upholstery for pets  

oh my!
that is a huge cat.... I'm unsure of any good upholstery choices for cat hair, besides keeping the color in mind, etc. I have these pads I was using... they come in neutral colors and are supposed be "magnetic" for cat hair. And putting them on the furniture (when people aren't using the furniture). They worked great at first. But I made the mistake of also placing them on slippery surfaces, my lacquered coffee table & window sill. The cats took one or two many slippery spills off of furniture and now they are scared to lay on them I think!
Anyhow... you might want to think about the "hair magnet" pad if you don't find the perfect upholstery!

The best bet, in this case...
The best bet, in this case far as I can tell certainly, as a cat owner also, is to go whitespike with a fabric kind of butterscotch in color, which, until your next cat, will serve both of you fairly well.

yeah
I was thinking that dingy mustard color in a classic boucle. Boucle is rather nubby and will probably cling to fur for dear life though.
BTW - that photo is not my cat or chair! However it's a great representation. My cat is yellow like that, and the chair is a really dark blue.

Get a good pet roller
Get a good pet roller with the sticky tape. Forget about getting a fabric that will keep cat hair to a minimum. I'm convinced it's not possible. I have that very chair as an office chair and I just get my double-wide pet roller out and it does a great job of cleaning up the hair.
Careful with choosing a nubby fabric...I find that the nubbier the fabric, the more attractive it is to the cat for claw sharpening purposes. 🙁 My 670 lounge, being leather, isn't even a temptation for my cat, but my Saarinen office chair, along with my Danish lounge chair (with super-nubby vintage orange fabric) both take a beating.
fm

A good neutral seems to be...
A good neutral seems to be less noticeable. And a few big rolls of duct tape
handy. Cheaper and stickier that the rollers. I've even found packing
tape left over fron the move handy for the fur issue.
From the DWR website,
"Knoll Textiles fabric, which is Greenguard-certified and made entirely from recycled polyester. Its Nano-Tex finish builds stain resistance into the weave of the fabric - spills bead up and slide off without soaking in."
(i was looking at the Bertioa wire chair covers)
So some fabrics are pretty durable these days. I'm just not keen on the smooth
polyester look. Good for pets but the slight knubby fabrics are so much richer in look
and feel. Must be a compromise somewhere.
Though certain chairs beifit from a tight fabric like yours.
I've been searching for couch fabric and i need alot so i am being cautious.
My fifty year old giant couch has mohair. Must be a very tight weave. Elder 'digging'
dog has not managed to penetrate it.
She ripped my last couch to shreds. It was expensive but a freebie promo and bad quality
fabric. I've considered bulistic nylon...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_nylon

Hairball happiness
I sympathize with your dilemma. My cat is old and does not claw at furniture anymore.
He does have good taste in chairs, but despises the DCM & DCW, they are too slippery and easy to clean. He likes to sit in everything with upholstery when my lap is unavailable. His fur clings to every kind of fabric and visible surface. The only acceptable option for me is to vacuum often.
Although he does not sharpen his claws on the furniture, all my pieces show signs of wear on the front edge where his front paws make initial contact as he jumps aboard. My office chair sits a bit higher and shows the most wear.
Although vinyl wipes clean it is easily punctured by cat claws. My leather chair does not have holes, but there are some pretty serious marks along the front edge.
Alas, I am a chair nut, but my animals are more important than my things (mostly). That does not stop me from fuming occasionally and I mention this only as a cautionary tale - no matter the fabric you choose be warned...Cats Rule.

latex rubber sponge
I have one of these Pet Hair Sponges. It works very well and can be used hundreds of times, I guess until the rubber dries out from air exposure (may help to keep it in a ziploc). I prefer it over the tape rollers because I'm cheap.
http://www.doctordog.com/store/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=B-209954

spanky
i just ordered one of the sponges. can they be used on a whole sofa without taking an eternity?

sponge
I don't think it would take too long to do an entire sofa, especially if you do it regularly and often. The hair is probably concentrated in a few areas rather than being a uniform blanket over the whole thing, right?
Some fabrics are made of fibers that sort of lock onto the hair. The hair actually works its way through the fabric rather than just laying on top. Same with foam. I once had a mattress that was two layers of different foams. Dog hair came off easily from one of the layers but it became embedded in the other type and was very difficult to remove. (The only reason I bothered to try was because I had to return the damn thing. Never buy a mattress that you can't try out in person.)

sunbrella
Sunbrella is tightly woven, doesn't fade, wipes clean. Try one of the dupione colors to match the cat, like the bamboo color.

.
A fine mat of cat hair forms a protective strata for furniture:)it peaks out in a year or so...so it seens the same,with no further build up...