The legislative wave is building and the textile industry is at the top of the list.
With the European Commission’s updated Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and the upcoming Digital Product Passport, brands face mounting pressure to get their product data in order.
But with the right setup, that pressure can turn into a powerful opportunity.
In our latest webinar, we sat down with Complir CEO and co-founder Gustav Bang and Delogue’s own ESG expert and Head of Communications, Anja Padget, to unpack what’s happening and why it all starts with one document: the Bill of Material.
Anja Padget opened the session by laying out the state of current legislation and what it means for textile brands.
“We are in a state where we sort of know: what does it take to measure environmental impact? What does it take to lighten this durability, repairability, recyclability and the circular principles? Well, that really starts with a detailed Bill of Material. That’s sort of the key work that needs to be done in the textile industry.”
With the ESPR working plan revealed in April 2025, it’s now clear that textiles are among the top priorities. The new ESPR label will be linked to a revised textile labeling regulation and will likely include information about carbon footprint, water usage, and circularity metrics which is creating new demands for traceability.
“A good Bill of Material is not just a list. It’s the ingredients for a product,” said Anja. “It sets a standard for how we work with our products and how we ensure they meet the right criteria.”
Gustav Bang, CEO of Complir, sees the Bill of Material as essential to everything from compliance to internal efficiency:
“We think of the Bill of Material as kind of the DNA of a product. It enables you to do a lot of things, not just in relation to compliance, but also being able to communicate better with your suppliers and have more insight into your supply chain.”
But what happens when the BOM is incomplete?
The most obvious one, of course, is that you risk late-stage surprises. You only realize things are missing way further down the line and that’s usually too late. So the BOM is really making sure that you ask for the right data from your supplier, and that you have the data stored, not if, but when you need it.
The BOM also plays a powerful role internally:
“It’s a great communication tool,” said Gustav. “From the beginning, when a designer or procurement department creates the product, it becomes a source of truth that is used to communicate across departments.”
“The whole process of actually being able to sell your products goes cross-department, with a lot of colleagues having to do different things. Sometimes at the same time, sometimes after each other. The Bill of Material is a great way of actually communicating: how far are we in order to sell?”
At Complir, AI is at the core of every feature. But as Gustav explained, it all depends on the input:
“We usually get data from elsewhere, from Delogue, or another PLM, or even Excel sheets sometimes. The more structured that data is, the easier it is to actually do your compliance-related tasks [...] We use AI for very specific purposes: flagging risks, doing chemical risk assessments, figuring out what to label on your packaging and product, knowing what to test a product for. You need to have a BOM to be able to identify if there are any chemical risks in the product that you need to test for.”
That modularity is key:
“Textiles might have more use for care labels than a toy supplier. So we keep it very focused on specific workflows and actually automate end-to-end. Always with a human in the loop at the end, but everything around it can be automated.”
Gustav emphasized that a complete BOM isn’t just a safeguard as well a growth tool.
“You could still sell your product without a BOM, but you wouldn’t be able to have a company that’s enabled by your sustainability efforts. You wouldn’t be able to communicate those efforts or scale across markets.”
“Before you’re opening a new market, you already know what you have to do. Flying Tiger opens in five new markets every year. They have a strict process for what to be aware of and that’s only possible because of the insights into the Bill of Materials.”
Anja closed the conversation by bringing it back to the business case:
“A lot of people just think, ‘we just need to stay compliant.’ But this is also a business opportunity. If you do the work to complete your Bill of Materials, you can actually use it for more than just compliance, you can use it to build a smarter business.”
The ESPR and Digital Product Passport will place new demands on textile product documentation.
The Bill of Material is the foundation for compliance, labeling, and ESG reporting.
A detailed BOM helps align suppliers and departments around one source of truth.
AI can automate repetitive compliance tasks, but only if it’s fed the right data.
A smart BOM isn’t just about risk. It’s a platform for scaling smarter, faster, and more sustainably
Delogue PLM and Complir illustrate how the right combination of tools and data can turn compliance from a challenge into a competitive edge. By connecting detailed product documentation with AI-powered automation, brands gain the ability to act fast, stay compliant, and future-proof their operations.
Curious how Delogue and Complir work together to streamline compliance and unlock smarter collaboration?
Watch the full webinar on demand or reach out to learn how you can future-proof your own product blueprint.