The fashion industry is always on the lookout for various new technologies to strengthen its digital presence and provide better customer experiences.

One such technology is QR codes. More and more brands are integrating these little two-dimensional barcodes into their clothing production line, including manufacturing, supply chain, inventory, marketing, deployment, and more.

These enable them to streamline their operations, solve their long-standing production problems, and offer a fun way to stand out among the sea of big, small, and independent brands in the market.

Join us as we take a deep dive into how major fashion brands are using QR codes in fashion.

Understanding QR codes in fashion

One of the best features of QR codes is their versatility.

Whether you want to use one to promote your new product launch or a clothing QR code for a detailed wash and care information about certain clothing pieces, you can tailor them to your needs.

Numerous brands are taking advantage of this feature to fulfill their goals, stand out from the competition, and boost customer shopping experiences.

Even these top fashion brands we’ve listed below are slaying the QR code game with their innovative uses and ideas. Let’s take a look:

Puma: QR x AR for 360-degree views

Puma, the popular sports apparel brand, is taking its QR code integration to the next level with augmented reality (AR). Combining these two innovative technologies, the brand is able to provide customers with a 360-degree view of its shoes.

Through this experience, customers get to experience the look and comfort of these shoes before buying them. It also offers customers virtual fire and a virtual game to encourage the buyer to adopt a more active running lifestyle.

Puma’s integration with AR is an excellent example of how QR code fashion branding can significantly improve customer experiences through design.

Diesel: Fraud protection and anti-counterfeiting

Counterfeiting is always a present issue across many brands, but most especially for luxury and premium brands. To address this issue, Diesel is using QR codes to provide customers with a quick and easy way to authenticate their purchases.

The high-end denim retailer is integrating these codes into the garment tags that accompany customers' purchases. Once scanned, buyers are redirected to a webpage that confirms the authenticity of that specific product.

Diesel is only one of the many brands that use QR codes for apparel authenticity verification. Many luxury brands like Louis Vuitton are also using these 2D barcodes to fight against counterfeiting.

Ralph Lauren: Fashion and styling advice

Fashion is about finding great clothing pieces, but it’s also about knowing how to style these individual pieces to make a coherent fashion statement. Ralph Lauren aims to offer that by placing QR codes in its clothing items.

Scanning these QR codes leads customers to videos, articles, and a range of interactive content that offers customers different ways to style their purchases.

It also doubles as a way to authenticate the product, including to specifics like size, color, fit, and more.

Making customers feel valued not only before the product purchase but, even more importantly, after their purchase is crucial. This is achieved by helping customers rock their styles!

R Collective backed by Levi’s: Care and wash instructions

Garment care QR codes are commonly used by brands to provide customers with detailed care and wash instructions that can help extend the items’ lifespan.

Levi's and The R Collective, a sustainable denim brand from Hong Kong, have started placing these codes in their items.

Detailed wash and care instructions inside the QR code include information such as:

• Washing cycles
• Drying method
• Upcycling methods

Best of all, this collaboration by two denim brands is pushing for more sustainable practices in the fashion industry by helping customers use these clothing pieces to the fullest and upcycle them at the end of their lifespan.

Kellen Parsons the Gallery at New School: Supply chain and sourcing

Sustainable practices are easy to greenwash as brands can simply select which information to show to customers.

While the clothing pieces can easily claim to be sustainable, the truth is that they practice many unsustainable and even unethical practices along the supply chain.

To address this issue, Kellen Parsons the Gallery at New School uses QR codes to promote transparency of their brand’s clothing traceability. This includes comprehensive information on supply sourcing, including:

• Origin of materials
• Production process
• Ethical standards

Pushing forward for sustainability must be a holistic approach, and this is exactly what the brand is trying to achieve by placing QR codes in its clothing pieces.

Beyond clothing: Opportunities for fashion QR codes

The market is full of free QR code generators, meaning a rich opportunity for the full-scale adoption of QR codes in clothing on all fronts. The codes’ versatility also means you can integrate them almost anywhere—your creativity is the limit!

Beyond QR codes attached to clothing pieces, fashion brands can use these codes in a variety of ways, such as:

QR code in store for advertisement

Fashion brands can use QR codes in-store to create more targeted advertisements and promotions.

By placing these codes on storefronts, checkout counters, and product shelves, they can provide customers with easy access to discount deals, special offers, and other content.

Store window for online catalog

By posting QR codes on store windows, brands can use them as interactive portals to online catalogs.

This method allows brands to capture passersby's attention and allow them to scan and browse their latest season collections and product launches even when the store is closed.

Corporate social responsibility for sustainability

Most importantly, fashion brands can further delve into sustainable clothing QR codes to communicate their corporate social responsibility.

By scanning QR codes on clothing labels or promotional content, customers can learn about the brand's sustainable practices, ethical sourcing, and community initiatives.

QR codes can be fashionable, too

QR codes are designed to be functional, but they can also be aesthetically pleasing, perfect as fashion designs and accessories!

With many fashion brands experimenting with stylish QR code approaches, it’s only a matter of time before we fully see the integration of these codes into the clothing production line and all other matters related to fashion.