In Keqiao's China Textile City, the Dongsheng Road outdoor fabric district is becoming a window into the high-end transformation of the textile industry. Merchants here no longer compete purely on price but shift toward refined competition in craftsmanship, materials, and services. The dual-brand layout of Haoli Textile and Qiting serves as a typical example—starting from school uniform base fabrics and now entering the high-end menswear niche, their path reflects the common strategy of Keqiao fabric merchants to avoid involution through differentiation and enhance service efficiency through digital tools.
Background
The Qiting brand started operations in 2013 and was officially registered in 2014, initially opening a storefront in the East Market, focusing on school uniform base fabrics. With solid quality control, the brand accumulated stable customer resources and a mature supply chain. However, in 2018, intensifying industry competition squeezed profit margins for conventional fabrics, forcing a strategic adjustment: on one hand, shifting to functional outdoor fabrics; on the other, establishing Haoli Textile to specialize in high-end business menswear fabrics, forming a dual-brand independent operation. This transformation is not an isolated case but a microcosm of Keqiao's fabric market shifting from scale expansion to quality improvement.
Haoli's differentiation strategy is first reflected in materials and craftsmanship. It uses natural fibers such as wool, silk, and lyocell, and replaces traditional chemical dyeing with plant-extracted coloring, highlighting environmental attributes. This positioning directly determines pricing—fabric unit prices range from 100 to 600 yuan, precisely targeting high-end menswear brands and designer orders, avoiding price wars in the low-end market. For buyers, this means more stable quality and unique supply chain value rather than mere cost competition.
Industry Impact
The supply chain advantage of dual-brand synergy is the confidence for Haoli to enter the high-end market. Relying on an integrated factory, the brand shares 15,000 square meters of warehouse space and adopts a dual model of stock and custom orders: stock can quickly handle small urgent orders, while custom order cycles are controlled within 3 to 10 days, with fastest delivery in 1 hour. This responsiveness is uncommon in the high-end fabric segment, changing the traditional waiting logic of fabric procurement and allowing designers and brands to adjust production plans more flexibly.
Digitalization further amplifies service efficiency. Haoli participates in the digital fabric construction of the AI Fabric mini-program, digitizing core fabrics such as waffle, health knit, double-faced plain knit, mesh, air layer, and pique. The system's one-click matching of similar fabrics addresses the pain point of designers carrying sample swatches to find alternatives. Previously, manual swatch comparison and color card matching were time-consuming, and remote communication with overseas clients was inefficient. Now digital retrieval greatly improves matching accuracy. For high-end clients with demanding requirements on fit and texture, faster response is needed, and digital tools are becoming essential infrastructure for fabric merchants to upgrade services.
Notably, the Dongsheng Road district is building an AI Fabric experience hall, featuring smart body measurement, 3D virtual fitting, fabric visualization, and garment simulation. This online-offline integrated display model combines physical fabrics with virtual samples, potentially attracting more designers and brand clients for offline fabric sourcing. For the entire Keqiao market, digitalization is not just a tool but a key variable reshaping customer experience and transaction efficiency.