How to Make Digital Passports Cool: IoDF and EPAM Announce Alliance

How to Make Digital Passports Cool: IoDF and EPAM Announce Alliance

Institute of Digital Fashion (IoDF), and EPAM, a global leader in digital transformation services and product engineering, are proud to announce a collaboration to redefine Digital Product Passport (DPP) services for the fashion and retail industries. This collaboration will set a new benchmark for traceability, sustainability, and compliance, ensuring brands stay ahead of evolving global regulations while creating new value propositions for consumers.

Revolutionizing Fashion’s Future: Transparency, Trust & Technology

With the European Union set to mandate Digital Product Passports as part of its circular economy and sustainability initiatives, brands face increasing pressure to implement solutions that enhance product lifecycle transparency, authentication, and compliance. The EPAM x IoDF alliance delivers a next-gen DPP framework that seamlessly integrates RFID, NFC technology, blockchain authentication, and AI-powered data analytics, offering brands an end-to-end digital passport solution.

Digital Product Passports (DPPs) customer-friendly by integrating storytelling, community-building and blockchain-driven royalties into the framework.

“The need for transparent and traceable product data has never been more critical. Our collaboration with EPAM represents a seismic shift in how brands adopt Digital Product Passport technology. By merging IoDF’s leadership in digital fashion with EPAM’s digital transformation and engineering expertise, we are pioneering an intelligent, scalable solution that meets both regulatory requirements and consumer expectations.” said Leanne Elliott Young, CEO and Co-Founder, IoDF.

Inbound European Union regulation will make it mandatory by 2030 for any garment or accessory to come with a QR code embedded with detailed information on where it was made and where it has been – a DPP. It will help brands grow direct relationships with their customers, fight fakes and should make resale and recycling much easier for customers.

“Digital Product Passports are no longer optional, they are transformational,” said Ward de Kruiff, Vice President and Global Head of Web3 & Metaverse at EPAM. “We’re entering a new era where fashion products don’t just tell a story, they carry proof of it.”

DPPs introduce an entirely new layer of data – from supply chain inputs to materials traceability – offering transparency in product governance and lifecycle insights. It’s not just about what the product is made of, but how it’s made, where, and under what conditions. 

“By combining IoDF’s disruptive innovation with EPAM’s deep experience of digital engineering and AI-enabled transformation, we are delivering a best-in-class solution that enables brands to future-proof their businesses while creating meaningful value for consumers and the planet. We’re unlocking and entirely new data layer,” continued Ward de Kruiff.

DPPs have the power to:

• Build trust through transparency
• Drive loyalty through enriched services
• Fuel new digital and circular business models

DPPs aim to create a circular eco-system and for brands DPPs are a new way to engage with consumers through i.e. offering new services (repair and maintenance), resale propositions (within their own eco-system, on their owned platforms) and acquire consumers in channels that are controlled by their partners (wholesale, franchise, etc) and will lower cost of acquisition.

How IoDF and EPAM’s DPP is Redefining Fashion

While DPPs have traditionally been viewed as compliance tools, the EPAM x IoDF Digital Product Passport service takes innovation further by embedding storytelling, community engagement, and blockchain-driven royalties into the framework:

• Enabling Storytelling Through Garments – Our DPP technology ensures that each garment carries its history, preserving the legacy of ownership. If a product has been previously worn by a celebrity or cultural icon, its provenance remains embedded in the Digital Product Passport, allowing consumers to become part of an evolving fashion narrative.
• Delivering Authentication & Transparency – Our DPP framework guarantees that every item has a verifiable history, reducing counterfeits, ensuring authenticity, and enhancing consumer trust in the resale and luxury markets.
• Monetizing Circular Fashion – With our DPP service, brands and creators can earn royalties on resale, leveraging blockchain-powered authentication to create new revenue streams in the secondary market.
• Rewriting the Sustainability Narrative – As resale markets fluctuate and overhyped VC-backed valuations prove unsustainable, our DPP technology provides practical, scalable solutions that support genuine circularity in fashion.

Read the full Vogue for Business article here (subscription required to view)

Learn more about our collaboration with IoDP (Institute of Digital Fashion) and check out this recent Flawless Magazine article here.

Learn more about the exciting potential of DPPs at Unlocking Opportunities in Fashion & Luxury.