Short answer: Portia is fashion PLM software for small and medium brands. It keeps styles, materials, components, suppliers, certificates, costing, samples and approvals in one record per product, lets tier-1 suppliers add their own data, and turns the same data into Digital Product Passports, so you don’t keep a second system for the EU passport.

When is it time to move from spreadsheets to PLM software?

A spreadsheet works well for a handful of styles and one or two factories. Most brands start to feel the limits when:

• Versions multiply. Several people edit the same line sheet, and nobody is sure which file is current.
• Suppliers grow. Material details, certificates and factory quotes arrive by email and are retyped by hand.
• Costing gets fragile. A material price or margin target changes and the numbers have to be updated in several files.
• Projects run in parallel. Product development, sampling and a campaign with an agency all live in different tools.
• Passport data is needed. The same fibre, origin and supplier details have to be pulled together again for a Digital Product Passport.

If two or more of these sound familiar, a PLM usually saves more time than it costs to set up. If none do, a well-structured spreadsheet may still be the right tool for now.

To check where you stand, take the 3-minute Product Operations Scorecard for fashion brands. It scores your product data, projects, costing, customer engagement and DPP readiness, and suggests what to improve first.

What does Portia include?

Portia is fashion PLM and Digital Product Passport software in one tool. You can use it as your PLM, or alongside a PLM or ERP you already have by importing data from it.

• Products, materials, suppliers and certificates. One record per product, with its components, suppliers and certificates attached. Range planning and flexible collection structures sit on top.
• A built-in costing sheet. Every product gets a costing sheet generated from its materials, from material and factory cost to landed cost and recommended wholesale and retail prices, with collection-level summaries. See how the costing sheet works.
• Projects, internal and external. Timelines, tasks, approvals, project messaging and version-controlled documents. External partners only see the project they are invited to. See project management in Portia.
• A tier-1 supplier portal. Your tier-1 suppliers can log in to enter their data and upload certificates.
• Fast data import. When you upload product data as a sheet file, AI-powered matching maps the columns so materials, suppliers and other details end up in the right fields.
• Passports from the same data. Publish Digital Product Passports per style, batch or individual item, reached through QR codes. Passports are available in English, Swedish, German and Dutch, with more languages coming.
• Shopify. A one-way integration pushes passport data from Portia to your store (see Shopify Digital Product Passports). Custom integrations are available on request.

The full overview is on what’s inside Portia.

How does Portia handle samples, approvals and collection status?

Product development in Portia runs as projects connected to your products, so the status of a style and the decisions behind it sit next to its data.

• Per-style progress. Predefined product development processes, which you can adjust, show where each style is and what the next step is.
• Sample rounds and approvals. Tasks and approvals have an owner, and decisions go into the decision log, so you can see later who approved a change and when.
• Collection overview. Timelines, Kanban boards and calendars show the whole collection, and programs let you follow several projects at once.
• Tech packs and files. Documents are stored with version control and large files are easy to share, so everyone works from the current version.
• Partners on the same page. Invite factories, agencies or freelancers to the projects they work on. They only see those projects, and message you inside Portia instead of by email.

Fashion PLM for luxury, accessories, footwear and denim brands

Portia is built for fashion, footwear and home textile brands. The core is the same for every category; what changes is which parts matter most.

Luxury brands

• Passports down to the individual item. You decide the level of each passport: style, batch or individual item.
• Provenance you choose to show. Display suppliers and their locations, care instructions and downloadable files on the passport, and attach certificates to materials and suppliers.
• A direct line to owners. Spotlights add brand storytelling to the passport, customers can save a product and message you, and Broadcasts send updates to everyone who saved it.
• Margins before you commit. Run price and margin simulations on a collection before you place the buy.

Accessories brands

• Products built from many components. Each product holds its components, such as hardware, trims, linings and packaging, each with its material, supplier and certificates.
• Costing from the parts list. The costing sheet is generated from the materials and components you add, from factory cost to landed cost and recommended prices.
• Flexible collections. Versatile collection structures fit small, frequent drops as well as seasonal ranges.
• Agencies and manufacturers. Multi-brand management keeps each brand’s data separate, and product data can be handed over to the brand when development is done.

Footwear brands

• Components and suppliers per shoe. Record uppers, linings, soles and other components as part of the product, each linked to its supplier.
• Tier-1 factories add their own data. Your factories can log in to enter their information and upload certificates.
• Care and repair information on the passport. Show care instructions and other information of your choice behind a QR code on the product.

Denim brands

• Fabric as a reusable material. Add each fabric once, with its mill, composition and certificates, and reuse it across every fit and wash it goes into.
• Wash and finishing partners as suppliers. Keep each partner’s details and certificates on the products they work on.
• Costing per fit. Material changes flow into the costing sheet, so margins stay current when a fabric or finish changes.
• Passport-ready data. Fibre composition, origin and suppliers are already in the product record when you publish a passport.

How is a PLM-native passport different?

Most DPP tools start at the end: they collect product data from your other systems and publish it. In a PLM-native setup, the passport is assembled from the data your team already enters while developing the product. You enter a material, its supplier and its certificate once, and the same record feeds costing, production and the passport. We compare the approaches in the 5 types of DPP software.

This matters because passport data starts upstream. The EU’s Joint Research Centre notes that “the information required within the DPP often originates upstream, well before the point at which the obligation formally applies” (JRC textile DPP study, 13 May 2026).

Who is Portia for?

• Small and medium fashion and apparel brands that design their own products and work with tier-1 factories.
• Brands running product development on spreadsheets that want a PLM and passports in the same tool.
• Brands with an existing PLM or ERP that want to import that data and publish passports.
• Teams that work with outside partners, such as agencies or freelancers, and want to share projects without sharing costing.

Who is Portia not for?

Portia is probably not the best fit if you need:

• Ready-made connectors to enterprise systems. Portia has no off-the-shelf connectors to other PLM or ERP systems. Data is imported, and custom integrations are available on request.
• A public API for your own developers. There is no public API.
• Deep multi-tier supplier mapping. The supplier portal is for tier-1 suppliers.
• In-house LCA calculation. Environmental impact data is imported from partners or uploaded, not calculated in Portia.
• NFC or RFID tags, or GS1 identifiers. Portia passports are reached through QR codes.

How do you get started?

1. Bring your product data in. Import a CSV or sheet file, or create products directly. With your product data in a CSV and images ready, your first passport can be live in minutes.
2. Add materials, suppliers and certificates. Invite your tier-1 suppliers to log in and add their own data.
3. Cost your products. The costing sheet is generated from the materials you add.
4. Run the work as projects. Bring in your team and outside partners, with access per person.
5. Publish passports when you’re ready. Choose style, batch or item level and publish behind a QR code.

Textile DPPs are not mandatory yet. The Commission plans to adopt the textile delegated act in Q4 2027, and it can apply no earlier than 18 months after it enters into force, so mid-to-late 2029 at the earliest (our estimate). Every date is in the ESPR Textile DPP Tracker.

How is my data handled?

Your data is hosted in the EU (Ireland) on infrastructure certified to SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001. Those certifications belong to the hosting infrastructure, not to Portia itself. You can export your data whenever you want, and Portia is GDPR-aligned. See our privacy policy.

Sources and further reading

Last verified: 21 October 2026.

• European Commission: Textile apparel and the Digital Product Passport
• European Commission: Digital Product Passport and indicative timeline
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR), EUR-Lex
• JRC Product Bureau: Study on DPP content for textile apparel products (13 May 2026)

More from Portia:

• What is PLM in fashion? How fashion PLM systems work
• Digital Product Passport software for small fashion brands
• Traceability software for small fashion brands
• Apparel costing: the built-in costing sheet
• How to implement DPPs without a 6-month IT project

Frequently asked questions

What does Portia’s fashion PLM software include?

Products, materials, components, suppliers and certificates; range planning and collection structures; a built-in costing sheet; projects with tasks, approvals, a decision log and version-controlled documents; a tier-1 supplier portal; and Digital Product Passports built from the same data.

When should a small brand move from spreadsheets to PLM software?

A spreadsheet can work for a few styles and one or two factories. A PLM starts to pay off when versions multiply, supplier data arrives by email, costing has to be updated in several files, or the same data has to be collected again for a Digital Product Passport.

Can Portia track sample approvals and collection status?

Yes. Product development runs as projects connected to your products, with per-style processes, tasks, approvals and a decision log, and timelines and boards that show where every style in the collection is.

Is Portia suitable for luxury, accessories, footwear or denim brands?

Yes. Products can hold many components, each with its material, supplier and certificates, which suits accessories and footwear. Fabrics are reusable material records, which suits denim. Passports can be published per style, batch or individual item, with storytelling and messages to owners, which suits luxury.

Can Portia replace my current PLM?

Yes, Portia can be used as your PLM. You can also run it alongside an existing PLM or ERP and import data from it.

Does Portia connect to Centric, Delogue or other PLM systems?

There are no ready-made connectors to other PLM or ERP systems. You import data into Portia, and custom integrations are available on request.

How does a PLM help with Digital Product Passports?

Passport data such as materials, fibre composition, origin and suppliers is product development data. In Portia, the passport is built from the same product record, so you don’t collect the data twice.

How fast can we get started?

With your product data in a CSV and images ready, your first passport can be live in minutes. When you upload a sheet file, AI-powered matching maps the columns to the right fields.

Where is the data stored?

In the EU (Ireland), on infrastructure certified to SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001. The certifications belong to the hosting infrastructure, not to Portia itself. You can export your data whenever you want.

See Portia with your own products

Pricing is on request. Book a short demo and we’ll walk you through products, costing and passports using your own styles.