While most Keqiao merchants are still fighting price wars in conventional fabrics, one established company in the Dongsheng Road zone has spent a decade shifting from school uniforms to light luxury, running two distinct product lines. The core of this case is not about transformation itself, but how it reveals an alternative path for fabric wholesale market upgrades: rebuilding competitiveness through positioning differentiation and digital tools.
The Logic Behind Dual-Brand Positioning
Qiting, founded in 2013, initially sold school uniform base fabrics at the East Market, building a customer base through solid quality control. In 2018, as industry profits squeezed, the company made two key moves: entering functional outdoor fabrics and establishing Haoli Textiles to focus on high-end business menswear. The former settled in Phase I of Dongsheng Road, while the latter landed in Phase II, forming a dual-brand structure of 'outdoor plus high-end menswear.' The cleverness lies in sharing supply chains and customer resources while completely separating product positioning—one functional, one natural and eco-friendly—avoiding internal competition and covering different procurement needs.
For buyers, this 'one-store-two-brands' model means finding contrasting fabric solutions under one roof, saving sampling time. For factories, dual brands share one production base, diluting fixed costs and improving equipment utilization. More notably, Haoli's choice of all-natural fibers and plant dyeing anchors its pricing at 100-600 RMB/meter, avoiding low-end price wars. This price range is uncommon in Keqiao, targeting brand clients with clear quality and environmental requirements rather than bargain-seeking wholesalers.
How Digitalization Changes Fabric Trading
Haoli's digitalization practice is representative. Core fabrics like waffle, health knit, double-faced plain, mesh, air layer, and pique have been digitally archived and connected to the AI Fabric mini-program. Previously, designers brought sample swatches to find similar fabrics, and manual color card comparison was inefficient; now the system matches identical or similar fabrics with one click, making remote communication with overseas clients more efficient. This reduces transaction costs—for buyers, rapid matching means shorter development cycles; for suppliers, digital archives act as a 24/7 'virtual sample room,' breaking time and space limits of physical stalls.
More notably, the AI Fabric experience hall in Dongsheng Road is about to trial-operate, featuring smart body measurement, 3D virtual fitting, fabric visualization, and garment simulation. This extends fabric display from physical swatches to virtual simulation, allowing buyers to preview garment effects online. For high-end fabrics, immersive experiences reduce decision risk, especially for designer orders requiring repeated confirmation of fit and texture. Digitalization is not a luxury but infrastructure for high-end fabric business—because the more demanding the client, the higher the need for information transparency and matching accuracy.
Supply Chain Synergy and Hidden Export Advantages
Haoli's confidence also stems from its integrated factory and 15,000 sqm warehouse. In-stock goods handle small urgent orders, while custom orders take 3-10 days, with fastest shipping in one hour. This rapid response is scarce in high-end fabrics, as brand clients are extremely delivery-sensitive. Meanwhile, the outdoor fabric line features Italian napping machines, boosting fleece capacity and pricing power; exports target European and American markets, meeting EU-standard fluorine-free environmental requirements. Domestically, the company has cooperated with Qiaodun for 8-10 years and serves brands like Xiaobeibei, Yingqi, and Little Pony. These resources provide trust endorsement and channel traffic for Haoli's high-end menswear business.
For peers, the lesson is that environmental compliance for export orders can force supply chain upgrades, creating an 'invisible threshold' to high-end markets. Dual-brand channel sharing allows old customer resources to monetize on new categories. However, this model is not for everyone—it requires sustained investment in equipment, processes, and digitalization, plus clear brand positioning.