At BoF VOICES 2024, Michele Casucci — founder and general manager of Certilogo — convened a group of global fashion and luxury leaders to explore the transformative potential of Digital Product Passports (DPPs). With sustainability, transparency, and consumer engagement becoming top priorities across the industry, the session tackled how DPPs can serve as a powerful bridge between brands and their increasingly curious and conscious consumers.
The core idea? Turn every product into a gateway for connection.
Casucci emphasized that digital product passports — essentially digital IDs embedded in physical items via QR codes, NFC tags, or blockchain technology — are more than just a tool for compliance with upcoming EU regulations. When implemented thoughtfully, they offer brands a dynamic opportunity to tell stories, share traceability, and cultivate long-term trust with buyers.
“These technologies are not just about ticking a sustainability box,” Casucci said. “They allow brands to maintain a continuous conversation with the customer long after the sale.”
Executives in attendance noted that the value of DPPs spans several critical touchpoints: verifying authenticity, disclosing supply chain information, guiding care and repair, and even supporting secondhand resale and recycling. In a market increasingly driven by values and verifiable action, DPPs offer a new level of post-purchase engagement that aligns with both ESG goals and consumer expectations.
Still, challenges remain. For many brands, the real hurdle lies not in the technology, but in getting consumers to notice and use it. The conversation turned toward UX design, storytelling, and incentivization strategies — all crucial elements to ensure that digital passports don’t remain hidden beneath the seams.
“It’s not enough to embed a chip. You have to make the experience compelling enough that people want to scan it,” said one executive.
As luxury consumers seek deeper connections to what they wear — where it comes from, who made it, how to keep it in use — DPPs offer a promising path forward. And as Casucci and his peers made clear, the brands that embrace this technology now aren’t just preparing for future regulations. They’re reshaping the very nature of ownership, trust, and brand loyalty.
