Like gwern points out, you can actually make leather out of human skin too; it’s rarely done for obvious reasons. Either Equestria hasn’t advanced in subpony rights enough that most ponies are squicked by the thought of leather, or the skins are voluntarily donated.
(I am considering changing it because some people are squicked by the thought of leather, and it’s not clear the story improves enough from there being leather in Equestria to justify that.)
Sure, so in-universe references would call it “leather,” and if any readers ask you just say it’s an in-universe analogue to leather that doesn’t come from the same source, but is similar enough that you decided to just use the word “leather” for it.
Like gwern points out, you can actually make leather out of human skin too; it’s rarely done for obvious reasons. Either Equestria hasn’t advanced in subpony rights enough that most ponies are squicked by the thought of leather, or the skins are voluntarily donated.
(I am considering changing it because some people are squicked by the thought of leather, and it’s not clear the story improves enough from there being leather in Equestria to justify that.)
You could fluff it as “really good fake leather that is actually made from plants,” maybe?
It wouldn’t make sense to call it “fake leather,” unless use of real leather was common.
Sure, so in-universe references would call it “leather,” and if any readers ask you just say it’s an in-universe analogue to leather that doesn’t come from the same source, but is similar enough that you decided to just use the word “leather” for it.
A decent cop-out, in other words. :-P
oh, gotcha.