Prada Extends NFC Traceability to Re-Cashmere and Re-Wool
Prada's new autumn collections combine recycled materials with NFC-based traceability through the Aura Blockchain Consortium. The initiative builds on more than two decades of RFID experience and a digital product identity infrastructure that predates the EU Digital Product Passport.
NFC Connects Prada's New Collections to Material Traceability
Italian luxury fashion house Prada is extending digital product traceability to its Re-Cashmere and Re-Wool collections for autumn/winter 2026. Every garment carries an NFC tag that connects customers to the Aura Blockchain Consortium platform, providing access to information about materials, suppliers and successive production stages.
The initiative goes beyond conventional product authentication. It links physical garments to digital information about their origins and manufacturing processes, an approach increasingly relevant to the emerging European Digital Product Passport (DPP).
Re-Cashmere consists entirely of recycled cashmere, including spinning residues and production offcuts collected at Prada's Torgiano facility in Italy. Re-Wool combines 50% Responsible Wool Standard-certified virgin wool, 40% recycled wool and 10% recycled cashmere. The recycled components are certified to the Global Recycled Standard.
Prada's RFID History Dates Back to 2001
Prada began experimenting with RFID long before digital product passports became a regulatory topic.
In 2001, its New York Epicenter store introduced an innovative RFID application using 13.56 MHz HF RFID technology from Texas Instruments. RFID-enabled product identification and interactive fitting rooms allowed customers and employees to retrieve information about garments, available sizes and colors.
The technology was primarily designed to improve customer service rather than automate large-scale inventory counting.
Prada subsequently expanded its digital identification strategy. Since January 2022, the Prada Group has equipped its products with RFID tags for authentication and tracking.
According to the company's 2025 Annual Report, all RFID-tagged retail and wholesale products have also been registered on the Aura Blockchain Consortium platform.
This establishes a connection between physical product identification and a digital product record that can support authentication, traceability and additional services.
From RFID Identification to NFC Product Information
The Re-Cashmere and Re-Wool collections demonstrate how Prada is extending digital identification beyond internal product tracking.
Near Field Communication (NFC), a form of 13.56 MHz HF RFID technology, allows customers to access digital information using compatible smartphones.
Prada integrates NFC tags into its products during manufacturing. In ready-to-wear garments, the tag is typically sewn into the internal label or included on a dedicated card.
When scanned, the tag provides access to digital product services associated with Aura.
Prada has not disclosed whether its current RFID tracking and NFC functions use separate transponders, a dual-frequency inlay or a shared HF RFID architecture. The exact relationship between the identifiers also remains undocumented.
What is confirmed is the broader connection: RFID identifies physical Prada products, while Aura provides the infrastructure for their digital registration and NFC enables customer-facing access.
Aura Blockchain: Digital Product Passports Before EU Requirements
Prada was among the founding members of the Aura Blockchain Consortium, established in 2021 alongside other luxury groups.
Aura initially focused on product authentication, digital certificates and lifecycle traceability. In January 2022, the consortium introduced its blockchain-based software platform for luxury brands.
The infrastructure has since evolved into a dedicated Digital Product Passport solution, connecting product origin, materials, authenticity, ownership, circularity and lifecycle services.
In 2024, Aura published a white paper addressing regulatory DPP requirements and the development of blockchain-based product passports.
The development is significant because Prada began building digital product identities years before the EU established its Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) in 2024.
The new collections demonstrate how the same infrastructure can support material traceability alongside traditional authentication.
Preparing for the European Textile DPP
The EU Digital Product Passport will introduce standardized access to product information, including relevant data about materials, origin, sustainability, repair and recycling.
Textiles are among the priority product groups. The European Commission currently plans to adopt the sector-specific requirements in 2027, followed by a transition period.
Prada's NFC-enabled garments already demonstrate several important DPP-related functions: physical identification, digital product records and access to material and supply chain information.
However, the existing Aura implementation should not automatically be considered fully compliant with future EU textile DPP requirements. Detailed rules concerning mandatory data, interoperability, access rights and registration are still being finalized.
From Product Authentication to Digital Transparency
With Re-Cashmere and Re-Wool, Prada is applying its established digital identification infrastructure to a new purpose: making information about recycled materials and production processes accessible through NFC.
The development connects an RFID history dating back to 2001 with today's blockchain-based product identities and emerging Digital Product Passport requirements.
For the RFID and NFC industry, Prada illustrates how identification technology can evolve from a tool for individual product recognition into an interface connecting physical goods with digital information throughout their lifecycle.