Fabric merchants in Keqiao's China Textile City are undergoing a quiet divergence: while conventional products suffer from shrinking margins due to price wars, high-end niche segments show considerable growth potential. Qiting and Haoli Textile in the Dongsheng Road outdoor fabric district offer a sample worth analyzing with their dual-brand, dual-track approach. The core lies not in 'transformation' itself, but in how to use supply chain accumulation and digital tools to build a real barrier for differentiation.
Event Background
Qiting's start was modest. Launched in 2013 and registered in 2014, it began in the East Market with basic school uniform fabrics, building a stable customer base through solid quality control. However, as industry competition intensified in 2018 and profits on conventional fabrics came under pressure, the brand began a strategic shift: developing functional outdoor fabrics on one hand, and on the other, founding Haoli Textile to focus on high-end business menswear fabrics, forming a dual-brand independent operation pattern.
This layout found its home in Dongsheng Road. Qiting was among the first batch of merchants to enter the Phase I outdoor functional fabric zone, while Haoli established an independent storefront in Phase II. The area attracts a concentration of brand owners, e-commerce merchants, and designers who demand finer fabrics and yield better order conversion rates. For high-end fabric business, such customer density means higher communication efficiency and lower trial-and-error costs.
Industry Impact
Haoli's differentiation strategy is first reflected in materials and craftsmanship. It uses natural fibers such as wool, silk, and Lyocell, with colors achieved through plant extraction instead of traditional chemical dyeing. This positioning directly pushes up product 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 an additional supply option with environmental attributes that can support brand premiums.
Supply chain sharing is the key to dual-brand synergy. Haoli relies on its integrated mill and factory, sharing 15,000 square meters of warehousing, and adopts both stock and custom order models: stock products can handle small urgent orders, while custom orders are completed in 3-10 days, with the fastest shipping within one hour thanks to complete inventory. For high-end clients, such responsiveness signals not just efficiency but supply chain stability.
Digitalization is another moat. Haoli has participated in the digital fabric construction of the AI Cloth mini-program, digitizing core fabrics such as waffle, health knit, double jersey, mesh, air layer, and pique. Previously, designers seeking similar fabrics with sample swatches relied on manual searching and color card comparison, which was inefficient; now the system can quickly match identical or similar fabrics, and remote communication with overseas clients is smoother. For high-end fabric business, digitalization is not a luxury but an essential tool for serving demanding customers.
Additionally, the AI Cloth experience center adjacent to Dongsheng Road is about to start trial operations, featuring smart body measurement, 3D virtual fitting, fabric visual creation, and garment simulation, displaying physical fabrics and virtual samples online and offline. This means the boundaries of fabric display and customer engagement will be redefined, and designers' and brand clients' fabric sourcing needs can be met more efficiently.
Practical Advice
For Buyers - Pay attention to suppliers with dual-brand or niche positioning: they often have clearer investments in supply chain and quality control, offering more stable quality and delivery. - Leverage digital tools to improve sample sourcing efficiency: matching similar products through fabric databases can significantly shorten development cycles, especially for fast-paced apparel brands. - For high-end fabrics, prioritize checking environmental certifications and material traceability: claims like plant dyeing and natural fibers must be backed by actual test reports to avoid concept hype.
For Factories - Consider a 'one factory, multiple brands' or 'main brand plus sub-brand' model: use mature supply chains to support new brands exploring high-end categories, reducing trial-and-error risks. - Accelerate digital archiving of fabrics: registering core products in a searchable database can greatly improve customer service efficiency and matching accuracy. - Invest in functional production line upgrades: such as imported brushing equipment, which can enhance capacity and bargaining power, providing hardware support for differentiated products.
From school uniform fabrics to luxury menswear, Qiting and Haoli's path is not impossible to replicate, but the barriers lie in supply chain depth and digital implementation. As the conventional fabric market becomes increasingly crowded, this 'differentiation plus sharing' model may well be a viable route for Keqiao merchants to move upmarket.