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.
Surely leather is skin and skin is very definitely non porous? Secrete oils from tiny glands? Yes. Let water through? Very much nope.
There’s various types of leather, some of which are actually porous. I’m no expert but you can Google it.
The point about rain protection isn’t related to the water getting through but because rain can contain chemicals and salt which can stain the leather and also make the leather brittle and vulnerable to mechanical damage, like getting cracks on it because it loses some of it’s natural elasticity.
This is usually prevented by oiling it and putting various rain protection products on it.
Leather is usually processed at a tannery. This process, besides stopping decomposition almost entirely, makes it waterproof.