The branding process in the textile and apparel industry is accelerating. According to the latest 2026 China's 500 Most Valuable Brands list, over 30 textile and apparel brands made the cut, covering the entire value chain from raw materials and garments to sportswear and home textiles. The entry threshold has risen to 5.089 billion yuan, meaning brand equity is no longer optional but a survival necessity for companies.
Formation of a Trillion-Level Brand Cluster
The list shows that the textile and apparel sector now has 8 trillion-level brands: Erdos, Hengli, Weiqiao, Bosideng, Jinba, Qipai, Anta, and Yueda. These eight companies form the industry's 'first tier,' with deep moats in technology R&D, channel building, and consumer recognition. For small and medium-sized textile enterprises, this signals the end of the era of pure capacity and price competition; brand premium is now the core variable determining profit margins.
Notably, the total brand value of listed companies reached 45.29 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.76%, outpacing GDP growth. This indicates that the appreciation of textile and apparel brand assets is faster than the overall economy, reflecting the industry's value leap from 'manufacturing' to 'smart manufacturing' to 'branding.' The number of trillion-level brands expanded from about 130 to 146, with textile and apparel accounting for 8 spots, showing that the industry's investment in brand building is translating into tangible market recognition.
AI Influence as a New Variable
The biggest change in this year's evaluation system is the inclusion of the AI Influence Index for the first time. This metric measures a brand's voice, communication reach, and technical visibility in the AI ecosystem. The World Brand Lab pointed out that AI is becoming the new 'traffic gatekeeper,' shortening consumers' decision-making chains. Brands that fail to secure a favorable position in AI algorithms risk being marginalized.
What does this mean for textile and apparel companies? Traditionally, brand building relied on advertising, channel distribution, and retail display. But in the AI era, consumer purchase decisions are increasingly made through smart recommendations, voice assistants, and content platforms. Brands need to actively manage their data assets on these platforms, including product descriptions, user reviews, visual materials, and social media interactions. Brands that are frequently recommended and positively cited by AI systems will gain exposure efficiency far beyond traditional marketing.
Transition from OEM to Ecosystem
Professor Xu Jing of Peking University's Guanghua School of Management offers a valuable perspective: in the digital age, a brand is no longer just 'the knowledge structure in consumers' minds' but a complex system maintained by consumers, platforms, algorithms, content, communities, and organizational capabilities. For textile and apparel companies long focused on OEM and ODM, this presents both challenges and opportunities. The challenge is that brand building requires significant resources and takes time to yield results; the opportunity is that once a brand establishes recognition in the AI ecosystem, its moat will be deeper than traditional channels.
Among the listed brands are not only giants like Erdos in cashmere and Anta and Li-Ning in sportswear, but also new consumer representatives like POPMART. Their common trait is that they no longer equate a brand with a logo but treat it as a trust intermediary and emotional connector. For buyers, this means that when selecting suppliers, they should not only consider capacity and price but also evaluate the brand's appeal in the end market, as this directly affects the premium space and channel access of finished products.