UGG x Reese Cooper Takes You to Terra Incognita
At the heart of our Not In Milan event space In Milan, UGG and Reese Cooper came together not just to unveil a new shoe, but to unveil a new world. A world built for movement. A world designed for discovery. Welcome to Terra Incognita.
Terra Incognita was envisioned as a space that could embody the very spirit of UGG: explorative, grounded in craft, yet constantly evolving. The installation invited visitors to step into a surreal terrain—a raw, multi-sensory landscape of mossy knolls, shallow ponds, scattered stones, and arresting red trees. It was immersive and tactile, both familiar and otherworldly. It mirrored the journey of the product itself: from the known into the wild unknown.
Reese Cooper, the Los Angeles-based designer and founder of REESE COOPER, is no stranger to functional storytelling. His garments are crafted with intention, rooted in the outdoors, and driven by a narrative that balances form with utility. With UGG, he found the perfect canvas for reinvention. Together, the Classic Mini and Ultra Mini have been transformed—reborn as technical, multi-terrain footwear. GORE-TEX lining offers weatherproof performance. CORDURA® materials deliver abrasion resistance. Every stitch and panel has been considered, tested, and made to move.
The boots invite their wearer to explore differently—to treat the street like a trail, and the wilderness like a runway. Reese’s reinterpretation of the UGG silhouette speaks to a new kind of adventurer: one who seeks function without sacrificing aesthetic, and who understands that the unknown isn’t a place to fear—it’s a place to design for.
The installation echoed this ethos in both scale and detail. The design paid homage to the unmistakable visual language of UGG—softness, warmth, and sculptural simplicity—while simultaneously distorting it into something futuristic. Oversized white forms rose from the floor adding to the dreamlike topography.
But this activation was never just about showcasing a product. It was about over-emphasizing it, amplifying the design, the story, the obsession. Activations, content, and brand assets teased the larger collaboration, sparking curiosity and fueling the desire to know more, to step further, to discover what lies beyond.
In Terra Incognita, we see UGG through a new lens—one that still reveres its heritage and cultural imprint, but pushes boldly into new terrain. The collaboration with Reese Cooper is a testament to that vision. It honors craft, champions innovation, and reframes the Classic silhouette as a design object that transcends season, category, and expectation.
Exploration, in this context, becomes a design philosophy. Unbound by geography, anything becomes possible. It challenges brands, creatives, and consumers alike to reconsider where boundaries lie, and what we wear when we cross them.
