While most fabric merchants in Keqiao struggle in the price war of conventional products, a dual-brand experiment in the Dongsheng Road zone has carved out a different trajectory. Qiting and Haoli Textiles—one holding the outdoor functional fabric base, the other focusing on plant-dyed high-end menswear—share the supply chain yet operate independently. In just two years, they have validated the feasibility of differentiated positioning. This is not merely a product line shift but a concrete answer to how local merchants can upgrade.
Transformation Logic: Switching from Red Ocean to Blue Ocean
Qiting's start was humble: launched in 2013 and registered in 2014, it initially sold basic school uniform fabrics at the East Market, building a customer base through quality control. By 2018, intensifying competition compressed margins in conventional fabrics, making transformation a matter of survival. Instead of stubbornly staying in the original lane, the brand decisively split: one arm focused on functional outdoor fabrics, while the newly founded Haoli Textiles targeted high-end business menswear. This dual-brand approach is not simple addition but a clear separation of positions to serve different demand tiers, avoiding internal resource conflicts.
Haoli's differentiation centers on natural and eco-friendly attributes. It uses pure natural fibers such as wool, silk, and lyocell, with colors derived from plant extraction rather than chemical dyeing. The price range is locked at 100-600 RMB, precisely avoiding the price war in the mass market and directly connecting with high-end menswear brands and designer orders. For buyers, this means the fabric carries added value from craftsmanship and environmental benefits, not just raw material costs.
Supply Chain and Digitalization: Two Wings of Premiumization
High-end fabric business fears inventory drag and delivery delays. Haoli leverages its own factory with a 15,000 sqm shared warehouse, adopting a dual model of stock and custom orders: stock handles small urgent orders, custom cycles are 3-10 days, and the complete inventory enables the fastest 1-hour dispatch. This responsiveness is rare in the high-end fabric sector, directly changing the procurement rhythm for designers and brands—sample development no longer requires long waits.
Digitalization is the other wing. Haoli participated in the digital fabric building of the AI Cloth mini-program, digitizing core fabrics like waffle, health knit, double jersey, mesh, air layer, and pique. Previously, designers brought fabric swatches for manual matching, which was inefficient; now the system can match identical or similar fabrics with one click, making remote communication with overseas clients smoother. For high-end customers, precise matching means shorter sampling cycles and lower communication costs.
The upcoming AI Cloth experience hall extends digitalization offline, featuring smart body measurement, 3D virtual try-on, fabric visual creation, and garment simulation, combining physical fabrics with virtual samples. This means fabric display is no longer limited to physical swatches; brands and designers can quickly assess effects in an immersive environment, further shortening decision chains.
Dual-Brand Synergy and Foreign Trade Depth
Haoli did not start from scratch; it shares more than a decade of supply chain resources from Qiting. The outdoor fabric production line is equipped with Italian imported napping machines, continuously expanding capacity to improve bargaining power and production speed. Foreign trade channels are established in European and American markets, with export fabrics meeting EU standards for fluorine-free environmental protection. Domestically, it has long-term cooperation with Qiaodun for 8-10 years, plus brands like Xiaobeibei, Yingqi, Macedonia, and Xiaozhubanna. These channels provide two-way traffic for Haoli to open high-end menswear clients.
Financially, after two years of transformation, overall brand performance has improved notably, and this year's order growth remains positive. This confirms a judgment: premiumization in Keqiao's fabric market is not about raising prices but about redefining product value and customer service.