In the Fibre Forward project, we are developing a Digital Product Passport (DPP) for a corporate worker’s trouser by Schijvens, made from regeneratively grown cotton supplied by Raddis Cotton. The passport provides full traceability, including suppliers in tiers 3 and 4 in India.To enable reliable data sharing and active participation, we are digitising the local infrastructure in India. We are building digital trust within the supply chain, among other things through the use of verifiable credentials.With this project, we contribute to a transparent and responsible textile value chain, with sustainability and fairness at its core.
Transparency from the Source for a Responsible Textile Chain
The European Union is moving towards a circular economy in which products last longer, can be reused, and have minimal impact on people and the environment. To achieve this, new legislation will require companies to be more transparent about the origin, composition, and impact of their products.
Read more aboyt the new legislation
A key instrument in this transition is the Digital Product Passport (DPP), which will become mandatory from 2027 for many product categories, including textiles. The DPP is a digital document containing information about a product’s entire life cycle – from raw materials and composition to production process, repairability, recyclability, and environmental performance.
Implementing the DPP requires a deep understanding of the entire supply chain – something that is particularly complex in the textile industry. Supply chains are global and highly fragmented. Many companies have visibility only up to tier 1 or 2, while the greatest social and environmental impacts occur deeper in the chain – among farmers, spinners, and dyers (tiers 3 and 4). Achieving true sustainability demands insight and control over these deeper layers.
.
Bron: How We Report – Apparel Impact Institute
F
Fibre Forward: Gathering Data from the Source
Within the Fibre Forward research project, we collect data directly at the source – from farmers and processors in tiers 3 and 4. Whereas brands often try to trace information upstream in their supply chains, we reverse the approach: we start at the origin.
This way, we are building a reliable, transparent, and future-proof data-sharing system for the textile sector – a foundation for the Digital Product Passport.
Bron: Aware™
Together with our local team in India, we are developing the digital infrastructure needed to support this system. In addition, we define, develop, and strengthen digital trust, for example by integrating verifiable credentials.
Our Goals
We are working towards:
-
A reliable Digital Product Passport,
built on a digital trust framework through the integration of verifiable credentials. -
Verifiable data on fibre origin, social and environmental impact,
aligned with the needs of supply chain partners and the requirements of the ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation). -
A toolkit with guidelines, illustrations, and a roadmap for scalable DPP implementation.
The project demonstrates that the Digital Product Passport is not an end in itself, but a means to collaborate on building transparency and trust across the textile value chain.
Fibre Forward is a collaboration between the Centre of Expertise Wellbeing Economy and New Entrepreneurship (Avans University of Applied Sciences), Hogeschool Utrecht, Schijvens Corporate Fashion, Aware™, Stichting Raddis, GVK Society, Yassasree BV, Quintessence Research, FIDES Labs, and MVO Nederland.
The project is supported by Top Sector ICT and funded by the SIA (Taskforce for Applied Research) under the Digital Product Passports – Application in Practice programme.
