What Is Designtex and What Does the Company Provide?

Updated

Designtex is a designer and manufacturer of applied materials for the built environment, with more than 60 years in the field. Its core offering is high-performance wallcoverings and upholstery textiles aimed at designers and commercial interior projects—materials that pair visual and tactile qualities with durability features suited to demanding spaces. If you are specifying finishes for a high-traffic interior, Designtex is a source for both stock collections and customizable options.

What Designtex makes

The company's product range centers on surfaces that go into commercial interiors:

  • Wallcoverings — including print-on-demand wallcoverings and woven wallcovering constructions.
  • Upholstery textiles — velvets, bouclé, and other woven fabrics, several made with recycled content.
  • Customized materials — the site points to a "Customize with Digital Studio" option for working with Designtex on custom output.

These are applied materials rather than furniture or finished goods: they are specified by designers and then applied to walls or seating.

How the collections are positioned

Designtex organizes its releases around specific performance and design stories. A few examples from the current lineup show how the products are framed:

Collection / Product What it is Notable feature
Slow Color (with Alisa Benfey) Print-on-demand wallcoverings and upholstery Derived from Kusaki-zome, the Japanese art of seasonal botanical dyeing; brings handmade qualities to high-performance materials
Alto Velvet upholstery Soft to the touch, made with recycled content, full color spectrum from bold to neutral
Woven wallcoverings trio Three woven wallcoverings using tape yarn in warp and weft Crypton® Wall backing and finish for permanent stain, spill, and odor protection, plus bleach cleanability
Abode Textured bouclé upholstery Organic, irregular surface with an angular motif
Linger Soft upholstery Indoor-outdoor performance and C2C certification
Nestle Upholstery Ultra-plush surface with Supreen™ silicone finish and fluid barrier backing
Metroline / Florette Patterned textiles Graphic overlapping architectural shapes; floral tapestry with a painterly effect

Who it is for

The materials are built around the requirements of commercial and high-traffic environments—places where stain resistance, cleanability, and durability matter alongside appearance. The Crypton® Wall finish on the woven wallcoverings, for instance, is described as ideal for rigorous performance requirements, and Linger combines coziness with indoor-outdoor performance and C2C certification. Designers specifying wall and seating surfaces for such spaces are the primary audience.

Practical notes before you specify

  • Check the performance claim that matters for your space. Stain and bleach cleanability, indoor-outdoor use, and fluid barrier backing are attached to specific products, not the whole catalog—confirm the feature on the exact item you select.
  • Custom work is a separate path. Print-on-demand and Digital Studio customization mean lead times and approval steps may differ from stock collections; treat them as a distinct workflow.
  • Pricing is not published on the pages reviewed. The site shows a checkout path, but no prices or payment details appear in the available material, so request quotes or confirm terms directly rather than assuming cost or access conditions.

For a designer assembling a finish schedule, the useful next step is to shortlist by performance requirement first (cleanability, outdoor use, recycled content), then review the specific collection pages for the aesthetic direction.