On Keqiao's Dongsheng Road, a quiet transformation is underway as fabric traders shift from volume-driven sales to value-driven strategies. While many stores struggle with razor-thin margins on commodity fabrics, Haoli Textiles has positioned its products at RMB 100-600 per meter, with orders extending into the peak season. This pricing power stems from a deliberate dual-brand architecture, a natural-fiber product line, and digital tools that streamline customer service.
A Dual-Brand Strategy for Market Segmentation
Haoli's roots trace back to Qiting, which began operations in 2013 and registered in 2014, initially selling school uniform fabrics from a storefront in the East Market. Through rigorous quality control, Qiting accumulated over a decade of supply chain expertise. In 2018, as margins on conventional fabrics compressed, the company split its business: one arm focused on functional outdoor fabrics under Qiting, while a new brand, Haoli, targeted premium menswear and light-luxury fashion. Both brands share a 15,000-square-meter warehouse and an integrated factory, yet they operate distinct product lines, customer bases, and price points.
This 'same root, different branches' layout creates a complementary dynamic rarely seen on Dongsheng Road. Qiting, among the first tenants in Phase I of the outdoor fabric zone, serves outdoor brands prioritizing functionality and cost-effectiveness. Haoli's independent showroom in Phase II caters to menswear designers and high-end brand buyers with exacting standards for hand-feel and construction. According to general manager Li Xiongzhen, the area's concentration of quality brands, e-commerce sellers, and designers leads to higher conversion rates than traditional markets. For buyers, this means sourcing both outdoor and luxury fabrics in one district, reducing the hidden costs of cross-market comparison.
Plant Dyeing and the Premium Price Band
Haoli's product strategy deliberately distances itself from mass-market offerings. The line uses pure natural fibers such as wool, silk, and lyocell, with colors derived from plant extracts rather than chemical dyes. This process raises production costs and justifies the premium pricing—targeting brands willing to pay for environmental attributes and distinctive textures, rather than price-sensitive buyers. For factories, achieving batch-to-batch consistency with plant dyes remains challenging, but Haoli's integrated factory supports custom orders with lead times of 3-10 days, and stocked items can ship within an hour, partially mitigating the long-cycle pain point of high-end fabrics.
This positioning rests on a precise reading of a niche segment. The premium menswear fabric market has long been dominated by European suppliers, with domestic fabrics often labeled as 'cost-effective alternatives.' Haoli aims to break this stereotype by combining natural materials with plant-dye craftsmanship. Whether it can truly rival imported fabrics in brand premium remains to be seen. Still, the order growth—with performance improving notably two years after the strategic shift and momentum continuing this year—suggests unmet demand for high-end domestic fabrics.
Digital Tools and Supply Chain Modernization
In Keqiao's fabric market, digitalization often remains a slogan, but Haoli has embedded it into daily operations. Through the AI-Bu mini-program, core fabrics like waffle knit, health jersey, double-sided plain knit, mesh, air layer, and pique have been digitized. When designers arrive with sample swatches, the system can instantly match identical or similar fabrics, replacing the inefficient manual process of flipping through swatches and comparing color cards. For overseas clients, the tool's value is even greater—it overcomes physical distance in sample confirmation.
More notably, the AI-Bu experience center on Dongsheng Road is about to enter trial operation. Equipped with smart body scanning, 3D virtual fitting, fabric visualization, and garment simulation, the center connects physical fabrics with virtual samples, allowing buyers to preview garment forms before ordering. This signals a shift from 'feeling the hand' to 'seeing the effect,' potentially reducing repeated sample shipments. For small and medium fabric traders, such shared infrastructure lowers the digitalization barrier, but converting online traffic into actual orders still tests operational capability.