Exploring Upholstery in Hospitality and Retail

When you think of wide-format printing, your mind might automatically go to banners and soft signage, window and wall graphics, or even wraps. While these are some of the top products in the segment, textiles and upholstery are growing and worth exploring, specifically within the interior design market.

“The potential of this market is huge,” says Daniel Horovitz, director of business transformation home décor for Kornit Digital, headquartered in Rosh HaAyin, Israel. “Most of the industry is still analog and only 2%-3% are digital. Therefore, going digital is an amazing opportunity. The cost per product and the amount of fabric used creates huge potential using the same sales platforms with new segments like home decor and lifestyle.”

In this article, we’ll focus on upholstery in hospitality and retail. More specifically, what fabrics work well for these environments, printing know-how, current trends and innovations, and helpful tips for print service providers (PSPs) looking to step into this market.

Fabrics That Stand the Test of Time

In hospitality and retail environments like hotels, restaurants, and department stores, the chairs, sofas, and other upholstered items must stand the wear from guests. And while those who operate these spaces would love to revamp their wares often, they’re also looking for them to last.

Asked what the best fabric option is, Kristen Dettoni, founder and designer at Design Pool in East Hampstead, New Hampshire, says woven and coated fabrics are the go-to options for durability.

“There is a split of about 40% woven and 60% coated fabrics in high-traffic areas such as hospitality and retail spaces,” Dettoni explains. “Coated fabrics, such as vinyl and polyurethanes, have a slightly higher percentage because they can be easily cleaned with water. Woven fabrics had the perception of not being as durable, but over the years, there has been a lot of progress made with stain repellents and special back coatings to enhance the performance of woven fabrics to compete with coated fabrics for cleanability and durability in high-traffic spaces.”

Upholstered items like couches, seats, and benches for hospitality and retail need to be stain, water, oil, and UV resistant. | Credit: Kornit Digital

With durability being a top concern when choosing fabric, finding the right supplier partner is key. Samantha Marion, sales director, apparel and home decor, at Carmel, Indiana-based TVF, says a supplier who can offer high-quality fabrics with testing to support quality claims is a PSP’s best bet.

“For fabrics to be long-lasting, you’ll want to seek out options with great construction that can hold up to high abrasion,” Marion adds. “We rely on the Wyzenbeek test to help us understand a fabric’s performance. Fabrics tested with a higher Wyzenbeek result (50,000 or more) are considered heavy duty. These are ideal for upholstery in high-traffic areas.”

Heavy-duty fabrics are thicker, resistant fabrics that can repel water and oil, and often are UV resistant and fire retardant, Horovitz adds.

Printing Processes

Picking a durable, print-friendly fabric is one thing. Successfully printing that fabric with a custom pattern or texture for use on seats, benches, loveseats, or restaurant booths is another. End use and fabric choice matter when it comes to choosing the right print method. You want something made to last that also hits the style mark.

Direct-to-fabric printing solutions, like Kornit Digital’s Presto MAX, can
offer PSPs the lightfastness their upholstery print jobs require. | Credit: Kornit Digital

Dye-sublimation and direct-to-fabric pigment-based solutions are the standard digital printing methods. Dye-sublimation is limited to polyester fabrics, while pigment-based direct-to-fabric printing can print on virtually any material.

“Keep in mind the end use and the space when it comes to hospitality and retail fabrics,” Marion says. “Different printing technologies have different strengths. For example, if the area will have direct sunlight on the upholstery piece, consider a pigment-printed product with better lightfastness properties to help prevent the color from fading quickly due to the sun exposure.”

With dye-sublimation, the inks bond with the polymers in the polyester, becoming one with the fabric. Because of this permanent heat-applied process, the issue of crocking — or ink rubbing off the fabric — is not an issue.

Additionally, in hospitality and retail spaces, where cohesive branding is key, Dettoni says correct color matching matters. Whether it’s a specific brand color, color scheme, or palette, PSPs need to ensure they can deliver accurate results. It’s also important to note that different colors will print and appear differently on different fabrics. Both dye-sublimation and pigment-based solutions offer wide color gamuts, giving PSPs big capabilities with color and vibrancy.

Dettoni shares a fun fact on color, and something to keep in mind when working with clients: “There have been many studies done which discuss how pattern and color can impact an environment and the people using the space. People should consider all these factors when making color and pattern decisions.”

Trends and Innovations

With digital printing opening the doors for creativity, trends are constantly on the move, giving designers creative freedom, Dettoni says. A far cry from flipping through a book of predetermined fabric design samples.

Custom upholstery coated fabric designed for Six Point Brewery in Brooklyn, New York. Design Pool worked with interior design firm ChangeUp on this project. | Credit: Kristen Dettoni

“It is enabling more spaces to be suited to the individual or the brand,” Dettoni shares of digital printing. “It is a very exciting time to be a designer.”

That said, some overarching trends are taking shape, including minimalist spaces adding bold colors and patterns for interest. “Hospitality and retail environments also want to move the consumer around the space to make the experience more immersive,” Dettoni adds. “The patterns can be bold or unique to draw a customer in to post the market-coveted location selfie.”

These environments also require some sort of communal space — whether it’s waiting areas, meeting rooms, front entrances, or dining halls. Dettoni says creating that space with pattern and color allows the customer to connect even more deeply with those around them, as well as with a product or brand.

“Biophilic design is also a trend in both markets,” she continues. “Biophilic design is the concept of using nature in interior spaces to keep our connectivity to the outside environment when indoors. This can be easily done with any nature-themed designs or patterns that allude to nature, such as waves or natural textures.”

Another topic impacting the textile and upholstery worlds, and the printing industry at large, is sustainability. While it may seem like it’s only gained traction in the last five to 10 years, Dettoni says sustainability has been a topic of conversation within commercial interiors since the late ‘90s.

“It is no surprise that textiles are one of the biggest polluters, but within the commercial interior space, we took sustainability very seriously and spent a lot of time, money, and energy in conjunction with our customers to ‘green’ the product as much as the chemistry and technology allowed,” Dettoni explains. “Because of that, there are a lot of sustainable options, from materials to green energy manufacturing.”

These days, having a sustainable option or element isn’t an exception, it’s the rule. Having at least one eco fabric that not only checks the box for clients looking to align with greener initiatives, but does it well and transparently, is key.

“Regulations also have impact, so brands and retailers must collab and create new industry standards of sustainability,” Horovitz adds. “Design communities and demand generators are totally aligned with this super important issue, and lead the industry to make this world better.”

That’s where digital printing systems that use less energy and produce less waste come into the equation, in addition to more sustainable materials like REPREVE fabrics and other recycled materials.

“We could see more and more sustainable materials in the market as these trends emerge, such as bamboo, cork, organic cotton, hemp, jute, upcycled materials, and even the use of recycled glass,” Horovitz suggests.

While using eco materials is a great option, Marion points out that choosing durable fabrics also addresses the sustainability issue.

“Using durable fabric is a fantastic way to be more sustainable because designers won’t need to replace the fabric as often as less-durable materials,” Marion says. “Our most popular in-house fabric is Glacier, which is extremely durable and versatile for upholstery and pillows, and meets the Wyzenbeek 100,000 cycles test. It’s ready to print and passes several standard home decor flame retardant tests.”

However, when the inevitable does happen and the upholstery does rip or wear, digital printing allows for the “jacket” or “skin” of a seat to be easily reprinted and replaced rather than buying an entirely new unit, Horovitz notes. That, in itself, is a reduced-waste win.

Breaking Into the Market

For PSPs wanting to explore the world of commercial interiors and upholstery, Dettoni warns that landing jobs will not happen overnight, especially with larger firms.

“Like any good business, it is about the product and relationship-building. For all levels of the industry, from a single interior designer to large interior companies, the designers are juggling a lot of projects, materials, revisions, and deadlines,” she explains. “Customer service is key! Anything you can do to alleviate some of their stress goes far, and would most likely result in repeat business.”

And because designers have the need for wallcoverings, flooring, and the like, PSPs can serve as that one-stop shop to help them build out a space, Dettoni adds. Be the partner designers want to work with by offering the solutions they need.

If you want to offer the best customer service and products to your clients, you'll need good supplier partnerships on the back end. Marion stresses the importance of finding suppliers you can trust. This matters for quality, reliability, and compliance when it comes to sustainability practices and processes.

“More specifically, work with a supplier who has developed fabrics designed and engineered for printing and who will continue to have stock available when you need it,” she adds. “Having a trustworthy source for your base fabrics will help make sure all of your print projects turn out perfectly and on-schedule.”

Last but certainly not least, if PSPs really want a foot in the door within the interior design market, they need salespeople with the right connections in the industry. They can bring their professional network to the print business and help train the current sales team on the market. As more printer manufacturers introduce machines with great capabilities and designers look for customization, the demand for digitally printed interiors will continue to grow and open opportunities for PSPs.