In Keqiao's China Textile City, fabric merchants are shifting from low-price volume to niche specialization. At the Dongsheng Road outdoor fabric zone, Haoli Textile targets high-end menswear fabrics, pricing products between 100 and 600 yuan per meter, clearly distinguishing itself from the mass market. This price band reflects the cost of natural fibers and plant dyeing, as well as a precise response to designers' and brand clients' needs.
Background
Haoli's growth traces back to Qiting, launched in 2013 and registered in 2014, starting with school uniform fabrics at the East Market. By 2018, intensifying competition squeezed margins, prompting a strategic pivot: developing functional outdoor fabrics while founding Haoli to focus on high-end menswear, creating a dual-brand structure.
The pivot leveraged existing supply chain assets. Haoli operates an integrated trade-factory model with 15,000 square meters of warehousing, offering both spot goods and custom orders. Custom lead times range from 3 to 10 days, with fastest shipping within one hour for stocked items. This rapid response is a baseline requirement for serving designer clients.
Industry Impact
High-end positioning avoids price wars but raises the bar for product and channel. Haoli uses pure natural fibers like wool, silk, and lyocell, replacing chemical dyes with plant-based extraction. The eco-friendly attribute aligns with light luxury trends, yet higher costs necessitate precise targeting of premium menswear brands and designer orders rather than broad wholesale distribution.
Digital tools are transforming traditional fabric sourcing. Haoli participates in the AI Cloth mini-program, digitizing core fabrics such as waffle, health knit, double jersey, mesh, air layer, and pique. Designers often bring swatches to find similar fabrics; previously manual matching was inefficient, now the system quickly identifies equivalents, easing remote communication with overseas clients. For high-end clients demanding precise texture and fit, digital matching accuracy directly impacts order conversion.
The AI Cloth experience center at Dongsheng Road is about to trial operations, featuring smart body scanning, 3D virtual fitting, fabric visualization, and garment simulation. This online-offline integration showcases physical fabrics and virtual samples, offering designers and brand buyers an immersive sourcing experience. Virtual sampling can reduce communication costs and accelerate decision-making.
The dual-brand synergy is evident. The outdoor fabric line uses Italian-imported napping machines to boost fleece production capacity and bargaining power. Export channels target European and American markets, meeting EU standard fluorine-free environmental requirements. Domestic long-term clients include Joedon (8-10 years), Xiaobeibei, Yingqi, Macedonia, and Xiaozhubanna, with cross-referral opening high-end menswear channels. Last year saw significant performance improvement, and this year's order growth remains optimistic.