What is "Married Cover" in leather furniture?

"Married Cover" is an industry wide term that comes up among all the makers, and you will see it used time and time again. It can be confusing, so I thought I would post an explanation of how it works, and how it is defined.

First off, all leather is imported. There are no more USA tanneries, the last were closed this year (2009). Leather tanning is a nasty, dirty, filthy business that uses lots of water and lots of harmful chemicals. OSHA and the EPA shut them down. Because we raise so much cattle in the USA however, there are thousands of raw 'crusts' (unprocessed hides) that are exported to foreign tanneries and then imported back as finished product. There are tanneries all over the world. China, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland....the list goes on and on. The finest product comes from the European tanneries, also the most expensive (the strength of the Euro vs. the US Dollar doesn't help). The least expensive most often from China - no surprises there.

EVERYONE loves the Euro hides! What's not to like? But there is price resistance to these more expensive leathers and as such, manufacturers seek ways to reduce production costs - and the Married Cover was born.

At the basic level, a Married Cover is simply a leather sourced overseas and then cut and sewn in that same country in order to fit a specific pattern piece. It is then boxed up and shipped to the USA in a kit form. When an order comes in at a domestic maker, they then build the frame, spring it, foam it and pull out the pre-sewn kit to upholster it, then finish up with nail trim and its done.

Married cover is ALWAYS done with less expensive hides. After all, the point is to reduce the retail price on the pieces. Quality ranges from excellent to tolerable, depending on the maker. The leather is top grain, and almost always a finished or protected hide.

How much does this save you as a customer? Well, lets take a look at just a sample item. The Hancock and Moore # 9840 City Sofa is a popular item, so lets use that for our demonstration.

Price in Married Cover: $ 2,099 (Cavalier Henna or Cavalier Mocha)

Now this same leather is 'on the handle' at H&M and priced as a class 2 hide. If you were to say "Make me a 9841 City in Cavalier Henna from loose hides and not from married cover, then the price would be $ 3,262.

That's $ 1,163 difference! Obviously one would want to buy that frame in married cover (part of the Town and Country promotion).

So, how do they do it? Well first off - they have to order these kits in batches of 100 or more. That's why you see limited color and hide selection. Its a large investment for the company to have to stock many kits for several frames. China (where most married cover originates) LOVES volume numbers.

Quality can - and will vary - by maker. I find Hancock and Moore's married cover program to be excellent. I cannot tell the difference between their married cover and product fully crafted from loose hides in Hickory NC. Bradington-Young pieces on the other hand are hit and miss. The Married Cover on the recliners is excellent, but on sofas and sectionals I find it only borderline acceptable, with leather used that should have been sent to the scrap bin to be cut up for swatches. One B-Y Married Cover sofa arrived in my store with a cattle brand smack in the middle of a seat cushion! I had a fit about that, and the sofa was in the process of being shipped back when a customer walked in the door - thought it was very cool to see that - and bought it. So...you never know!

Problems in married cover: Well, its virtually impossible to guarantee a color match among several pieces. If for example, you order the # 9840 City (Above) and then want a # 1044 Sadler chair in the same leather, the Sadler has to be made from loose hides they have at the factory, since its not a married cover program item/ These will most definitely be a different dye lot from the kits, and you will have some color variances from sofa to the the chair.

Also, not every frame offers married cover throughout its series. For example, you may find a sofa in the married cover program that's perfect, and want a matching loveseat to go with it. The sofa is in the program, but the loveseat is not (Remember the maker has to buy 100 kits, and loveseats do not sell at the rate of sofas). Now you not only have a dye lot issues, but the loveseat is going to cost more than the sofa.

Some makers like B-Y don't offer their married cover leathers as loose hides. I have a customer who bought a B-Y # 4114 recliner in married cover this week and want a matching B-Y 737 sofa in the same leather. Well, we can't get it....so I will remove the 'flag' on the recliner and mail it to BY to see if they can match it to any loose hides they may have in order to make the sofa.

So that is how Married Cover works, and what you can expect from pieces offered from any maker when they use that term.

I thought BY actually had their own leather here and also offered married covers or their sister company seven seas. Are their hides not done in NC? I ordered a Bentley Place leather.

BY Married Covers are always 98xx-xx series leathers. Easy to tell with that '98' prefix. All leather is imported, there are no USA tanneries. They are having the 98 series hides cut and sewn in the country where the hides originate.

Bentley Place is their main handle, entry level leathers. That is all cut and sewn in the USA.

Seven Seas is 100% made in China. And I will not carry it.