A popular stereotype is that architects only wear black. But spend some time with designers, and you’ll find that the profession’s dress code is actually more nuanced. Yes, minimalist goths abound, devoted to living in sartorial darkness day in and day out. But you’ll also meet experimental designers like SAANA’s Kazuyo Sejima who embrace runway styles in all manner of hues, not to mention disciples of Richard Rogers who understand how to rock lime green, bright orange or even both at the same time.

Somewhere in the middle of this fashion spectrum lies cowboy-adjacent architects who dress like they’re building your house rather than just designing it — favouring hardwearing, workwear-inflected classics like field shirts and officer chinos, usually in some shade of khaki. That’s where Buck Mason comes in. Sure enough, the clothing brand’s latest retail location (designed by Chicago firm Norman Kelley, working alongside architect Spencer McNeil) in Oak Brook, Illinois, appeals directly to a rugged, architecturally savvy clientele.

Launched in L.A. in 2013, Buck Mason began with a plan to create the perfect T-shirt. Founders Erik Allen Ford and Sasha Koehn come by their love of design and construction honestly: Koehn previously worked as a landscape architect, and his and Ford’s fathers were a stone sculptor and brick-layer, respectively — with the brand’s name a tribute to those two careers. (They chose the “Buck” half because it sounds tough, and speaks to the idea of bucking trends.)

Their quest for top quality eventually led the company to set up its own production facility in Pennsylvania, where it now operates a knitting mill and a sewing factory dedicated to made-in-the-USA T-shirts. In store, these homegrown offerings are rounded out by other clothes produced farther afield yet still steeped in classic American tradition. Picture something that an off-duty Steve McQueen or Christy Turlington might wear, and you’ll be in the right style ballpark.

For the company’s latest, 60-square-metre outpost at Oakbrook Center (a mall about 30 minutes outside Chicago), Norman Kelley worked to reflect the brand’s deep appreciation for design history. Inspired by Jean Prouvé’s 1940s design for a demountable house, the firm envisioned a shop-in-shop that stations a reclaimed oakwood shell structure in the middle of the floor. The setup brings a sense of intimacy to the otherwise generic mall storefront, creating the feeling of stepping into someone’s home — or more accurately, into their log cabin. Adding to the warmth of this inner sanctum, a selection of orb-style pendants in a variety of scales hangs above, spotlighting the merchandise below.

Built at an angle to the space’s existing perimeter walls, the wooden core also introduces cozy outer nooks that help to pace out the display of product. Window-like cutouts offer views between the store’s two layers, adding to the overall sense of depth.

For its next big design move, Norman Kelley studied up on regional architectural history. Glass brick, which has enjoyed a major resurgence over the past couple years, actually made its debut back at Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition. Inspired by this origin story, Norman Kelley installed rows of 15.24-by-7.62-centimetre glass blocks at the upper edge of the interior wooden structure’s walls, creating a border akin to a clerestory window. “The use of glass block further connects the store to a legacy of Midwest innovation and material ingenuity,” the designers explain in their project description. At the back edge of the space, the glass brick extends down to the floor, creating a translucent grid that complements the clean lines of the clothing on display.

A selection of books stocked in the shop pay tribute to Jean Prouvé, as well as other design luminaries like Eileen Gray, Louis Kahn, and Noguchi. Vintage photos, stereo equipment, and an artwork of a cowboy riding a bucking bronco add to the decor mix.

In a retail landscape that has seen other brands struggling to maintain a strong bricks and mortar presence, Buck Mason is scaling up quickly, moving from 11 stores in 2020 to 33 as of this year. Clearly, consumers are connecting with the brand’s textural fabrics and sandy palette — not to mention its classically-minded approach to store design. And if you want just want some all-black basics? Buck Mason can help with that, too.