On Dongsheng Road in Keqiao's China Textile City, a quiet industrial upgrade is underway. The dual-track strategy of Haoli Textile and the Qiting brand has completed a shift from school uniform fabrics to light luxury menswear in less than a decade, reflecting the broader quest of traditional fabric markets to survive and transform amid cost pressures.
Background
In 2013, the Qiting brand started in Keqiao's East Market, focusing on basic school uniform fabrics, building a stable customer base and mature supply chain through solid quality control. By 2018, as margins on conventional fabrics shrank, the brand began a strategic transformation: one track toward functional outdoor fabrics, the other—via the newly founded Haoli Textile—toward high-end business menswear, forming a dual-brand independent operation. This timing aligns with the industry cycle, when the mass fabric market had entered a stage of intense competition and price wars.
Haoli's differentiation first shows in materials and processes. It uses natural fibers such as wool, silk, and lyocell, and replaces chemical dyeing with plant-based extraction, positioning unit prices between 100 and 600 RMB, precisely targeting high-end menswear and designer fashion orders, avoiding low-end price competition. This price band implies that its customers' sensitivity to quality and environmental attributes far outweighs cost concerns.
Industry Impact
The synergy of the dual brands is released at the supply chain level. Haoli shares Qiting's 15,000-square-meter warehousing, using a dual model of stock and custom orders: stock can handle small urgent orders, while custom orders are controlled within 3-10 days, with the fastest shipment achievable in one hour thanks to complete inventory. For high-end fabric buyers, this responsiveness means significantly reduced sampling cycles and inventory risks.
The introduction of digital tools further strengthens service barriers. Haoli participated in the digital fabric construction of the AI Bu mini-program, digitizing core fabrics such as waffle, health jersey, double-sided plain knit, mesh, air layer, and pique. The scenario of designers bringing swatches to find fabrics has shifted from inefficient manual matching and color card comparison to one-click system matching of identical or similar fabrics. For overseas clients, the cost of remote communication is also greatly reduced.
The AI Bu experience hall in the Dongsheng Road area is about to enter trial operation, equipped with smart body measurement, 3D virtual fitting, fabric visual creation, and garment simulation, displaying physical fabrics and virtual samples online and offline. This layout means that fabric display is no longer limited to physical stalls but extends to immersive digital spaces, offering designers and brand buyers a new fabric search experience.