Kravet Fabric FAQ: Performance Fabric, Blue Upholstery, and the Search Terms People Actually Use

I'm an account lead at a fabric distributor, and in eight years I've handled 200+ rush orders, including same-day turnarounds for photo shoots and event installs. When a deadline is tight, the first thing I check is whether a client is asking the right question. These are the ones that come up again and again when ordering Kravet upholstery fabric, trying to match a Kravet blue fabric, or researching performance fabric meaning. Some are about the product, some about the hidden costs. All of them matter.

• What is Kravet, and how do you order its upholstery fabric?
• What does performance fabric mean?
• Is 'Kravet blue fabric' a specific color?
• What is a textile medium?
• What is an omega nylon fabric strap?
• How do you budget for Kravet fabric without getting burned?

1. What is Kravet, and how do you order Kravet upholstery fabric?

Kravet is a family-owned textile house that sells to the trade. It isn't one fabric; it's thousands of SKUs across upholstery, drapery, trim, and contract collections. To order Kravet upholstery fabric by the yard, you need the collection name, pattern number, and colorway. A trade account or showroom can then check stock and cut yardage. Typical lead time is 5 to 7 business days, but special orders can take 2 to 4 weeks. In my role coordinating orders, the biggest mistake is assuming a photo is enough. If someone says 'I need the blue fabric from that sofa' and doesn't have a pattern number, that's not an order yet. That's a research project. And if a deadline is tight, the research itself costs time. I'd rather spend 15 minutes tracking down a SKU than pay $150 in overnight freight later.

2. What does performance fabric mean?

Performance fabric is a catch-all term for textiles engineered to handle more real life than ordinary decorative fabric. In practice, that usually means resistance to stains, moisture, odor, UV, or abrasion. Crypton and Sunbrella are two brands you'll see inside Kravet's performance lines, and both are much easier to clean than, say, a silk velvet. It doesn't mean indestructible. A knife is still going to cut it. But a spilled glass of red wine has a much better chance of becoming a story than a stain. For upholstery in a busy living room, a performance fabric can save you years of headaches. From a total cost view, paying $80 per yard for Crypton is often less expensive than paying $40 per yard for a fragile silk velvet plus cleaning calls and an early replacement. For outdoor spaces, Sunbrella or another solution-dyed acrylic is the safer choice.

3. Is 'Kravet blue fabric' a specific color?

No. Kravet has blues in practically every collection, from dusty navy to electric cobalt. If you search 'Kravet blue fabric,' you'll get a long list of different SKUs, and that's exactly where the problem starts. A client once approved a blue based on a photo and we ordered 30 yards. When it arrived, it looked blue, but it wasn't their blue. Everything I'd read said a screen was close enough. In practice, it wasn't. If exact color matters, order a physical swatch, hold it against a Pantone chip, and check it under the same lighting as the room. According to Pantone's color matching guidelines (pantone.com), Delta E under 2 is the tolerance for brand-critical colors. Same dye lot matters too, because even the same Kravet blue can shift between production runs. So ask for dye lot before you place a large order. The swatch isn't a formality; it's the cheapest insurance you'll buy.

4. What is a textile medium?

A textile medium is a liquid additive that you mix with acrylic paint so the paint becomes flexible enough to use on fabric. Without it, dried acrylic paint feels stiff and cracks when the fabric bends. With it, you can hand-paint a design onto a pillow cover or a piece of decor. Most brands give a recommended ratio, often one part medium to one part paint, but check the manufacturer's spec sheet. According to Golden's GAC 900 fabric medium technical data sheet (goldenpaints.com), the medium is designed specifically for fabric applications. Here's the part I don't think people expect: a textile medium is for art projects, not high-traffic upholstery. If a client wants a custom hand-painted Kravet sofa, the real cost is enormous. The paint may move, fade, or wear differently from the rest of the frame. For furniture that will actually be sat on, I'd pick a performance fabric with the design built in. That's the total cost conversation again: cheap paint plus medium isn't cheap if you have to reupholster next year.

5. What is an omega nylon fabric strap? Can I order one from Kravet?

If you landed here while searching for an 'omega nylon fabric strap,' you probably aren't looking for upholstery. An omega nylon fabric strap is usually a woven nylon strap, often a NATO-style watch strap for an Omega watch, or sometimes a piece of nylon webbing for bags. It is not a Kravet product, and we don't sell watch straps. I once assumed it was a type of furniture webbing and quoted a client the wrong item. That cost us a day and taught me never to assume 'strap' means one thing. For furniture, the closest product is nylon webbing or elastic seating webbing, which you would order from a specialty supplier. If you're designing a seat cushion and need an upholstery fabric to cover it, that's Kravet's lane. The nylon strap is the support system underneath. Different problem, different supplier. And if you're matching a watch strap for a built-in detail, get the exact dimensions before ordering anything.

6. How do you budget for Kravet fabric without getting burned?

This is where I sound like a broken record: compare total cost, not just per-yard price. Total cost includes the base fabric, freight, sample yardage, dye-lot matching, lead time, and what happens if something goes wrong. A lower-priced quote that ships in four weeks can destroy a project that needs fabric in three. In 2022, we lost a $20,000 contract because we tried to save $300 on standard shipping. The client needed 40 yards in 72 hours; standard delivery was five days. We ended up paying for air freight anyway, and we still lost the bonus for on-time delivery. Now I build in a 48-hour buffer on every rush. For Kravet orders, that means calling the showroom, confirming stock, asking for the dye lot, and getting the freight quote before you place the PO. Prices are as of January 2025; verify current rates. The fabric with the higher ticket price can have the lowest total cost once you count the risk.