Image Courtesy of UGG and Reese Cooper.
In a world constantly caught between screens and speed, the great outdoors has become fashion’s quiet obsession—a return to tactility, to earth, to something real. Reese Cooper understands this pull intimately. The American designer, barely in his twenties, isn’t shaped by fashion school pedigree but by instinct, archive diving, and a deep respect for craftsmanship. His design language—rooted in vintage Americana and reinterpreted through a rugged, utilitarian lens—feels like a breath of fresh air.
Cooper doesn’t just make clothes. He builds stories. During the pandemic, he handed the narrative over, releasing DIY jacket kits so customers could sew their own pieces at home. That same ethos—community, creativity, care—threads through his ongoing commitment to sustainability: for every item sold, a tree is planted through his partnership with One Tree Planted.
His latest collaboration with UGG pushes the idea of hybrid functionality even further. Reimagining the brand’s iconic silhouette with all-weather readiness, Cooper outfits the boots with GORE-TEX, CORDURA® fabric, and an architectural eye that makes them just as at home on the streets of big cities as on the forest floor. It’s footwear for the in-between spaces—where nature and culture overlap, and where design, like the trail ahead, is always evolving.
Image Courtesy of UGG and Reese Cooper.
SLEEK: You entered fashion in a pretty unconventional way, without formal training. How has that shaped your design philosophy and the way you run your brand?
Reese Cooper: I think my lack of formal training has been my most valuable aspect. I never learned a ”right” or “wrong” way to design or think about things. This has led to being able to just go off feeling and figuring it out in a practical way instead of relying on rules I would’ve learned in school.
S: Your collections always feel like a visual story. What’s your starting point when creating a new “chapter”? Is it an image, a place, a feeling?
RC: It really depends season by season. Sometimes it’s a very built out theme and everything is following this narrative I’m trying to build. Other times it’s as simple as our AW25 collection where it came from just seeing a place on the road while driving and building around this singular landscape.
Image Courtesy of UGG and Reese Cooper.
S: Technical details like weatherproofing, modular pockets, and layering systems show up often in your work. Do you see yourself as part of the performance wear conversation, or are you creating your own category entirely?
RC: For the mainline product I like being in a sort of middle ground between categories. I like to apply ideas from different styles or contradicting styles even to see where that lands. Right thing in the wrong place, wrong thing in the right place thinking for a lot of it. Tailored 3L nylon trousers!
S: Do collaborations help make your work more accessible to a broader audience? How do they play into your brand ethos?
RC: Collaborations help reach the people that I don’t on my own. We’re very selective about who we work with on collaborations and make sure everything’s aligned, but more importantly the finished product will make sense.
Image Courtesy of UGG and Reese Cooper.
S: When you’re approached for a collab, what makes you say yes? What are the green flags for you creatively?
RC: If the idea pops into my head immediately! Every company I’ve done collaborations with I’ve known what I want to make with them, usually way before we even speak for the first time. I’ve been fortunate enough to have most of them say yes to the ideas so far.
S: Your work often blends fashion with themes of the outdoors. How did that translate to the collaboration with UGG?
RC: I try to create with this balance of function / practicality / versatility in mind. I wanted to make a shoe that can hold up outside in the mud, rain, etc but also look good when walking to the grocery store or going to work. These were really inspired by my friend Bella, a fashion photographer from rural Pennsylvania but lives in Brooklyn. It has to work in both places!