YSK: The term "Genuine Leather", it is not to reassure you that their product is made of leather, rather its the name of the lowest grade of leather a company can use.
Why YSK: The term "Genuine Leather" is a marketing term to sell the lowest quality leather possible.
When purchasing a leather product, look for full grain leather or top grain leather instead. These will provide a much higher quality cut of leather that will look and feel much better and last for much longer.
Not quite. The truth is, there is no universally recognized grades of leather. But when bragging about quality, genuine leather is the lowest bar they can go (other than bonded leather, which isn’t fully leather but just a veneer over fabric.
Full grain or top grain is generally what you want.
Also, some are concerned about the use of an animal product. The vast majority of leather is a byproduct of the beef industry. It is skin that would otherwise go to waste. And it is also far more environmentally friendly a material than many alternatives, which are often made of plastics.
You should also know that technically only the piece marked as genuine leather needs to actually be genuine leather. If you buy something made with multiple pieces, the rest could be made from any material so long as that one piece is genuine.
Don't buy leather. Cows are sentient beings with their own subjective experience. Actions that inflict unnecessary harm upon others should be reconsidered.
If you downvote, you must have a justification for buying leather and I'd love to hear it.
I thought "genuine" was the middle grade, with "bonded" being the lowest. Bob's Furniture used to market "genuine bonded leather" sofas which I found both clever and infuriating.
In one of those 70s Fat Albert episodes, I think it was Rudy who one day showed up wearing a jacket of "genuine imitation leather". That term has stuck with me for decades.
All I can say is that it's still at least leather. Most things (e.x., belts) will say "manmade leather" or "manmade materials" and they are fake and break. The genuine leather belt I have has been working for 4 years without snapping.
It seems so odd too because if I didn't know better, I'd assume "Full or Top Grain" was lower quality than "Genuine Leather" just by how the phrases sound.