In May 2010, Union des Designers Mode et Maison sent two senior designers to Haining to study the city's leather and fur industry and give lectures to local companies and designers.

"When you walk into a leather jacket shop in Haining Leather Market, you can find any design and pattern that you are looking for. But none of the products have their own style," Glasman said.

In October 2010, the two sides decided to form an alliance between European designers and local companies. Consequently the Haining Leather International Cooperation Center was established, and is currently the working center for French designers who come to Haining on exchange programs.

Glasman said the union aims to help local industries achieve their branding strategies, improve business models, and help local industries with international communication.

To date, the union has sent two groups of European fashion designers to Haining for consulting and communication.

"Needless to say, our designers have shown their best designs to the companies in Haining, and a lot of them are keen to team up with our designers for products," he said.

Zhejiang Xuebao Fashion Co is one of the oldest producers of leather jackets in Haining. In its 28 years of existence, the company saw peak sales during the mid-1990s, and a downturn since the beginning of 2000.

Realizing that consumers value the design of leather jackets, the company started to invest more in introducing designers, both local and international.

"Now, we have more than 40 designers in Haining, in one of the largest designer groups there. They work on thousands of leather jackets every year," said Zhu Weixiang, general manager of Xuebao.

In addition to the Haining-based designers, Xuebao also invites designers from France and Italy to provide samples every season.

"The top European designers are the closest to the original center of fashion and they can gauge the fashion trends for the next year from experience. This is what most of our designers lack," said Zhu.

According to Zhu, Xuebao's European designers send sketches of their designs to the company every season, and local designers and experts discuss whether they are suitable for the Chinese market.

"The European designers really have a good sense of fashion, but sometimes, their ideas do not necessarily work in the Chinese market. That is why we also have a strong local design team to improve on their ideas," he said.

Thanks to its strong design capability, Xuebao has attracted OEM (original equipment manufacturer) orders from big brands internationally.

"OEM today is not like what it was in the past, when brands gave us the samples and we copied and produced. Today, they come empty-handed, picking directly from our samples. So the better our designs, the more orders we get," said Zhu.

But the 50-odd European designers at the Union des Designers Mode et Maison are far from enough for the nearly 3,000 leather and fur companies in Haining. The Haining Leather Market, the main motivator of the industry, is also making efforts to cultivate more local designers.

Last April, a team of 26 Chinese designers visited Europe as part of a two-week study course organized by the leather market and the French union. They visited a leather trade fair in Bologna, Italy, and also attended fashion seminars in Paris.

"The trip was meant to provide an opportunity for the designers to discover the features they lack in fashion design, and look for ways to improve," said Zha Jialin, deputy general manager of the leather market.

The local government has also realized the importance of the industry and has designated it as one of its pillar industries.

"We expect Haining to account for 60 percent of China's leather and fur industry by 2015. Raising competitiveness through stronger and better fashion design is the key to the drive," said Lin Yi, the Haining Party chief.

The French design team has been largely supportive of the city's plans. The union has invited designers working for reputed fashion brands such as Chanel and Dior to give lectures and has also arranged visits to fashion institutes and colleges.

Glasman said the union will continue to organize more trips to improve the skills of local designers.

Zhang Sifeng, president of Haining Leather Designer Association, said the number of designers that signed up for the European trip was beyond expectations and reflects the growing interest in the sector.

"Some people and companies thought leather and fur are only for winter wear. After studying the European practices, an increasing number of companies have realized that with proper design, leather products can also be used in spring, autumn and even summer. This has helped dispel the notion that leather and fur wear are season-restrictive," said Zhang, who is a designer himself and runs a leather company in the city.