Ah..okay..it's not just me who noticed it. I was in J LAX-HKG (77A) in September and noticed the change in materials as well. I've asked one of pursers whether it's the case. She said it's the new J "seats" (and she looked at me like I have never seen CX new J seats :-P ) and was not aware of such change in the materials....

I agree with you that the new materials is much nicer and IMHO is much more comfortable.