While Keqiao's fabric market remains mired in price wars over commodity products, one merchant in the Dongsheng Road zone has managed to sell fabrics at 100-600 yuan per meter, with orders booked months in advance. This high-value route was not built overnight; it rests on over a decade of supply chain experience in school uniform fabrics, then pivots to premium menswear through an independent brand. The dual-brand synergy offers a template for how small and medium fabric merchants can move upmarket.
Background
The story begins in 2013, when the Qiting brand was registered in 2014, initially operating a store in Keqiao's East Market, focusing on basic school uniform fabrics. Through rigorous quality control, Qiting built a stable customer base and mature supply chain. By 2018, as margins on conventional fabrics shrank, management decided on a strategic transformation: one leg to develop functional outdoor fabrics, and another to create Haoli Textile, dedicated to premium menswear fabrics, forming a dual-brand independent operation.
The transformation was anchored by channel positioning. Qiting became one of the first tenants in Phase I of the Dongsheng Road outdoor functional fabric zone. As the premium business matured, Haoli set up its own booth in Phase II. The Dongsheng Road area attracts many brand owners, e-commerce sellers, and fashion designers who demand higher precision and offer better order conversion, making it an ideal platform for high-end business. This shift from mass market to specialized market is essentially an upgrade of customer structure.
Industry Impact
Haoli's product strategy is highly targeted: all fabrics use natural fibers like wool, silk, and lyocell, colored through plant extraction rather than traditional chemical dyeing. This natural, eco-friendly positioning directly appeals to premium menswear and light luxury brands, supporting a price range of 100-600 yuan. This price band avoids the low-end price war but demands higher quality and delivery standards.
On the supply chain side, Haoli shares a 15,000-square-meter warehouse, operating both stock and custom order models. Stock items can handle small urgent orders, while custom orders are delivered in 3-10 days, with fastest shipping within one hour thanks to complete inventory. This rapid response capability is crucial for high-end designer clients who often bring sample swatches and are extremely sensitive to matching accuracy and lead times.
The adoption of digital tools has further amplified efficiency. Haoli participates in the AI Fabric mini-program's digital fabric library, digitizing core fabrics like waffle knit, health knit, double jersey, mesh, air layer, and pique. The one-click matching function for similar fabrics replaces the inefficient manual process of flipping through swatches and comparing color cards, especially beneficial for remote overseas clients. The AI Fabric Experience Hall in the Dongsheng Road zone is about to trial operation, featuring smart body measurement, 3D virtual fitting, fabric visualization, and garment simulation, integrating online and offline display of physical fabrics and virtual samples, providing an immersive search experience for designers and brand buyers.
The benefits of dual-brand synergy are becoming evident. The outdoor fabric production line is equipped with Italian imported napping machines, increasing capacity, bargaining power, and production speed. Export channels target European and American markets, with all fabrics meeting EU-standard fluorine-free environmental requirements. Long-term domestic clients include Qiaodun (8-10 years of cooperation), Xiaobeibei, Yingqi, Macedonia, and Xiaozhubanna, with cross-referrals opening channels for Haoli's premium menswear business. Two years after the strategic transformation, overall performance has improved significantly, and current order momentum suggests sustained growth this year.