Humans learned to create and use tools, mastered 'fire' — a deadly and powerful weapon — and quickly ascended to the top of the food chain. Before this, over a period of 2 million years, humans had been stable in the middle of the food chain, hunting small animals, gathering all sorts of available food, scavenging leftover carrion from more powerful carnivores, and constantly being vigilant against being preyed upon by larger carnivores.

With the mastery of fire, humans' relationship with Mother Nature began to change. Not only did they have a flexible source of light and heat, but they could also use fire to stand against fierce animals. Soon, humans could even set their surroundings ablaze, transforming impassable jungles into vast, beautiful meadows full of prey by carefully controlling the flames, and in the smoldering ashes, they found roasted, delicious animals, nuts, and tubers.

The Advent of Early
Outdoor Tools

Over the years, humans have created many tools to adapt to different environments, helping themselves to survive better,

venture into, and explore more unknown territories. These tools, prototypes of later outdoor equipment, expanded human living spaces, allowing people to carry tools with them during their movements, reach beyond the land, and better explore and gather in hunting.

Backpacks

The earliest recorded backpack dates back to 3300 BCE, found next to the frozen remains of Ötzi the Iceman. This ancient individual was killed while crossing the VAL SENALES valley in Italy, and his body was preserved in a glacier. Beside him was a backpack made of leather, hazelwood, and a door latch, which Ötzi used to carry essentials like medicinal fungi, arrows, flint tools, awls, and needles. These items can be viewed today at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.

Tents

Tents, often considered 'portable shelters' as alternatives to caves or huts, were created early on for use during hunting and gathering, typically consisting of conical dwellings made of wood and animal skins. In many parts of the world, nomadic people have used such portable shelters. Examples include the LAVVU tents of the Sami people in Northern Europe, the summer TUPIQ of the Inuit, and the 'inclined human column' of the Oroqen people, all early forms of tents adapted to the outdoor environments and lifestyles of the time.

Inuit Waterproof Jacket (TUILIK)

Thousands of years ago, in the High Arctic, Inuit hunters invented the lightweight QAJAQ (kayak), allowing them to more easily harvest seals and whales on the water. Hunters wore a waterproof jacket called a TUILIK while using the kayak, sealed around the face, wrists, and cockpit to ensure that water wouldn't enter even if the boat capsized. Additionally, the air sealed inside provided buoyancy, enabling the hunter to quickly right the capsized vessel and remain dry.

Personal Flotation Device (PFD)

Human survival and development have always been tied to water, and people have constantly sought different methods of floating. The earliest examples of life jackets or flotation devices can be found in a marble carving from 870 BCE at the British Museum, showing Assyrian soldiers swimming across a river holding inflated animal skins. Subsequently, PFDs were attempted with various materials such as cork, rubber, kapok, synthetic foam, etc., to better float in water.

With these tools, humans have continuously utilized the resources Mother Nature possesses, proclaiming themselves the 'greatest life forms' and distinguishing themselves from other natural entities with a sense of superiority.

Yet, behind this lies the eternal, unstoppable force of cyclical evolution. Humans are fortunate to catch a glimpse of this force, making adaptive adjustments by complying with it, yet they cannot control this power.

'The ballads sung by humans, the paintings drawn, the societies built, the physical facilities constructed, and the wars waged — all that makes humans human, and all the struggles within the chaos of hope and despair indicating where humanity might evolve, are inevitably dependent on the Earth's condition.'

GENESIS

The Future Nomadic Concept

What will the Earth look like in the future? According to the United Nations 'World Population Prospects 2022,' the global population will rise to 8.5 billion by 2030. By 2050, it will reach 9.7 billion, and by 2100, it will hit 11.2 billion. With increasing populations, resources will become scarcer, and humanity must explore more ways of living.

Most people imagine a world 100 years from now to be more pessimistic than today's world. Fortunately, unlike other life forms on this planet that can only passively accept their fate, we are developing various tools to withstand the adversities of nature. It is conceivable that human clothing and tools will undergo another round of innovation.

UPPERVOID 'GENESIS' concept series was born under this premise, based on the initial connection between humans and Mother Nature, exploring the future coexistence mode of humans and nature under future environments, and the additional possibilities provided by outdoor equipment.As production models become more diverse and people are freed from fixed residences, longing for the dual freedom of more time and space, and for better living environments, a 'nomadic' life may return and become a trend of the future.

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, led by STEFAN RAHMSDORF, believes that by the year 2200, the sea level is estimated to rise by 1.5 to 3.5 meters. This will lead to a series of changes in the natural environment in the future. Human daily activities will inevitably require more frequent interactions with various extreme environments such as water bodies and marshes.

"Genesis" retraces the initial state of human survival, where they relied on nature for inspiration, drawing from early nomadic societies and tribal cultures. It combines the state of early humans migrating with the climate and choosing comfortable habitats with the modern exploration of nature's unknown through hiking and camping, extending into a concept of future nomadism.

By redefining the functionality and form of outdoor equipment, breaking free from the constraints of time and culture, and through dismantling, reassembling, extending, and transforming, it merges the functionality of traditional outdoor clothing with specific outdoor equipment functions. This aims to explore the state of human existence in different natural regions and environments in the future.

The designer explores ways to make the clothing lighter and capable of floating in water through methods like inflation and expansion. This not only provides outdoor insulation and waterproofing, but also allows the clothing to transform into different tools such as inflatable boats, life jackets, sleeping bags, etc. By combining the functions of outdoor equipment, transportation, tents, and clothing, it creates a movable outdoor habitat, deepening the connection between humans and different natural environments.

The multi-sectioned curled form and high-strength materials free people from the constraints of time and space, enabling them to move, rest, and seek shelter at any time, much like a hermit crab carrying its abode and dwelling in various corners of nature.

Functional components of the clothing are deconstructed, allowing different parts to be freely assembled and disassembled, creating various possibilities in motion: pockets that can be detached and transformed into hats, clothes that can be removed and turned into tents, pants that can be dismantled and used as scarves... Breaking conventions, giving clothing new identities.

The "Genesis" conceptual series also ventures into bold fabric

experimentation, incorporating UPVERVOID's patented material - a three-layer composite fabric named KOPPER™, with the raw material being pure copper wire. Using natural elemental metal as the textile material, it elevates the fabric's tear resistance to new heights, and it is 100% recyclable.