# QR codes for fashion and apparel > Fashion QR codes go where paper cannot: care and repair instructions on the sewn-in label, styling content at the rail, and serialised authenticity checks for resale. Keep label payloads short — a code woven or printed at 15–20 mm only scans reliably at low versions — and watch the EU Digital Product Passport, which reaches textiles first. Source: https://useqr.app/qr-codes-for/fashion-and-apparel · Last reviewed 2026-08-21 · UseQR is free forever, MIT licensed, no signup. --- ## Where a code earns a place on a garment | Code | Where | Why | |---|---|---| | [Care and repair](/docs/ecommerce/qr-code-for-care-instructions) | Sewn-in label | Wash symbols confuse; a page can show repair guides and fabric detail | | Styling content | Swing tag and rail signage | Outfit ideas and fit guidance at the point of decision | | [Authenticity](/docs/ecommerce/qr-code-for-product-authentication) | Sewn-in label or hangtag, serialised | Resale buyers can check the item, not just the model | ## The sewn-in label is a resolution budget A care label offers **15–20 mm** for a code, and [fabric is a hostile substrate](/docs/print/qr-codes-on-fabric): printed satin blurs at fine detail and woven labels cannot form small modules at all. At 15 mm, even a version 1 code's modules are only about **0.5 mm** — the practical floor for label printing. The consequence is a hard payload budget: a short redirect URL (under roughly 25 characters keeps you at version 1–2), never a full product URL with parameters. The garment carries the shortest possible pointer; the destination page carries everything else. Swing tags, printed on card, have no such constraint. ## Serialisation is what resale needs A per-model code tells a resale buyer what the item claims to be. A [serialised code](/docs/ecommerce/qr-code-for-serialized-products) — unique per item — lets your systems answer whether this one is genuine, when it was made, and whether it was already registered by someone else. For brands with active resale markets this is the difference between a marketing link and an authentication tool. Be honest about the limit: a QR code can be photographed and copied, so the security lives in the backend check, not the code itself. ## The Digital Product Passport is coming for textiles first The EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, in force since 2024, introduces the [Digital Product Passport](/docs/ecommerce/eu-digital-product-passport) — and textiles sit in the first wave of product groups. Garments sold in the EU will need a data carrier linking to structured sustainability and supply-chain data. Brands adding sewn-in codes now should treat the label code as the future passport carrier: stable per-item URLs on a domain you control, not campaign links. ## What goes wrong - A full e-commerce URL encoded on a 15 mm label — too dense, blurs into noise on fabric. - Codes that fade or crack before the garment's tenth wash; test laundering before a production run. - Authenticity codes without serialisation — a copied photo of one code "verifies" every counterfeit. ## FAQ ### How small can a QR code on a clothing label be? About 15 mm — and only with a very short payload keeping the code at version 1 or 2, since fabric printing cannot hold modules much below 0.5 mm. Anything longer than a short redirect URL needs a swing tag or a bigger label. ### Will clothes be required to have QR codes in the EU? Effectively, yes. The Digital Product Passport under the ESPR requires a scannable data carrier on covered products, and textiles are among the first product groups. Exact timelines depend on delegated acts, but the direction is set. ### Can a QR code stop counterfeit fashion? Not alone. Codes can be photographed and reprinted, so authentication depends on serialised, per-item codes checked against a backend that flags duplicates and unknown serials. The code is the pointer; the security is the system behind it. ## Try it - https://useqr.app/url - https://useqr.app/social - https://useqr.app/coupon