentation. For your next purchase order, make exact fibre composition a required field. In the meantime, if you truly can’t get exact numbers, use the best information you have and note that it’s approximate. An honest “approximately 95% cotton, 5% elastane” is better than leaving the field blank or guessing.
I don’t sell through retail and don’t have GTINs. Do I really need them?
Yes, for DPP compliance you will need GTINs. The DPP system uses GS1 Digital Link URLs as the standard product identifier, and those are built on GTINs. The good news is that GS1 registration is straightforward and not expensive for small catalogues. Many GS1 offices offer packages starting at 10 GTINs, which is plenty for a pilot. Even outside of DPP requirements, having GTINs assigned to your products is useful for inventory management, marketplace listing, and supply chain communication.
Can I create a DPP if I only have one supplier and limited supply chain visibility?
Absolutely. Most small brands work with a single garment manufacturer and one or two fabric suppliers. That’s a perfectly valid starting point. Record what you know, your manufacturer’s name, location, and the materials they use, and build from there. The DPP doesn’t require Tier 4 raw material traceability in the first phase. Start with your Tier 1 manufacturer and Tier 2 fabric suppliers. You can add depth over time as your supplier relationships and data collection processes mature.
What format should my QR code be in?
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is the recommended format for print. It’s a vector format, which means it scales to any size without losing quality, critical for small care labels and large hang tags alike. Most DPP platforms generate SVG codes automatically. Avoid using screenshot-quality PNG or JPEG QR codes for print production, they pixelate at small sizes and can become unscannable. Always test your printed QR code with a phone camera before sending a batch to production.
Should I put the QR code on the hang tag or the care label?
Both have trade-offs. Hang tags are more visible at point of purchase but are typically removed by the customer. Care labels are permanent and stay with the garment for its entire life, which is important for resale, recycling, and long-term traceability. If you have to choose one, the care label is the better long-term choice because the passport remains accessible throughout the product’s lifecycle. If you can do both, even better. Some brands also add the QR code to their product packaging or as a digital link on their product page.
What happens if I change a fabric or supplier after publishing a passport?
You update the passport. A DPP is a living document, not a snapshot frozen in time. If you switch from conventional cotton to organic cotton, change your manufacturing partner, or add a certification, update the passport data in your platform. The QR code and URL stay the same, only the underlying data changes. This is one of the advantages of a digital system over a printed label: you don’t need to reprint anything to correct or improve your product information.
My products are already on the market. Do I need to create passports for existing stock?
Based on current expectations, products already placed on the EU market before the enforcement date will be exempt from DPP requirements. The obligation applies to new production and new imports after the mandatory compliance date (expected around mid-2028). So you don’t need to retrospectively passport your current inventory. However, starting with current products in a pilot is still the best way to build your process, you just won’t be required to QR-code your existing warehouse stock.
Can I use AI to help fill in DPP data?
Some DPP platforms include AI assistants that help you structure your data by asking guided questions and converting your answers into the required format. This can be useful for brands that have product knowledge but don’t know how to map it to regulatory fields. The key rule: never let an AI write directly to your records without your review. Any AI-generated suggestions should be treated as drafts that you verify and approve before publishing. The data in your DPP is a legal compliance document, accuracy matters.
What’s the minimum viable DPP I can publish today?
A passport with your product name, GTIN, material composition (with percentages), country of manufacturing, care instructions, and an SVHC compliance statement is a solid minimum. It covers the data points that are near-certain to be required under the upcoming delegated act, and it gives your customers a meaningful transparency experience. You can enrich it over time with environmental data, supply chain details, and certifications as you collect them. Don’t let the pursuit of a perfect passport prevent you from publishing a good one.
This guide reflects the regulatory landscape as of April 2026. Data requirements may change when the textile-specific delegated act is published, we’ll update this guide accordingly. Stay informed.
This article has been reviewed for accuracy by the Wetrack team.
Some illustrations may be AI-generated in which case they are labeled. Report any issue.