The brutalist architecture of the 1970s has both passionate fans and ardent detractors. Some swoon over the style’s rawness and severity, while others find it cold and oppressive. But as industrial finishes enjoy an ongoing resurgence, hulking concrete forms continue to gain new respect — and not just among architectural historians. Indeed, a new wave of contemporary brutalism has been quietly picking up steam throughout the past few years. This revival reached its latest milestone last month with the opening of fashion brand Saint Laurent’s Toronto flagship. Envisioned by the brand’s creative director, Anthony Vaccarello (and executed in collaboration with local architect of record dkstudio), the store raises an interesting question: could concrete suddenly be the epitome of luxury?

Photo by Jennifer Hyc

Nestled on a stretch that’s known for designer handbags, shoes and jewellery, the façade of the brand’s Bloor Street store at first looks like a holdover from a previous era before the high-fashion crowd moved in. And certainly, there’s something a little punk about eschewing a ritzier façade in favour of a more utilitarian finish. But look closer, and you’ll start to appreciate the sculptural intricacies of the design.

Photo by Jennifer Hyc

Along with taking cues from the decade’s defining architecture movement, the storefront also embraces a textural treatment that evokes corduroy (an especially popular fabric during the brutalist ’70s). These striated concrete panels line the top half of the façade, while smoother concrete cladding frames the front doorway, which is installed inside an angular alcove that adds to the entryway’s intrigue.

Photos by Adrian Ozimek, courtesy of Saint Laurent

The concrete continues inside, albeit as part of an expanded material palette that also includes warmer finishes like wood and cream-toned marble with expressive, painterly veining. In mixing concrete with warmer finishes, the project is in sync with other recent approaches to brutalist architecture. For instance, in its renovation of a reading room at Robarts Library, superkül tempered the building’s concrete backdrop with warm white-oak millwork. Diamond Schmitt adopted a similar strategy with its renewal of Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, as did Zooco Estudio in its renovation of the Cantabrian Maritime Museum’s restaurant.

Photos by Adrian Ozimek, courtesy of Saint Laurent

Saint Laurent’s Bloor Street interior also understands the value of a good statement piece. Along with showcasing the brand’s shoes and handbags in all their glory on dramatic stone shelving, the store gives pride of place to Carlo Scarpa’s Cornaro sofa (which is not pictured in the brand’s photography, but can be spotted in this Instagram tour). The 1970s design just so happens to be making a 2024 comeback of its own — last month in Milan, Cassina introduced a modern reissue.

Photo by Jennifer Hyc

A common criticism of brutalist architecture is its fortress-like feeling. And while that might be an unfortunate deterrent at a public building, at a luxury retailer, exclusivity may in fact be the right note to hit. While some may pass by Saint Laurent Toronto feeling uninspired, customers who appreciate the rigour and restraint of the design will find that a royal welcome awaits on the other side of the spartan castle walls.

Of course, any discussion of brutalist architecture must also consider its carbon footprint. While the construction industry may be working to develop more sustainable methods of manufacturing concrete, celebrating the material’s aesthetic merits also necessitates weighing its environmental implications.

Then again, there are thousands of maligned brutalist landmarks around the world that much of the general public is not currently inclined to protect — and demolishing them would be a massive waste of embodied carbon. So perhaps a project that rebrands brutalism in a more positive light (and not for nothing, uses a small fraction of the concrete employed in a larger concrete frame structure) is still a positive. The retail industry has never been any stranger to a makeover scene. And Saint Laurent may be just the champion that brutalism needs to really earn its place en vogue.