China's cashmere industry has long faced a structural dilemma: raw material exports dominate global trade volumes, yet the premium from finished brands remains almost entirely in Europe. Yulin, the only Chinese city designated as "China's Famous City of Wool Cold-Proof Garments" and the country's largest production and R&D base for such products, is attempting to break this pattern. In September 2026, Yulin cashmere held a promotion event at the National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, where four brands signed entry agreements with two Italian buyer companies. This is not merely an overseas appearance but a signal of the region's leap from supply chain upstream to brand-end value capture.
Event Background
The event featured two segments: B2B matchmaking and brand promotion, attracting over 100 guests including Chinese and Italian government and business representatives, designers, and buyers. Four companies—Yingguo Industrial, Tuocheng Cashmere, Yulin Yanglaoda, and HBEH—showcased high-end cashmere apparel, full-industry-chain manufacturing, functional cold-proof products, and avant-garde design.
The signatories deserve attention: Casile & Casile and IWC, two Italian buyer companies, signed Brand Entry Cooperation Agreements with the four brands. This means Yulin cashmere is no longer just selling yarn and fabric but entering European high-end retail as finished brands.
A concurrently launched Milan Showroom provides a physical window for ongoing collaboration. Moving from a one-time appearance to sustained cultivation is crucial for regional brand building.
Industry Impact
Yulin's core advantage lies upstream. As China's largest wool cold-proof garment production and R&D base, its supply chain covers raw cashmere procurement, dehairing, spinning, and garment manufacturing. But origin advantage does not equal product advantage, let alone brand premium.
The barrier to Europe's high-end cashmere market lies in design language, fit systems, and sustainability certification. Italian buyers care not only about fiber fineness and cashmere content but whether a brand can tell a complete value story. Yulin enterprises going global collectively essentially use a "regional public brand" approach to share the cost of brand building across individual companies.
For upstream yarn and fabric suppliers, this implies potential changes in order structure: brand going global will drive demand for small-batch, multi-variety, quick-turnaround materials rather than the past model of large-volume standard exports. For downstream retailers and buyers, it adds a Chinese supplier option with raw material control, potentially improving bargaining space and delivery flexibility.
Practical Recommendations
For Buyers - Focus on Yulin cashmere enterprises' full-industry-chain capabilities, especially quality consistency from raw cashmere to garments—a core selling point in Europe - Start with small-batch trial orders to verify fit adaptation and delivery stability before scaling up - Pay attention to their functional cold-proof product lines, which offer differentiation in the European winter market
For Exporters - The Yulin model shows that regional public brands can lower the threshold for individual companies going global; other industrial belts can reference the "group going global" strategy - When cooperating with European buyers, prepare sustainability certifications and carbon footprint data in advance—these are hard thresholds for entering high-end retail - Brand going global is not a one-time event; showrooms and continuous matchmaking mechanisms are more worth investing in than single promotion events
From the foot of the Great Wall to the Milan runway, Yulin cashmere's path reveals a trend: competition among Chinese textile regions is shifting from capacity and price to brand and design. Whoever completes this leap first will occupy a more favorable position in the global value chain.