artificial leather
Sign in to saveAlso known as faux leather, imitation leather, leatherette, fake leather, synthetic leather, vegan leather
man-made material that has similar properties and appearance to animal leather
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
An artificial leather bag strap, made from plastic
Artificial leather, also called synthetic leather, is a material intended to substitute for leather in upholstery, clothing, footwear, and other uses where a leather-like finish is desired but the actual material is cost-prohibitive or unsuitable due to practical or ethical concerns. Artificial leather is known by many names, including leatherette, imitation leather, faux leather, vegan leather, PU leather (polyurethane), pseudoleather, and pleather.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “artificial leather” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.