Round Up of the Latest Velvet Upholstery Fabrics

There is a reason velvet upholstery fabric never goes out of fashion, the soft, tactile nature of velvet makes it perfect for furniture. A quality velvet adds a luxurious feel to any room, and the added depth and way the light reacts with the pile adds detail and interest to plains and brings patterned fabric to life. In this article we will take a look at some of the latest velvet fabrics from your favourite interiors brands.

Sanderson Upholstery Velvets

Sanderson's latest Spring 2022 fabric collection included two sumptuous velvet upholstery fabrics, Water Garden and Amara Butterfly.

Water Garden Velvet Fabric

The Water Garden velvet fabric, which also lends its name to the collection, features a magnificent painted dragon set against a traditional background of rocks and clouds. This fabric is available in two dramatic and vibrant colourways Emperor Blue/Emerald and Cinnabar Red, and is suitable for both contract and domestic upholstery, curtains and cushions.

Amara Butterfly Velvet Upholstery Fabric

The second velvet in the Water Garden collection is Amara Butterfly, this sumptuous fabric is printed on a lush soft cotton velvet and is available in two colourways, a Cinnabar and Ink Black, and an Olive and Lotus Pink. The butterfly and exotic foliage design was inspired by an 19th Century Chinese embroidery which was popular in the 1930s. It is approved for use as an upholstery fabric for both domestic and contract settings, making it ideal for seats, cushions, fabrics and sofas. A matching wallpaper featuring the Amara Butterfly design is also available in the Water Garden collection. The Amara Butterfly wallpaper is offered in three colourways: Cinnabar and Ink Black (which matches one of the fabric colourways), Emerald and Ink Black (full of vibrant greens), and Bamboo and Fountain Green (an almost duck egg blue green amidst bamboo tones). 

Linwood - Velvet Wonderland

Linwood are known for producing luxurious velvet fabrics and true to form have just launched their Velvet Wonderland collection. Each of the velvet upholstery fabrics in their latest collection has a deep viscose pile which gives the fabric a super soft feel adding to the feeling of luxury. The collection of nine stunning designs celebrates fantastical dreamscapes brought to life in vivid colour and an occassional metallic glint. The designs include an intergalactic dreamscape (Wonderland Intergalactic Velvet), a contemporary velvet inspired by a 1,000 year old fabric fragment (We Built This City), and a design inspired by traditional carpet designs (One Thousand and One), as well as the designs shown below and more, you can browse the full Velvet Wonderland collection on our site. Each of the velvets is both durable and naturally water repellent, and approved for general domestic upholstery use making it suitable for seating, furniture, curtains, cushions and headboards. 

Plain Velvet Upholstery Fabrics

There are always a wide range of plain velvets available but two collections with an abundance of colourways are Baker House Velvets from GP & J Baker, and Georges from Pierre Frey.

G P & J Baker - Baker House Velvets

If you are looking for a plain velvet suitable for upholstery, the Baker House velvet collection from G P & J Baker is a great place to start. Their signature velvet collection is available in an impressive 25 stylish colourways including a mix of earthy tones (including Ochre, Olive, Mink and Coral) and neutrals (including Blush, Woodsmoke and Dove).

Pierre Frey - Georges Velvets

The Georges fabric collection from Pierre Frey fatures a sumptuous linen velvet in and impressive 37 colourways, this stylish velvet has been a staple in Pierre Frey's fabric collections since the 1950s. The linen velvet fabric offers a choice of velvet with a little added texture, which is both rough and soft at the same time making it a perfect choice for upholstery. The fabric will also age well, it is designed to acquire a patina over time increasing the interplay with light. The colourways range from neutral tones to brighter colors, going through pastels.

Designers Guild Spring 2022 Velvets

Designers Guild latest spring collection, Porcelaine de Chine, includes two luscious velvets, a striped velvet, Rayure Chinoise and a floral trailing chinoise Porcelaine de Chine which gives its name to the collection. Both fabrics are available in two unique colourways.

Rayure Chinoise

Rayure Chinoise is avaiable in Cobalt, with its mix of blues, greys and greens, and Alchemilla which adds some reds to the mix. This upholstery velvet is suitable for domestic usage including furniture, cushions, blinds and curtains. 

Porcelain de Chine Velvet

The second velvet in this season's Designers Guild collection is Porcelain de Chine Velours. This beautiful trailing fabric in a chinoise style is available both as a velvet suitable for domestic upholstery (curtains, cushions, furniture), as well as a linen suitable for cushions or curtains (but not upholstery). There is even a matching Porcelain de Chine wallpaper giving you lots of opportunity to pick up on the detail of the velvet with accents around the room and home.

Harlequin Upholstery Velvets

Harlequin are another brand which always include some lush upholstery velvets in their collections. New for Spring 2022 is Harlequin's collaboration with London Artist Diane Hill, continuing what we predict will be the on-trend style for 2022, the collection is a range of wonderful Chinoiserie wallpapers and fabrics including linens, velvets and more. The wonderful Marsha upholstery velvet design was inspired by a giant floral bouquet of poppies and peonies and is named after influential LGBTQ+ activist Marsha P. Johnson. The fabric is available in four colourways in either a cotton velvet or an elegant cotton satin and can easily be styled with the matching Harlequin x Diane Hill wallpaper collection.

Diane Hill talks about her collaboration with Harlequin in the video extract below (courtesty of Harlequin).

Prestigious Textiles Velvet Fabrics

Prestigious Textiles Monsoon Collection is a vibrant collection of Indian inspired designs bursting with Jacquards and Velvets, with three botanical velvet fabrics on offer as well as a subtle damask velvet.

Nicobar Fabric

The Nicobar fabric is a sumptuous botanical velvet fabric suitable for upholstery, cushions, curtains and drapes. The giant banana leaves overlapping one another provides a contemporary feel to this botantic fabric which is available in five colourways. 

Darjeeling Velvet Fabric

The subtle styling of the Darjeeling fabric is delicate and intriguing, just like the traditional tea blend, with a slight damask appearance picked out in metallic foil highlights. It is difficult to pick up the metallic foil from the images so we would recommend a sample. This elegant velvet upholstery fabric is available in five colourways: Rosehip, a  Coconut, Ocean, Rainforest and Pepperpod, each of which is also picked up in the other three velvet designs in the Monsoon collection making it easy to mix and match from across the range.  

Leopard Velvet 

Leopard is a contemporary tropical velvet fabric from Prestigious Textiles. The large scale design depicts an inquisitive leopard partially hidden amidst the tropical leaves. This dramatic print velvet is suitable for use on upholstery as well as curtains, blinds and cushions.

Casamance Velvets

The stand out velvet for 2022 from Casamance is their Convexe fabric which is part of their Arty Collection. The collection inspired by art is full of oversized designs with a flowing rhythm and style which captures the spirit of modern art. Convexe is an artistic exploration of overlapping angular and curved shapes. Available in three colourways (Multi, Noir/Tabac, and Emerald) the velvet is suitable for use on cushions, curtains and furniture.

Choosing the Right Upholstery Velvet

Finding the right upholstery fabric, especially a velvet, can be daunting so it helps if you can visit a showroom or speak to an expert. If you can't get hands on with a fabric in a local showroom we strongly recommend ordering fabric samples, this is really important with tactile fabrics like velvet where the material and pile will vary between collections and brands. If you need any help with a velvet recommendation why not send us an email or book an appointment to visit our showroom.