AmazonLife harnesses the power of business to produce Haute Couture products that support local communities and conserve the environment. In the early 1990s, João Augusto Fortes and Beatriz Saldanha, cofounders of Brazil’s first eco-product store EcoMercado, found value in a natural rubber material extracted from the Amazon region of Acre. Rubber production worldwide was shifting from natural latex to oil-based chemicals and from small scale rubber tapping to large plantations. This forced many rubber tappers to shift to commodities markets such as timber and cattle, causing vast degradation of the forests.

After several years of research and development, Fortes and Saldanha patented Treetap®, a cotton fabric drenched in natural latex of wild rubber trees, and created AmazonLife, introducing the leather-like material to the international fashion industry. The company, in alliance with rubber tappers’ associations, helps to preserve the Amazon’s traditional cultures and forest ecosystem.

Approximately 1,000 people supply Treetap® today, and AmazonLife sells 40,000 sheets of rubber laminates every year at ten times the previous price. The producers are guaranteed a respectable wage by the company's fair trade policy and are co-owners of the patented process. Over 900,000 hectares of wild forest is also protected from exploitation. Moreover, these forest units are undergoing Forest Stewardship Council certification to ensure the long-term sustainable production of wild rubber. AmazonLife has supplied Treetap® to some big names in the European market: French designer Hermès Sellier, Italian furniture company Moroso, and bicycle manufacturer Giant Europe. Consumers are increasingly willing to buy high quality goods produced on fair trade and ecologically sustainable principles.