Indeed. Good leather products can last for years or decades. Leather belts, wallets, shoes, bags, etc all last far longer than their fabric alternatives.
Bad quality, leather, on the other hand, disintegrates within a few months.
I was at the Apple WWDC, where they passed out those leather jackets with the big blue "X" on the back.
Mine didn't make it to the next WWDC, and I took great care of it.
I think that they may have had a couple of versions of the jacket. I saw it reappear, for quite a while, on the bodies of Apple favorites (I wasn't one), for many years.
One wonders how the total life cycle of cotton or nylon compare to the leather production process. Mushroom leather could be used when the look really matters, but otherwise I would think a lot of leather products could be made with heavy canvas or nylon.
Anyway I am a vegan so using animal skin as an industrial output is something I think we should make a conscious effort to end as much as possible.
The tanning process isn't exactly environmentally friendly, but it doesn't have to be if it can reduce overall consumption by enough.