High Point — Color, microfibers and other chenille alternatives are among the directions upholstery manufacturers have taken with their spring lines.
Thanks to an ongoing push for more and better colors in upholstery fabrics, manufacturers happily are making strides in overcoming the industry's dependence on brownish-beige, personality-free covers.
"This year I was looking for clear color and more color," said Lorie Roque, director of design at high-end upholstery specialist William Alan.
"I found great fabrics — like Craftex's Habersham — with accents of aqua and strong, light blues, and I used them," Roque said. "Reds and golds are still important, of course, but they're now being mixed in with these light blues and blue-greens."
From rich, roasted chili shades to clear, bright versions, red is a perennial favorite for upholstery. Not all consumers take the lipstick shades home, but no one passes them without taking a second glance.
"Red stands out as a color that is starting to work for us," said Trae Stokes, a sales and marketing executive at Craftmaster, a producer of midpriced upholstery that also markets imported occasional furniture.
In general, Stokes said, Craftmaster is "having a lot of success with color. Retailers have been complaining about there not being enough color. They've come into the showroom saying they are tired of the sea of chenille plains in tan and beige and they want some color in the store."
Color is crucial to Carolyn McLaughlin-Smith, vice president of sales and marketing at Comfort Designs.
"I love color and I use color," she said. "Our showroom will have a lot of earthy tones that I think make people feel warm and comfortable — spices, browns and greens."
Jane Velasco, marketing manager at Berne Furniture, agreed. "We are getting asked by our customers for bright and colorful fabrics. That seems to be a trend we are seeing — people are coming back to color in the room instead of so much neutral."
Debbie McKirahan, director of corporate merchandising for Norwalk Furniture, said Sanctuary is among the trends addressed this spring at Norwalk, where she is director of corporate merchandising. "The main colors are clean, clear midtones of yellow, berry, spring green and Provence blue."
The Sanctuary style direction features "images that create feelings of comfort, like botanicals, florals and toiles," McKirahan said. "Mixed patterns and textures are also important in this direction, which features a strong stripe influence, paired with florals and ditsies."
According to McKirahan, another direction at Norwalk is Oasis, with "globally inspired colors ranging from charcoal, textural golds, spice reds and espresso to Caribbean colors like sunshine yellow, coral and nautical blue. Denim is new again too. We have an apparel-inspired crosshatch pattern that will give consumers the comfort of familiarity."
Cochrane is ramping up its denim program as well, according to April Welch, merchandising manager for the midpriced producer. "Denim is something that is obviously very important for everyone and we are bringing a new denim program that will involve 10 to 12 colors of washed denim."
The spring colors at Cochrane include "tonal neutrals with textural interest, deep burgundies, melon and apricot, some hazy blues and brighter aquas," Welch said. "We especially like the hazy blues incorporated into collage applications on vintage wood-trimmed frames.
"We've also expanded the soft transitional segment," she said. "And we are following up on our Potting Shed line with vintage-type prints. We're still addressing color as we did last time, but this time some of the prints have vintage, oil-painting looks."
Microfibers
Microdenier fiber fabrics got a powerful foothold in the U.S. market a few years ago as microfiber suedes began coming in from offshore at popular prices.
Although the premium products — such as Ultrasuede — continue to be long-running hits at producers like American Leather, the new lower-priced versions caught the attention of furniture manufacturers at all price levels, and interest in the category continues to thrive.
As a result, marketgoers here next week can expect to see microfibers on new upholstery everywhere, from the humblest promotional producers to the loftiest high-end sources.
"We'd never had a microfiber until this year," said William Alan's Roque. "This season, though, we're using a wonderful quilted faux suede from Textile Fabric Associates."
At Comfort Designs, McLaughlin-Smith also noted the importance of the newer microfibers. "The faux suede category just seems to be continuously growing," McLaughlin-Smith said. "I'm amazed by it. This year we did more textures in the faux suedes, such as diagonal patterns and twill looks."
Other chenille alternatives
At Cochrane, Welch said, "Velvets and printed velvets are important for us this season. Even though we've seen people at the past couple of markets trying to get away from so much chenille, they are still important."
When an upholstery designer chooses covers, he or she has to consider both the immediate customer (the retailer) and the end user (the consumer).
"Of course, chenille is a must-have," Roque said, "but I looked for new fibers and weaves because customers are drawn to things with surface detail.
"To get attention from the retailer," said Roque, "I have to consider salability, which means the hand, the color and the price. Then, to make the consumer choose this item over another one on the floor, I need to make sure there's something to catch their eye, and that's in the details like color and texture and interesting things like eyelash fabric and raised yarns tied down with contrasting stitches."
