Text: Ward de Kruiff
For decades, certificates, receipts, and the knowledge of an exclusive network of experts determined provenance. That worked as long as luxury products circulated within closed circuits. That dynamic has fundamentally changed. Watches, bags, and couture clothing move rapidly across international platforms, among buyers who do not know each other. In such a market, trust is no longer a given but a data point.
The Digital Product Passport brings trust back to the product itself. This digital identity travels with the object, from first sale to resale and beyond. This passport specifies where the product was made, what materials were used, how it has been maintained, and what the environmental impact was. Not as a static document, but as a dossier that is enriched throughout its entire lifecycle. From 2027, such a passport will be mandatory for most products in Europe, with clothing and accessories following by 2030 at the latest. For luxury brands, this means that provenance is no longer a marketing story but a verifiable fact.
Control over value throughout the entire lifecycle
This legislation represents a strategic shift. Luxury brands are traditionally strong in the primary market but often lose grip in the resale of a product. In the secondary market, additional value arises, but without direct involvement from the brand. This leads to fragmented stories, unclear price developments, and loss of direct customer relationships. A Digital Product Passport changes that dynamic. Each product becomes an authenticated digital object, allowing brands to regain control over the lifecycle of their creations. They gain insight into where products circulate, can support their own resale initiatives, and ensure that value creation aligns better with craftsmanship and exclusivity. In this way, the second-hand market is no longer a side issue but an extension of the brand strategy.
Experiences from other sectors
The world of luxury watches shows how powerful digital provenance can be. Brands like Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, and Breitling work with digital certificates based on blockchain that confirm authenticity, document maintenance, and support ownership transfer. This increases trust with each transfer and enhances value, both new and second-hand.
This pattern is also visible outside the luxury industry. In the automotive sector, the battery passport for electric vehicles shows that dynamic, interoperable data yields much more than mere compliance. It enables predictive maintenance, improves supply chains, and facilitates resale or reuse. The same logic applies to luxury goods: a continuous, validated flow of information that connects creation, use, and repurposing.
AI as the foundation of trust
Behind the elegant interface of a Digital Product Passport lies a complex data structure. Luxury supply chains are fragmented and international, with rare raw materials, specialized workshops, and diverse suppliers. Bringing together and validating all that information requires technology that goes beyond traditional IT.
AI plays a key role in this. It can combine data from different systems, assess authenticity based on micro-details in materials or finishes, and calculate environmental impact based on unstructured supplier information. If these systems are transparently designed and easily auditable, AI becomes the guardian of the digital story behind each product.
Digital experience as part of luxury
Experience is indispensable for luxury items, and that can also be digital. A Digital Product Passport should feel like an extension of craftsmanship. From scanning a QR code to viewing a resale listing: every interaction must fit the aesthetics and values of the brand. This requires balance. Systems must be secure, scalable, and internationally compatible and connect to technologies like QR, NFC, or blockchain. At the same time, technology must never take precedence. The DPP is not a technical label but primarily a means of making trust and exclusivity tangible.
Loyalty that moves with the object
Ownership in luxury is becoming less static. Today's buyer can be tomorrow's seller and later become a customer again. With a Digital Product Passport, loyalty benefits travel with the product. For example, through access to exclusive content, maintenance services, or privileges in resale. Thus, loyalty shifts from person to object. The brand remains present in every phase of the lifecycle and builds a community of verified owners instead of isolated transactions.
Ultimately, the value of the Digital Product Passport goes beyond compliance with regulations. It turns luxury items into digitally recorded heirlooms. Where they were made, how they were cared for, and how they were passed on are part of their identity and value. Luxury has always revolved around beauty, rarity, and heritage. In a digital economy, something else is added: demonstrability. Brands that embrace this early not only own the first sale but every valuable phase thereafter.
Ward de Kruiff is Vice President Consulting & Digital Innovation and Global Head of Web3 & Metaverse, Empathy Lab by EPAM
