New cover looks like leather ... but it's not
Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, October 24, 2011
AT THE MARKET—The popularity of bonded leather has spawned yet another cover choice for opening to lower-medium priced leather sofas.
It looks like leather, and in many cases, it feels like leather. But it's not leather.
And it's not bonded leather, which is made from leather fragments glued to a backing material.
It has many of the characteristics of a fabric and many of the articles have a fabric backing. But it also includes a polyurethane top coat - something that typically isn't used on fabrics.
So what is it?
Until industry marketing gurus can figure out a better generic name, upholstery resources at market are calling it leather-like fabric.
But whatever name they choose to call it, it's another way for vendors to hit critical opening price points of $699 to $899 for "leather" sofas. As leather prices have soared the past couple of years, it has become next to impossible to hit those price points using top-grain leather covers or leather splits.
"The price-sensitive segment of the business is where this product is so important," said Lee Fautsch, vice president of sales for home furnishings at Flexsteel.
"People still want the look and feel of leather, but it's not always affordable."
Flexsteel is one of at least two major upholstery vendors unveiling large offerings of leather-like fabric at market. The company has branded its product Nuvo Leather, while Lane is rolling out a similar cover lineup called Endure.
"We're making it available on all frames in our line," said Greg Morgan, Lane's vice president of merchandising. "It has been very well received so far."
Lane's leather-like fabric lineup includes articles made of vinyl, nubuck and suede. Some coatings give the article common leather features such as a grain pattern or an aged look, but according to Morgan, all have a "hand" that's remarkably close to leather.
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