Its real leather, hooray!! Very comfy too, with good lower back support. I put it together in about 10 mins, and the instructions were clear and easy to follow. Its a bit more expensive than all the other faux leather chairs out there, but you can tell this is extremely well made and should last a long time. Only downside is that the Missus doesnt like brown leather (generally... just her personal preference) but it doesnt bother me!