Threads of Traceability: Textile IDs in the Fabric of Sustainable Fashion

The creation of knit patterns embedded with digitally readable codes allows garments and designers to interact with wearers in a novel way. By merging fashion with technology, these garments become mediums for deeper consumer engagement, offering insights into the fashion itself and the narratives behind it. As the demand for change in the fashion industry intensifies, brands are increasingly exploring ways to enhance transparency and sustainability.

Starting in 2025, the European Commission’s PEF program will mandate a digital product passport for every fashion product sold in the EU. TextileID pioneers a new method of data representation in 2D, creating unique identification numbers woven into the fabric. These codes, similar to QR codes but more visually appealing and discreet, can be scanned to reveal detailed information about the product, including material usage, production conditions, and ecological footprint.

Transparent supply chain representations provide insights into the product’s journey from production to sale. Additionally, designers can share their inspirations for the collection, and wearers can leave personal stories for future owners. This transforms garments into communication tools, allowing consumers to not only wear clothes but also connect with the brand’s values and the stories of previous wearers.

We thus asked ourselves if it would be possible to design the garment in such a way that it not only represents a unique code, but also serves as an expressive design element, all without being readily identifiable as a computer-generated code, as llustrated in the figure. From the abstraction of a black-and-white code (A) to the design of an aesthetic marker pattern(H): Simple coloring of a 8×8 matrix is still perceived as a code (B). Combining it with some (C). Better results are achieved by changing the shape of the tiles (D). When the properties (color, orientation) are changed (E) and combined with different shapes (F), it is becoming more and more difficult to recognize as marker. Best results are achieved by using a clever geometry (G) in combination with “error” pixels (H).

With Textile ID, we present our vision of a digital garment passport that is fully integrated into the textile design. By scanning the garment with a smartphone, the visual surface of the textile can be used to uniquely identify the garment and obtain essential product lifecycle information. We demonstrate our concept in an exemplary implementation, encoding a UUID (Universally Unique IDentifier) directly into the garment. This identifier serves as an access point for communicating the product’s life cycle information. We implemented a software pipeline for encoding the data into such identifiers to turn them into textile designs, creating them via textile manufacturing, and finally capturing and parsing the data using a smartphone camera and mobile application.

An essential component in tracking and modifying the information stored within a TextileID is the Universally Unique Identifier (UUID). As the Figure demonstrates, the UUID’s binary representation is split into two equal segments, each of which consisting of 8×8 bits (B), i.e., 128 bits in total. This division can be visually represented as two binary matrices (C-D), with shaded tiles, where its geometry (color and shapes) is defined by the designer. The final look of the pattern, on the other side, is determined by the UUID, indicating the presence of bits via shading, whereas unshaded tiles signify the absence of bits. Combining these two distinct matrix representations (E) results in a third color appearing where previously shaded tiles overlap. The fourth color is utilized to signify tiles that do not contain any binary information (F) and is incorporated into the marker (G).

All our manufactured samples have been knitted using a Shima Seiki SWG061N2, which is a 15-gauge V-bed machine with 10 yarn carriers. As a basic knitting technique, we used the Jacquard knitting approach, which is commonly used in the production of various types of clothing, including sweaters, cardigans, dresses, scarves, or socks. It involves manipulating individual loops of yarn to create these patterns. The front bed displays the designated color when in use, while the rear bed holds it in reserve. Each row is dedicated to a single color and positioned in an alternating pattern along the fabric’s length, resulting in a balanced textile. This method enables the use of a wide range of colors and results in a relatively thick and stable material, making it ideal for our marker design.

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Team

Mira Alida Haberfellner¹, Samuel Zühlke², Leopold Boess², Kathrin Probst², Michael Haller¹

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(1) Media Interaction Lab, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

(2) Digital Media Lab, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria