China's cashmere industrial clusters are undergoing a path switch from selling raw materials to selling brands, and Yulin has chosen the most direct route — putting its brands in front of European buyers. On September 22, 2026, a Yulin cashmere promotion event was held at the National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, where four local enterprises signed brand-entry agreements with two Italian buyer companies. This marks the first time Yulin cashmere has established a direct channel with Europe's high-end retail system.
From Origin Advantage to Channel Advantage
Yulin is the only city in China recognized as a "City of Chinese Woolen Cold-Weather Apparel" and the country's largest production and R&D base for woolen cold-weather clothing. For years, this cluster's role has been upstream raw material and OEM supply, with added value concentrated in manufacturing rather than branding. The core proposition of the Milan event was to push the supply chain toward design, branding, and retail — higher value-added segments.
For European buyers, Yulin's appeal lies in its full-industry-chain supply capability. The four companies — Yingguo Industrial, Tuocheng Cashmere, Yulin Yanglaoda, and HBEH — cover high-end cashmere apparel, full-chain manufacturing, functional cold-weather products, and avant-garde design respectively, forming a complete supply matrix from raw material to finished garment. This structure means buyers do not need to piece together supply chains across multiple suppliers, reducing procurement coordination costs.
At the B2B matchmaking session, Italian buyers and fashion brand purchasers discussed product characteristics, craft standards, and cooperation models, with several reaching preliminary cooperation intentions. From an industry perspective, the value of such matchmaking lies not in single order size but in establishing a "origin-direct-to-buyer" channel, bypassing traditional trading intermediaries and theoretically improving factory-side margins.
What the Signing Means
At the signing ceremony, Casile & Casile and IWC signed Brand Entry Cooperation Agreements with the four Yulin enterprises. The industry implications deserve unpacking: in the past, Chinese cashmere exports to Europe mostly entered as raw materials or under OEM arrangements, with brand premiums captured by European channels. Brand entry agreements attempt to push Yulin enterprises to the forefront of retail.
Speeches by Milan Metropolitan Deputy Mayor Francesco Vassallo, Chinese Consul General in Milan Zhang Chenggang, and Italy-China Foundation Chairman Mario Boselli signaled deepening collaboration between Chinese and Italian fashion industries. Policy-level endorsement has practical value for cluster exports — it lowers the trust threshold for Italian channel partners dealing with unfamiliar suppliers and provides institutional convenience for subsequent business matchmaking.
The concurrently launched Milan Showroom displays finished garments and fabrics from the four brands, offering buyers a physical evaluation setting. The showroom's significance lies in converting a "one-time appearance" into a window for "sustained cultivation," but whether it translates into stable orders depends on subsequent replenishment response speed, quality consistency, and delivery management.
Real Constraints on Cluster Upgrading
From an analytical standpoint, Yulin cashmere faces several structural challenges in this export push. First, brand awareness in Europe starts from nearly zero; buyer signings are merely entry tickets, and end-consumer education requires sustained investment. Second, cashmere in Europe faces competition from Mongolian and Italian本土 brands, requiring precise price-band positioning. Third, shifting from raw material exports to brand retail means rebuilding team capabilities, including design, marketing, after-sales, and cross-border logistics.
For other Chinese industrial clusters, Yulin's path offers a reference sample: collective export under a regional public brand to share channel development costs across individual enterprises. But the sustainability of this model depends on two factors — whether leading enterprises bear brand investment, and whether government or industry organizations can provide ongoing overseas channel maintenance.
From trade data trends, China's cashmere exports have long been dominated by raw materials and semi-finished products, with branded garment exports accounting for a low share. If Yulin's signing can form a replicable order model within the next two to three years, it holds reference value for fabric-focused clusters like Shengze and Keqiao: origin-direct-to-buyer may be a realistic path around traditional foreign trade intermediaries.