In the fashion industry, the label and hang tag have always been much more than a detail: they are the means through which a product communicates its quality.
Today, these elements are expected to do more: they no longer simply display the brand, composition, and care instructions, they become the interface that connects the physical product to its digital identity, hosted on a constantly updated online platform.
The main driver behind this shift for brands is the new European legislation. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) introduces the Digital Product Passport (DPP), prohibits the destruction of unsold textile products, and requires companies to demonstrate, through verifiable data, how a product is managed throughout its lifecycle.
To meet these new requirements, the first essential step is to implement a reliable system that links each garment to its associated information. This is why an increasing number of brands are adopting smart, interactive solutions. In this context, Mion develops labels and hang tags equipped with smart identification technologies —RFID, QR codes, and NFC— that serve as access keys to the platform where the product’s Digital Product Passport is stored.
However, making a garment’s digital identity accessible is not enough if that access cannot be guaranteed over time. It must remain available throughout the product’s entire lifecycle. This is where the concept of the Digital Thread comes into play: the invisible thread that keeps the physical product connected to its digital identity. It is not simply a matter of traceability, but about the ability to continuously connect every stage of the product’s journey —from manufacturing to retail, from the customer experience to repair, through to the second-hand market, historical archiving, and end-of-life management.
In this scenario, the physical carriers of the Digital Product Passport play a crucial role.
A Digital Product Passport is truly effective only if the link between the physical product and its data remains readable, accessible, and persistent over time. When the physical carrier deteriorates, access to the product’s associated information is lost.
For this reason, Mion applies its know-how through a range of solutions designed to preserve long-term access to product data, adapting to different use cases and to the various stages of the product’s lifecycle.
In the textile industry, the real challenge is ensuring that the digital connection remains intact over time.
A QR code printed on a conventional hang tag or label may fade, distort, deteriorate, or be removed. Once the code is no longer readable, the Digital Product Passport loses continuity and the Digital Thread is broken. In other words, the product loses access to its digital memory.
This is where the superiority of Mion's unique woven QR code becomes evident. With the Mion Unique QR Code, the digital identity is embedded directly into the structure of the label itself.
The QR code becomes an organic part of the product, designed to accompany it through washing, ironing, daily use, maintenance and even resale. This persistence is precisely what makes the woven QR code the solution most closely aligned with ESPR compliance requirements in the fashion industry.
In authentic luxury, however, the best technology is often the one that disappears.
An NFC-enabled label represents a radically different approach from a QR code. The experience happens through a discreet gesture: by bringing a smartphone close to the label, users instantly access the product’s digital identity.
With NFC technology, Mion integrates NFC tags into woven labels, hang tags, and seals without altering their aesthetic appearance.
For the fashion industry, NFC becomes a particularly effective tool when the goal is to provide access to unique and exclusive interactivity: event access, advanced customer engagement, exclusive content, private sales, or premium after-sales services.
If the textile product is subjected to frequent washing and repeated ironing, however, its durability may decrease over time. For this reason, the woven QR code maintains a structural advantage in ensuring the continuity of the Digital Thread and the persistence of the product’s digital identity.
Different considerations apply to products that are not subject to washing. For accessories, small leather goods, jewellery, eyewear, and watches, NFC enables a refined interaction aligned with the codes of contemporary luxury: here, textile durability is not a constraint, and the tap experience enhances the act of accessing data. For product categories that do not use labels or hang tags, Mion develops customised seals to integrate smart technologies into packaging while maintaining aesthetic coherence and manufacturing precision.
| Criteria | Unique Woven QR Code | NFC Tag |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Medium (textile design, variable data, readability control) | Medium to high (chip, antenna, encoding, testing) |
| Durability | Highest: permanent on washable garments | Variable: excellent for accessories, more exposed to risk on textiles |
| Readability | Very high (on smartphone: camera, no app required; visible on the carrier) | High but less immediate (smartphone NFC reading must be active; the carrier needs a clear tap cue) |
| ESPR compliance | Compliant: ensured physical persistence | Compliant when integrated into suitable carriers |
| Repeated interactions | Excellent for repeated access throughout the product lifecycle | Suitable for selected one-shot or high-value experiences |
| Ideal categories | Apparel, textiles, permanent labels | Accessories, jewellery, bags, footwear, seals. Carriers that do not require washing |
The choice between a Unique QR Code and an NFC tag should never be treated as a purely aesthetic decision. For a brand, it means defining how the product will continue to tell its own story over time.
For garments, the unique woven QR code currently represents the most robust solution for the Digital Product Passport, which must accompany the garment throughout its entire lifecycle, maintaining narrative continuity and data accessibility even after years of use.
NFC, on the other hand, excels when the focus is on building an exclusive, invisible, and sophisticated customer experience, capable of enhancing the perceived value of the brand through an immediate and immersive interaction.
Mion's experience in producing smart labels and hang tags shows how the choice of interactive data carrier influences brand communication.
Within the ESPR framework, serialized QR codes, RFID, and NFC enable precise tracking of unsold goods dynamics, reasons for disposal, distribution flows and the information required for environmental reporting under the CSRD.
In this context, RFID and woven QR codes work in synergy: RFID manages movement and logistics along the supply chain, while the unique QR code remains the permanent access point to the individual garment’s identity. Together, they enable companies to track the product’s lifecycle from production through to the final consumer: where the yarn was produced, where it was woven and dyed, where it was made and, ultimately, how it was sold.
This forms the basis of an advanced product sheet, where every piece of data has a verifiable correspondence and the technological device integrated into the label makes the garment’s authenticity even more desirable: it is often this added value, appreciated both by marketing departments and the digital infrastructures of major brands, that drives the choice towards Mion.
On the anti-counterfeiting front, the unique digital identity makes it possible to monitor the grey market and verify the authenticity, origin, and distribution channels of the product.
But it is above all in the relationship with the customer that these technologies express their most advanced potential. In both cases, the data does not reside in the physical carrier: the label holds an identifier that opens an updatable platform, so the physical carrier remains the same while the content can evolve over time. This is what allows labels and seals to move beyond their purely functional role and become smart touchpoints: gateways to editorial content, digital certificates, after-sales services, loyalty programs, immersive experiences and brand storytelling.
Since 2019, Mion has produced more than 30 million interactive data carriers, including RFID, NFC, and Unique QR Codes. This figure does not simply express production capacity, it reflects practical experience gained at the intersection of manufacturing, software and real-world product use.
Because the point is not simply to create a digital connection. The point is to understand how that connection can continue to live within the product over time, without breaking under real-life everyday conditions. This is where Mion's role evolves from technical supplier to consulting partner for brands that need to develop a durable support for the Digital Product Passport, compliant with European regulations and aligned with their own philosophy. This journey is made possible by a fully vertical supply chain: from the label to the variable code, through to the MIOO platform, developed in-house, where the physical carrier finds its destination and becomes an advanced user experience: authenticity, content, and customer relationship.
In contemporary luxury, value does not lie solely in the object. It lies in the brand’s ability to safeguard, preserve, and make accessible over time the living memory of the product.
Contact us to develop your bespoke project and discover how to turn every detail into a distinctive mark of your brand.
© 2026 Mion S.p.A. | 35038 - Torreglia (PD) Italia – Via Cornaro, 7 | +39 049 999 76 00 | info@mion.com | P.IVA 03898370287 | C.F. 91015690240 | Reg. Imprese Padova – R.E.A. 311506
