Interview
Which fabric
for which furniture?
Helen Biermann, design graduate and customer consultant at the COR Haus, on the correct fabric for upholstered furniture.
That there is no quick and easy answer to this question! For the simple reason that the correct fabric for a piece of furniture will depend among other things on the design of the model, on its intended location, and what it will be used for. A COR sofa in a conference room at a corporate headquarters, for example, will require completely different fabric qualities than the same model in the living room of a family with many children. A further aspect: are there animals in the house? In that case one should avoid coarse weaves. And again, if chairs or sofas are placed in a conservatory or in front of large windows, I recommend fabrics with high lightfastness. And someone who likes easy-care fabrics, which they can wash themselves if necessary, will probably be better served with a synthetic material than someone who considers the high-quality look of virgin wool to be more important. Just as you would have to be more careful with wearing and washing a genuine Cashmere pullover. All these factors have to be considered when making a selection.
There are always new and interesting designs and colours, and we make sure that we get to see a great many of them each season. But only a very few of them make it into our collection. In principle we select only fabrics that are hard-wearing and possess good characteristics in terms of lightfastness, abrasion resistance, and pilling, because we want our customers to enjoy them for a long time. The manufacturer must also be able to fulfil our demands with respect to delivery performance and punctuality. And last not least, every fabric candidate must undergo an intensive test in our sewing and upholstering departments, where our employees make sure that the fabric can be processed as well as we expect from a COR upholstery fabric.
I personally like strong colours and patterns! But it’s a different matter whether you buy yourself a blouse with a floral pattern or have the living room furniture covered with it. You might wear the blouse for one summer, but the furniture will be with you for many years. This is the reason why many of our customers select quiet colours for their upholstery, and prefer to set highlights with colourful cushions and throws.
