COM and COL: Supplying Your Own Fabric or Leather

Pictured: The Shelby, Allentown, PA

COM stands for customer’s own material, COL for customer’s own leather. It means you buy the upholstery yourself from a mill or distributor, ship it to the furniture manufacturer, and they apply it to the frames you ordered. Designers use it constantly, because it is the only way to get an exact fabric onto a frame that does not offer it. It also introduces the single most common cause of delayed furniture deliveries, so it is worth understanding before you commit.

How the process actually runs

You select the frame and tell us you are going COM.
We give you the required yardage or square footage per item. This is also listed on your proposal, so it is in writing.
You send us a swatch so we can confirm the material will work on the specific frames you have chosen.
You order the material and have it shipped to us.
Production starts when the material arrives — not when you place the order.

That last point is where schedules slip. If your fabric is on a twelve-week backorder at the mill, your furniture is on a twelve-week delay too, no matter how early you placed the furniture order. Confirm the material’s availability before you commit to an opening date.

Why we need a swatch

Not every material works on every frame. A heavy, stiff or thickly backed fabric may not wrap a tight radius or a deep button tuft cleanly. A loose weave can grin at the seams. A directional pattern changes how much yardage the frame consumes. Sending a swatch first takes a few days and prevents a run of chairs being upholstered in something that will not sit right.

One shortcut worth knowing: if you give us the exact material specification, we can check our records. If we have used that material before on that frame, we may be able to approve it without a physical swatch.

Yardage: ask before you buy

Buy your material from our yardage figure, not an estimate. Two things change the number:

Railroaded vs. up-the-roll. A railroaded fabric runs the pattern sideways off the bolt, which can dramatically reduce yardage on wide pieces like sofas — or waste material if the frame was not designed for it.
Pattern repeat. A large repeat means more waste as pieces are cut to align. A plain or small-scale pattern cuts far more efficiently.

Order a little extra. Running short mid-production stops the entire run while you chase more material, and dye lots do not always match.

Make sure the material is actually contract-grade

COM does not exempt the material from the requirements that apply to any commercial seating. Whatever you supply should be rated 75,000–100,000 double rubs for restaurant use, and it needs to meet CAL TB 117-2013 flammability. Many jurisdictions ask for documentation at inspection, and it is your material, so it is your certificate to produce. If you are unsure, our guide to double rubs covers what the ratings mean in practice.

Minimums and practical notes

Minimums may apply on COM orders. Our own minimum order is typically 4 pieces per item, with smaller orders considered on request. If you are supplying leather, remember that hides are irregular — usable area per hide varies, and square footage requirements assume a reasonable cutting yield.

When COM is worth it, and when it is not

COM is worth it when the material is central to the design: a signature fabric running through a hotel restaurant, a brand colour that has to match exactly, or a performance textile a client has standardised on. It is usually not worth it when one of our standard options would read the same in the room. Our standard fabrics, faux leathers and leathers are already tested on our frames, already meet the flammability requirements, and do not put your delivery date at the mercy of a third party’s stock levels. Browse what is available under finish options.

Questions about a specific material? Contact your local sales rep or a project manager or administrator in our office. Send us the frame and the material spec and we will tell you the yardage and whether it will work.