Leather/animal hide has many disadvantages including the obvious ethical and environmental issues and no real practical advantage other than the luxury label “real leather”.
Artificial is much better and wins in practically every department. It’s lighter – it’s used in fast exotic vehicles because of this, more comfortable especially in sports seats which hug your waist/chest leather stands no chance in comparison, not cold to the touch unlike real leather, smells much better and cleaner,it’s easier to clean, it ages much better, the list goes on.
I now go with alcantara/artificial wherever possible, it’s a clear winner.
Rich Burton