A Short History of Buck Mason

Buck Mason didn’t start out making clothes. Erik Allen Ford and Sasha Koehn, two Midwest transplants, were working out of a 350-square-foot garage in Venice, selling curated boxes of other people’s jeans and tees. Six essentials for $250. When the guy supplying their tees couldn’t keep up, they started making their own. Ford has said the t-shirt humbled him. It looks easy, slap two sheets together and you’ve got a Hanes Beefy, and it turns out that’s not the case at all.

A Wall Street Journal mention set off the first rush. A Shark Tank appearance followed, where they turned down Robert Herjavec. Tom Brady wore one of the tees in GQ. None of that is the part that matters most. The part that matters is 2023, when they bought a Pennsylvania knitting mill that had run since 1873, kept the people who worked there, and moved tee production in-house, cotton to cut-and-sew.

They’ve scaled hard since. North of $100 million in revenue, more than fifty stores, a womenswear line grown to nearly a third of the business, and a catalog that now runs well past basics into tailoring and outerwear. Ford still describes it as making clothes for an audience of two, him and Koehn.

Where Buck Mason Is Made

Buck Mason makes things in a few different places, so it goes product by product, not one label for the whole brand.

Tees (Slub, Pima, Toughknit)

Made & Sourced in USA. Grown, knit, and sewn at Buck Mason Knitting Mills in Mohnton and Shillington, Pennsylvania, from US-grown cotton they source mainly from Davis Farms in Georgia and the Carolinas. One caveat. They’ve said about 300,000 of the 500,000 tees they sell a year are US-made, so a slice of the knit tops are imported. Check the product page.

Loomstate selvedge jeans (the Made-in-USA denim)

Made in USA, Global Materials. Cut and sewn in Los Angeles, with the bartacks, rivets, and chain-stitching set by hand, from selvedge denim woven by Kaihara in Japan.

Standard Ford Standard stretch jeans

Not disclosed. Woven from Kaihara denim in Japan. Buck Mason doesn’t say where they’re sewn, so we won’t put a badge on a guess. If you want the confirmed US-made jean, it’s the selvedge line above.

Oxford and button-up shirts

Designed in USA, Made Globally. The White Big Oxford page is marked “Import.” The country isn’t specified.

Hollywood tailoring (sport coats, blazers)

Designed in USA, Made Globally. Marked “Import.” The cloth is named and serious, Spence Bryson Irish linen and Dugdale Bros. wool from England, on a half-canvas jacket made overseas.

Sweaters and knitwear

Not disclosed. Materials are sometimes named, like the Como cashmere (Italian-spun cashmere with Egyptian cotton), but where the garment is put together generally isn’t stated.

Chinos, pants, most outerwear

Not disclosed. Origin isn’t stated per item. The brand says it produces primarily in the USA but works with partners around the world, which for these reads as likely imported. Likely isn’t confirmed, so we haven’t badged it.

Footwear

Made Globally, by the collaborating maker. Sanders in England, G.H. Bass Weejuns, Moonstar in Japan.

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The “American-made” part of Buck Mason really means the tees and the selvedge denim. Those they’re proud of, and they say so on the page. The rest is a mix. Some of it’s tagged “Import,” some isn’t spelled out at all. If it matters to you where a specific piece comes from, the product page is usually your answer, and where it isn’t, we’ve said so above.

What Buck Mason Makes (and Where to Start)

Buck Mason makes most of a wardrobe now. Tees, oxfords and other button-ups, denim, chinos, sweaters and knitwear, polos, sweats, jackets and outerwear, tailoring, shorts, swim, some footwear and accessories, plus a full women’s line. We won’t walk the whole catalog. Here’s what they’re actually known for, and the one to buy first.

Slub or Pima Curved Hem Tee ($48)

The product the brand was built on and the clearest example of what it does well. US mill, US cotton, runs true to size, barely shrinks. Some owners find the cotton pills over time at this price, so it’s a very good tee rather than an indestructible one. Want a relaxed cut? The ’90s Boxy Tee is the one instead.

Loomstate Selvedge Jeans ($278)

Cut and sewn in Los Angeles from Kaihara denim, rivets and chain-stitching set by hand. This is the made-in-USA jean. The cheaper Ford Standard stretch jean is the one Buck Mason won’t say where it’s sewn.

California Oxford BD Shirt ($148)

A well-liked everyday button-down. Runs small, so size up.

Felted Chore Coat ($268)

Felted merino, the outerwear piece most people reach for.

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At the top of the range sits the Hollywood tailoring. Sport coats around $698 to $798 in Spence Bryson Irish linen or Dugdale Bros. wool, half-canvas, made overseas. Good cloth, newer territory for the brand, not the place to start.

Start with the tee

It’s the most representative thing they make, the cheapest way to judge the quality yourself, and the one category where the American-made story is fully real. If it’s denim you’re after, go to the selvedge line, not the stretch jean.

Pricing and Sales

Tees start around $48. Most core pieces land between $128 and $298, and the tailoring and premium outerwear climb higher, up to about $800, with the occasional collab above that.

Buck Mason rarely puts its core products on sale. What you’ll usually find are first-order or email-signup codes and free shipping over $150, not sitewide percentage-off events. Coupon sites advertising “up to 65% off” don’t match how the brand actually prices, so there’s no big sale worth holding out for on the pieces you’d actually want.

Customer Criticism

A few complaints come up often enough across owner reviews to pass along. The cotton tees can pill at this price for some people. The women’s line reads as less developed than the men’s. And while the return policy is generous, the fulfillment trips up more than it should, wrong items and slow email replies. None of it is universal, and most owners are happy with the core tees and denim. But these are the patterns, not one-off gripes.

You’ll also see some skepticism, mostly on menswear forums, that the “American-made” branding leans harder than the catalog backs up, since it’s really the tees and selvedge denim that are US-made. Buck Mason is fairly upfront about this on its product pages, so it reads more as a marketing-emphasis gripe than a bait-and-switch.

If You Like Buck Mason, You May Also Like

If Buck Mason’s your speed, these are worth a look too.

Flint and Tinder. The closest match if the made-in-USA part is what you’re after. US-sewn basics and hoodies in Supima cotton. Owned by Huckberry.

Lady White Co. Elevated US-made tees, a straight comparison on the thing Buck Mason does best. Independent, out of Los Angeles.

3sixteen. For the denim side of it. Premium raw denim and tees on Japanese Kuroki selvedge, cut and sewn in the States. Independent.

Todd Snyder. A dressier, more fashion-forward take on the same American-classics idea, across tees, tailoring, and denim. Owned by American Eagle, made all over.

Sources, Disclosure, and Updates

Sources. Buck Mason; InsideHook; Forbes; Glossy; Puck; WWD; Permanent Style; The New York Times; Venture Capital Journal.

Last updated: July 2026

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