Cool Hunting

Amazon Life x Oestudio by Phuong-Cac Nguyen

alshirt2.jpg alshoes.jpg

Sustainability comes in all colors and forms these days, but rather than fall for the clever marketing of a product that purportedly saves the environment, Rio de Janeiro’s Amazon Life really hits the heart of sustainability by being aware of the people that can benefit from our consumerism. They just introduced their new line overseen by Brazilian design house Oestudio—a new direction for the company expanding its offerings and extending further its helping hand. The 50-piece collection includes organic cotton shirts with attractive prints inspired by indigenous groups and jewelry.

albag3.jpg

But the bread and butter of Amazon Life is still in its bags and accessories, created from vegetable leather. Called TreeTap, the patented material (which Amazon Life has an exclusive to use) is made from rubber tapped by 200 families in the Boca do Acre region of the Amazon forest. The association uniting those involved in producing TreeTap receives a small percentage of Amazon Life's profits, which in part gets passed back to the families guaranteeing that the region stays populated. Families leaving makes the region vulnerable to the hands of agriculturists, ranchers or land thieves.

alshirt1.jpg

More items, including casual shoes and furniture, are in the works to be produced in partnerships with Rainha and other companies. You can find Amazon Life products in the U.S. at Brasilian Soul in Evanston, IL or at Amazon Life’s Ipanema store in Rio.

Also on Cool Hunting: Oestudio Sneakers

Tools
Print
Email
Save / Bookmark
fShare Share
Permanent link
Sphere It
This entry posted on 12 July 2007 at 1:40 PM
previous entry
The New Old Tokyo
next entry
Hagenglas
Related Entries
Neon Shoes
Designed from pieces of hand-painted leather, these sexy men's-style dress shoes recently premiered at Neon's winter fashion show and bring action and color to any get-up. The Brazilian label's co-designer Dudu Bertholini has been collecting leftover painted cow skin—some of them rare—from his trips abroad to New York and throughout his home country, at last finding the best use for them. Because he only...
Earnest Sewn x Moscot Collaboration and Pop Up Shop
by Jason Wilson Come April, Earnest Sewn, the premium denim purveyor, is devoting its Back Room space to the patriarchal eyewear company Moscot. The new installment will launch the two brands' collaborative collection of co-branded Buffalo Horn Moscot Lemtosh frame specs. These one-of-a-kind styles are designed with real glass and colored lenses just as they were 70 years ago. And for bragging rights, each...
Fiat x Banca de Camisetas Winter 2008
Whether it's 10 or 50 already cramming your drawers, we know your addiction for t-shirts refuses to be abated. At least Fiat thinks so. As part of their strategy to stay on top of the automaker market in Brazil (in which they've been wearing the crown for several years), Fiat's been hooking up with national and international designers for seasonal runs of tees that...
Doshi Levien x John Lobb: Apprentice Shoes
In collaboration with the classic British shoe maker John Lobb Ltd, London-based design duo Doshi Levien came up with this beautiful new range of shoes. Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien, with support from the British Arts Council, undertook an apprenticeship at the Lobb workshop to learn the traditional method of hand-making shoes. The result is a stunning collection appropriately entitled "Apprentice." We love the...
Recent Cool Hunting Videosview all Cool Hunting Videos
Advertisement
Advertisement
Recent Entries

The Pharos Project


Hank and Matlok


Neon Shoes


Radio Village Nomade


Ghostly Swim: Interview with Sam Valenti


Creative Index


Interview with Maarten Baas


A Paper Tiger


Von Totebags and T-Shirts