How great to find Reese Cooper back in Paris with his namesake collection plus a lookbook he shot himself. The setting is staggering, almost unreal, yet he transported a small crew to this remote location, some three and a half hours north of Los Angeles, where the depth of field is like a California spin on a Renaissance painting. Cooper said he had this exact impression upon driving through last October and knew he had his design direction for the season.

From a showroom in the Marais, where two screens were running the images on loop, Cooper admitted that his eponymous line was put “on the back burner” in order to properly launch RCOS, the sub-label he developed with Pacsun. Keeping them separate—he joked that they exist as two halves of his one creative brain—remained essential. And now that both are out in the world, it’s easier to see how the outdoorsy ideas have been funneled into RCOS, allowing Reese Cooper to veer more up-market utilitarian.

From a drawstring trench coat and trousers in three-ply waterproof nylon to the cargo pants and roomy bomber in woven enlarged houndstooth, he worked new possibilities and counterpoints from military-style cuts. Elsewhere, a silhouette common to tactical gear appeared as a double-breasted blazer with adjustable bungee cording. Amidst the deep navy and bleached tones, the burnt orange brought a bolder autumnal energy that read especially interesting top-to-bottom.

After the visit, Cooper shared this thought: “Throughout all the garments, especially the coats and blazers, there is the design philosophy of an abstraction of outdoor apparel.” The abstraction approach is what establishes some distance from the norm- and/or gorpcore that are obvious categories for the label—and certainly apply to his latest trail boots. As Cooper gets older (let’s not forget he was a teenager when he birthed his brand), the clothes are maturing, too. While he figures out his presentation strategy for the coming seasons, this collection has put Reese Cooper properly back on the map.