60% of the World’s Wigs Come From a Small Chinese City

One of our long-time clients, Marissa, runs wig salons in Los Angeles. She asked us to help her find some high-quality, natural-looking human-hair wigs. Funny thing is, those viral wig styles she’d saved on Instagram actually came from a small county in Henan called Xuchang.

Millions of wigs are made here every year, more than 60% of the world’s wigs come from this one city. Xuchang has been in the wig business for almost a century, from hand-tied theatre wigs in the early days to fully automated production lines today. With over 4,000 local suppliers and nearly 300,000 people working in the industry, this small city now exports over $2 billion worth of wigs to the world a year.

But Xuchang isn’t working alone. Other major wig hubs, like Heze and Qingdao in Shandong Province, play their part. Heze supplies most of the raw hair, while Qingdao focuses on high-end, hand-tied human-hair wigs. Put simply, Qingdao masters the craft, Xuchang drives the volume, and Heze fuels the supply.

How Realistic Wigs Are Made

Wigs on the market usually fall into three types: human hair, synthetic fiber, and human–synthetic blends. Human-hair wigs look and feel the most natural, can be styled with heat, and usually cost the most.

A single human-hair wig goes through more than a dozen steps before it’s finished. The collected hair is first sorted, cleaned to remove impurities, then washed and conditioned. Next, workers use a special metal combing tool to separate the strands into even bundles, usually over 100 grams each. These bundles are then stitched into hair wefts, which are later sewn or woven onto the hair cap, forming the basic shape of the wig. Finally, the wig is hand-trimmed, styled, and curled before it’s packed up and shipped out.

So what makes a wig look “real”? It comes down to three things: the quality of the hair, the details of the hairline and parting, and the direction and density of each strand. For extremely high standards, the only solution is a fully hand-tied human-hair wig. We once customized one for a client who even sent a head mold marking every swirl and crown: which strands should fall forward, which should flow back. That’s how to make a wig nobody can tell is a wig.

What’s Making Money in the Wig Business

There’s no single answer to this question. From the wigs we’ve helped clients source, one thing’s clear, every category plays by its own rules.

Under $30: big volume, fierce competition

These entry-level wigs usually retail under $30, using 13×4 lace fronts (that’s 13 inches wide and 4 inches deep at the hairline). The hair is typically high-temperature synthetic fiber, Burmese non-Remy hair, or a mix of both. Since most buyers in this segment care more about price than quality, the demand is huge, but so is the competition. In short, it sells fast, but prices decide who survives.

$200–$400: Everyday human-hair hits

These wigs usually sell between $200 and $400, mostly using 13×4, 13×6, or 360 lace caps, with Indian, Burmese, or Chinese bone straight hair (human, machine-straightened hair) , each with its own texture and density. For most customers, wigs in this range are a necessity for everyday wear, which keeps demand steady. Still, as prices climb, customers become more selective, quality and trust start to matter more than price.

$150–$200: Men’s toupees always sell?

These pieces usually sell between $150 and $200, with several base types and a few common colors. Since costs are lower and demand steady, they’re easy to stock and resell. Men care more about results, not trends. Deliver good quality, and they’ll pay for it.

$300–$1000: The high-margin fashion game

These female wigs can range from $300 to $1000. They come in different styles and shades, mostly using heat-resistant synthetic fibers and braided human hair (raw bundles). The margins are impressive. It takes strong aesthetics, upfront capital, and sharp trend instincts.

In many ways, the wig business works just like apparel. Men’s hair systems are like menswear, fewer styles, steady sales. Women’s wigs are like womenswear, tons of variation, higher profit potential, and higher risk. What you choose to sell depends on your strategy and supply-chain muscle.

How These Wig Brands Are Making $Millions

Over the past few years, brands like Luvme Hair, UNice, and Nadula have risen fast, all powered by the same supply chains based in Xuchang and other wig-manufacturing hubs we mentioned earlier. They focus on black women consumers, selling $100–$200 human-hair wigs (as they claim) that are both stylish and beginner-friendly. They rely heavily on real try-ons and influencer demos, turning wig-wearing into an instant transformation, a new wig, a new look.

Take Luvme Hair, for example, arguably the most successful of the group. Its website now sees over 258K organic visits per month. its success actually comes from solving and upgrading the pain points of traditional wigs. In fact, most of today’s similar leading wig brands now follow the same playbook:

More natural hairlines: Thinner, skin-blending HD lace makes partings and hairlines nearly invisible.
Easier installs: Glueless wigs with adjustable straps or drawstrings let users wear it straight out of the box. No messy glue, no long wait for blow and dry.
More style-ready options: Pre-styled ready-to-wear wigs, promoted as Put On & Go or Ready to Wear, give customers an instant look without spending 15 minutes watching “how-to” videos.

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