Dalang Town in Dongguan, a knitwear hub producing 900 million sweaters annually—one out of every five sweaters worldwide—is experimenting with a new approach: using intangible cultural heritage to infuse 'soul' into its traditional OEM industry.
On June 24, the 10th Textile Intangible Cultural Heritage Conference kicked off simultaneously with the 23rd China (Dalang) Knitwear Fair and the 95th International Wool Conference. Officials describe this triple event as a fusion of 'professional exhibition, cultural event, and tourism experience.' But for knitwear factories under pressure from foreign trade headwinds and order shifts, the real test is whether this 'cultural show' can translate into tangible order premiums.
Industrial Backdrop: The Hidden Concerns Behind 900 Million Sweaters
Dalang's manufacturing prowess is undisputed. With a GDP of 47.37 billion yuan and a dense knitwear cluster, it is a critical node in the global wool supply chain. Yet a persistent structural issue remains: many enterprises rely heavily on OEM, with thin profit margins and low brand premiums.
As Southeast Asia grabs orders with lower costs, Dalang's advantage is shifting from 'cost' to 'comprehensive capabilities'—quick response, quality, and design. The 'intangible heritage + knitwear' integration proposed at this conference essentially asks: how can a sweater be sold by 'cultural value' instead of by 'weight'?
Three Pillars of Cultural Empowerment: Standards, Products, and Channels
The signed agreements suggest a concrete roadmap. The first pillar is standardization: the CNTAC Intangible Heritage Office and China Textile Testing & Certification signed a cooperation on 'Textile Intangible Heritage Standards and Certification,' aiming to establish quantifiable quality thresholds for heritage-tagged products. This means that in the future, an 'intangible heritage' label will be backed by verifiable craftsmanship standards, not just marketing hype.
The second pillar is productization: local enterprises such as Impression Plains, Tongfa, Xinhongfeng, and Lanmei signed a strategic cooperation with designers and heritage inheritors for 'Intangible Heritage and Knitwear Product Innovation.' Notably, the collaboration features Dalang's local intangible heritage element—the Kirin pattern (provided by Wan Gongxue, winner of the Shanhua Award)—which ran through the entire 'Heritage Coexistence' fashion show. Embedding cultural genes at the design stage is a crucial step away from homogenized competition.
The third pillar is channel expansion: agreements like 'Dalang Knitwear—Brand Supply-Demand Service Cooperation' aim to connect these heritage-infused products with more precise brand partnerships. For factories long dependent on foreign orders, this is an experiment in supplying domestic brands or even incubating their own labels.
Beware of 'Cultural Hollowing': Heritage + Industry Requires Substance
However, industry observers should remain cautious. Many industrial clusters have tried 'cultural empowerment' in the past, but results often remained confined to exhibition runways without altering factories' order structures. Key issues include:
- How to industrialize heritage techniques? Hand embroidery and plant dyeing are costly and low-yield, difficult to scale for knitwear production.
- Is the design conversion market-ready? Regional elements like the Kirin pattern may not appeal to broader consumer groups beyond local specialty.
- Is brand premium real? Whether consumers will pay extra for a 'cultural story' needs market validation.
While the conference showcased crossovers like plant-dyed cashmere and Song brocade with Xiangyun silk, building a sustainable business model will require sustained investment in supply chain transformation, designer training, and brand marketing.
Transmission Effects on the Supply Chain
For upstream yarn suppliers, the heritage trend may drive demand for differentiated raw materials—such as plant-dyed yarns or specialty fancy yarns. For downstream buyers, heritage-certified products could become a new selection dimension, especially in ESG-conscious Western markets.
But in the short term, Dalang's production capacity remains its foundation. Cultural empowerment is more like an incremental track opened amidst stock competition. Whether it succeeds depends on enterprises shifting from 'order-taking production' to 'product co-creation.'