Kravet Fabric Ordering Checklist: 5 Things I Verify Before Every Purchase

I manage purchasing for a mid-sized interior design firm—roughly $150k a year in materials across fabric, hardware, and architectural finishes. I'm not the lead designer and I'm not in finance, but I sit between them. That means I handle the ordering for Kravet fabrics, coordinate lead times with projects, and make sure we don't blow the budget on expedite fees.

This article is for other buyers, office managers, or studio coordinators who have to spec fabric without being a textile expert. Here are the five checks I run on every Kravet order, in order. Print them out if you need to.

Before You Start: What Counts as a "Kravet" Order?

Kravet is the parent brand for a group of companies, so before I enter any PO, I confirm which division I'm dealing with. The fabric I need might fall under Kravet, Kravet Couture, Kravet Contract, or one of the licensed lines like Lee Jofa or Brunschwig & Fils (which Kravet owns). Each has different price points and lead times.

This matters. I've seen a designer request a "Kravet fabric" that was technically a Lee Jofa SKU. That's a two-day lead time difference and a different pricing structure. Verify the product line before you quote a client.

Step 1: Authenticate the Source (Yes, Look at the Logo)

Kravet sells through trade channels, but that doesn't mean every website with the logo is authorized. Counterfeit luxury fabric is a real problem—there are knockoff patterns on wholesale marketplaces that look identical at thumbnail size.

Here's what I do on a new vendor or a new online storefront:

• Ask if they are an authorized Kravet dealer. Legitimate ones will say yes and can prove it.
• Request a sample swatch with the full Kravet label. The genuine selvedge includes the Kravet logo, the fabric name, and the SKU number. Fakes often have a missing or blurry logo mark.
• Cross-reference the SKU against Kravet's official website or your physical memo sample. If the number doesn't match, walk away.

I learned this the hard way in 2023 when a "too-good-to-be-true" bolt of a popular velvet pattern arrived with a slightly different backing weight. The Kravet label was there, but the logo was off-center and the thread count felt wrong. It was a counterfeit. I ate the cost because we needed the fabric for a commercial install (note to self: I should have verified before paying).

Step 2: Match the Fiber to the Application (And Understand Polyester)

One of the most common search questions is "what type of material is polyester?" — which tells me a lot of you are trying to figure out if a cheap-feeling term means a cheap fabric. It doesn't. Polyester is a synthetic fiber, and in high-end upholstery, it's often the base for performance blends.

For Kravet, you'll see these constructions:

• 100% polyester performance velvets — soft hand, stain-resistant, good for family rooms and high-traffic commercial spaces.
• Polyester/cotton blends — more breathable, drapes better for drapery, but slightly less abrasion-resistant than pure synthetics.
• Crypton or Sunbrella licensed fabrics — these are proprietary performance systems built on polyester or acrylic bases. They're not just "polyester"—they have engineered moisture barriers and antimicrobial treatments.

So when a designer asks for a "performance fabric," don't assume it has to be a specific brand. Kravet has its own performance line that's often more cost-effective than the brand-name licenses. But if the project calls for outdoor, I check for the Sunbrella label specifically—its UV resistance track record is what the client or architect is evaluating. (circa 2025, that's still the gold standard for outdoor).

Step 3: Check Color Consistency Before Committing

This is the step that's saved me the most money. Fabrics equalize or vary by dye lot, and colors that look identical on a monitor can be noticeably different in person. That's why I always order a physical memo sample before any large yardage.

Industry standard color tolerance for brand-critical applications is Delta E < 2, but that's for paint and print, not weaving. Yarn dye tolerances are looser. What I do instead:

• I request a cut from the actual dye lot we're ordering, not just a stock swatch. In the furniture we build, this matters because the cushions and the frame upholstery must match.
• I check the color under the client's actual lighting. Our showroom uses 3000K warm LEDs, but a hospital corridor is 4000K. Every fabric shifts.

I once ordered a yellow damask upholstery fabric from a Kravet competitor because it looked like a perfect match to the designer's hero sample under our showroom lights. When it arrived at the client site, it read green—it was a C-100 M-0 Y-100 vs. the intended warmer yellow. The reorder was $1,200 and the designer had to postpone the install. (This was back in 2022, and I still remember the conversation with my VP.) Since then, I verify color under multiple light sources before ordering.

Step 4: Request the Right Sample Type, Not Just a Swatch

There's a big difference between a memo sample (a small cut for the job file) and an authorization sample (a larger piece for client sign-off). I always request the latter for large orders or custom fabric. It costs a bit more, but it avoids the "the client changed their mind after seeing the tiny swatch" problem.

Also—order a physical sample, not just a digital cut. A 150 DPI screen resolution is fine for an initial pass, but it won't show you the weave structure or the hand feel. Touch it. Fold it. Put it on your desk for two days. If the designer isn't sure about it in the studio, they'll hate it on the job site.

Step 5: Double-Check the Specs Against Your Installation

This is the step I see most buyers skip, and it's the one that costs real money. Kravet publishes technical specifications for every fabric: abrasion resistance in double rubs (e.g., Wyzenbeek or Martindale), lightfastness, and cleaning codes.

When you're ordering for a commercial project, are you specifying for a CA137 test (California technical bulletin for upholstered furniture flammability) or some other standard? That's not on the Kravet product page—it's on your project spec sheet. The fabric may be approved for the contract line, but I still verify the coating or backing needed to meet the client's fire codes. In 2024, I had a vendor quote a "contract-grade" fabric that wasn't compliant with the building code because it didn't have the right fire-retardant finish. We caught it at the paper stage, but only because we made an extra phone call.

Common Mistakes I've Made (So You Don't Have To)

Here's a list of pitfalls from my own ordering history. I'm not proud of all of them.

1. Assuming all "performance" fabrics are the same. Kravet's Ultimate Performance line is not the same as a Sunbrella fabric. They have different hand feels, different warranties, and different price points. Match the product to the project.
2. Ignoring the "cedar fiber bedding" trap. This is a keyword that comes up in searches, but cedar fiber bedding is a product for animal bedding, not upholstery. If you're a buyer searching for fabric, you're on the wrong track. The only "fiber" that matters here is the yarn count and the blend percentage.
3. Not reading the roll size. Most Kravet decorative fabrics are sold by the yard at 54" width. If your sofa requires 8 yards at 54" and you're ordering a 48" wide fabric, you're going to be short. Always check the width before calculating yardage.
4. Trusting the website lead time. The Kravet website will show lead times for stock items, but custom orders, Coast-to-Coast programs, and non-stock SKUs can take 4–8 weeks. Factor that into the project schedule, not just the PO.

My Sample Limitation

My experience is based on about 200 orders over five years, mostly for mid-range commercial projects and high-end residential. If you're ordering for a hospitality project with 1,000 rooms, your standards are different—you'll need contract-grade fabric with specific rub tests and conformance to NFPA 260. I can't speak to that scale.

I also focus on Kravet's upholstery and drapery lines. I know the carpet and trim programs exist, but I've only handled a handful of orders for those. For anything outside my wheelhouse, I call the Kravet showroom and ask for their technical team.

That's my checklist. The short version: authenticate, match fiber to use, verify color, get a real sample, and check the specs—twice.