While Keqiao's fabric market still wrestles with razor-thin margins on conventional goods, a counterintuitive move has emerged in the Dongsheng Road district: a supply chain born from school uniform fabrics has been pivoted entirely into plant-dyed premium menswear, with unit prices pulled straight into the 100-600 RMB range. Behind this price gap lies a fresh take on 'differentiation'—not changing patterns, but changing the logic itself.
Background
The starting point of this dual-track route was far from glamorous. Qiting, launched in 2013 and formally registered in 2014, began with basic school uniform fabrics at the East Market, building a customer base through quality control. By 2018, margins on conventional fabrics were thinning, making transformation a matter of survival. Rather than fighting in the same arena, the brand split off Haoli Textile to focus on high-end menswear, while retaining Qiting's outdoor functional fabric line, creating a dual-brand independent operation.
This 'one store, two brands' layout is uncommon in Keqiao. As one of the first tenants in the Dongsheng Road outdoor functional fabric phase one, Qiting already reaped the benefits of an upgraded customer base; Haoli then set up its own shop in phase two. General manager Li Zhenxiong's judgment is straightforward: the brand owners, e-commerce sellers, and designers concentrated on Dongsheng Road demand finer fabrics and yield higher order conversion—ideal soil for premium fabric business.
Industry Impact
Haoli's differentiation hinges on a dual lock of materials and processes. The line uses all-natural fibers such as wool, silk, and lyocell, with colors derived from plant extraction rather than chemical dyeing, making eco-friendliness a premium lever. For buyers, this means the fabric carries a 'sustainable' narrative that directly meets the strict environmental standards of European and American brands—Haoli's export fabrics already comply with EU fluorine-free standards, with overseas channels covering Europe and the US.
Supply chain efficiency is another invisible moat. A shared 15,000-square-meter warehouse supports a dual model of stock and customization: stock items handle small-batch urgent orders, while custom orders are controlled within 3-10 days by category, with the fastest delivery at one hour. This responsiveness is rare in the premium fabric segment. It means the waiting time for designer sampling and brand reorders is drastically shortened, and capital occupation and inventory risks are effectively managed.
The introduction of digital tools has pushed service experience to a new dimension. Haoli has digitized core fabrics including waffle, health knit, double jersey, mesh, air layer, and pique, enabling one-click matching of similar fabrics through the AI Cloth mini-program. For designers arriving with swatches, this directly replaces manual flipping and color card comparison, and it is especially time-saving for remote communication with overseas clients. The precision of AI matching is becoming the new standard for premium fabric service.