Pep Guardiola is a man with influence and has been somewhat of a style icon since joining Manchester City and the Premier League back in 2016 – and his latest fashion choice has fans everywhere in football talking.
His recent touchline uniform has come in the form of a jumper which dons a melted Manchester City badge, but while millions assume that the obscure badge is simply a printing error, there is actually a lot of history behind it.
The jumper, which comes in black as well as grey, is part of a deal between Manchester City, Puma and JD, but is spearheaded by legendary fashion brand founders Anthony and Christopher Donnelly.
The Manchester-born Donnelly brothers recently released their MDCR clothing collection, which celebrates the generation-defining indie-dance scene that put Manchester on the map and took the world by storm – something that the Donnelly brothers were an instrumental part of. MDCR is an abbreviation of Donnelly brothers brand madchester.com.
In Anthony Donnelly’s own words, the melted crest on the jumper is based on a t-shirt from the acid house period “when nightclubs such as Stuffed Olives and the Hacienda had no air conditioning” and “being p*ss wet through, melting on the dance floor, smiling like Cheshire cats” was the norm.
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The design was created by Anthony’s brother, Christopher, along with designers from Puma HQ in Germany. Christopher is also responsible for the many iconic designs behind Gio-Goi – his and Anthony’s iconic British fashion brand that originated here in Manchester.
Anthony and Christopher are the proud sons of scrap metal merchant Arthur Donnelly and hard-working straight-laced mum June Donnelly. They were raised in the south of Manchester in Benchill with sister Tracey and quickly made a name for themselves in both the British fashion industry with Gio-Goi and the thriving rave scene here in Manchester and London.
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It is worth noting that Pep Guardiola has been wearing the MDCR collection out of personal choice, which has driven droves of Manchester City fans to go out and purchase a piece of authentic Manchester music history – it is believed that this is the first time ever in the history of the Football Association that a club has allowed outside parties to dramatically change a club’s badge design.
But this is the exact kind of disruption and influence that drove the Donnelly brothers to create Madchester, along with a small group of others, in the late 1980s – a movement and collective that fought the government for your right to party with Sweat It Out, Manchester’s first illegal rave.
The brothers have an unmatched reputation for effective marketing campaigns, which includes the time they got themselves on the front page of Vogue magazine with Gio-Goi and Dior, photographed by legendary portrait photographer Mario Testino, so it was no surprise to find that Anthony and Christopher were behind the MCFC x PUMA collaboration.
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The Madchester music scene gave birth to the illegal rave and its protests against the authorities are what made an acid house rave so alluring for young (and old) partygoers back in the day. The Donnelly’s were instrumental during this time and quickly rose to prominence.
On what Madchester means to the Donnelly’s, Anthony says: “Madchester to myself and Christopher brings back memories that are mad and brilliant at the same time – never to be repeated I would imagine.
“However, Madchester is often hijacked by brands everywhere who were not even there. Most recently, a famous deodorant used the brand without permission – which was one of the reasons behind creating Madchester as a brand so that we can ensure the intellectual property is protected.
“It can be annoying in some cases, for example, how our councils are using the history of Madchester as something they are proud of in order to sell the city. I suppose this is understandable given what we created, however, those same councils were actually instrumental in trying to crush Madchester, the Hacienda, and our illegal Sweat It Out raves.”
To date, the Donnelly brothers and Madchester exist predominantly as a live events brand that leans more towards tourism and there is a lot planned on the horizon that Anthony and Christopher believe will bring much-needed revenue to Manchester’s Night Time Economy.
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A spokesperson for the Madchester brand says: “Madchester is to Manchester what the Beatles are to Liverpool, or Nirvana is to Seattle. People flock here in their thousands and we are expected to give them a good time.”
Anthony and Chris are deep in their plans to bring Madchester to the masses with an event at Depot Mayfield next April, alongside the founders of The Warehouse Project. There is also a second MDCR clothing collection dropping in November, which is part of the same collaboration with MCFC, JD and PUMA, and is more of a fashion-led line inspired by the era which will include staple items such as bucket hats and parka jackets.
With the Donnelly’s, one thing is for sure, you’ll be seeing a lot of them in the coming months and in 2022 – and while Manchester as a city grows and grows, the Donnelly’s will be working hard to keep its historic roots intact.
Watch the story of Joy, the first outdoor rave up North, organised by Anthony and Christopher Donnelly, below.
Manchester
Manchester’s biggest free music festival is back this Easter bank holiday weekend
Danny Jones
Sunnier days are well and truly on their way and better still, that means Manchester’s biggest free music festival and one of the best event series on the annual calendar is returning: that’s right, it’s time for Manifest 2024.
Back and bigger than ever, Manifest over at The Oast House in Spinningfelds returns this Easter Sunday and we cannot wait to get soaking in the sun, tunes and good vibes.
The biggest and most popular free music festival you’ll find anywhere in Greater Manchester, Manifest has been going for a few years now and it’s become such a staple of the warmer months here in the city centre that we don’t consider spring/summertime as having even started until it rolls around again.
Set to deliver an all-day line-up of live music with various acts playing from Sunday, 31 March at 1pm onwards and well into the early hours of Monday, 1 April, we can’t think of many better ways to spend the bank holiday.
Taking place on The Oast House’s large outdoor terrace complete with its dedicated stage and the big beer garden providing both coverage and plenty of room for Mancs to turn it into one giant dancefloor, thousands turn up to this series of events every year now.
Kicking off this season’s festivities on Sunday, 31 March, the first Manifest event of 2024 has a packed roster of musicians lined up including bands, solo artists and duos, as well as interludes from their resident and ever-reliable DJs.
Guests can expect not only a vibrant party atmosphere all day and night but tastes of pretty much every genre, from rock, pop and soul to R&B, funk, disco and blues.
Again, part of the reason this music festival series has become so popular is that it’s completely free, with space inside the venue dished out on a first-come, first-served basis. There were plenty of queues at every single date last year, so we recommend getting there early. Seriously, it packs out quickly.
You’ll have everything you need to keep you sorted throughout the day when it comes to food and drink too, by the way.
The Oast House’s street food-style menu will also be on offer for those looking to line their stomachs during the festivities.
We’re talking katsu chicken fries, Northern poutine with bone marrow gravy and Shorrock’s Lancashire cheese, chicken or plant-based gyros, stacked burgers, hot wings and hanging kebabs. We’ve tried it all and trust us, some seriously good scran this.
Festivalgoers can also keep cool with plenty of cold pints and house-made cocktails, including twists on the classics such as Watermelon Margaritas, Passionfruit Coladas and Pink Gin Punch. Phwoar.
The best part is, even if you’re already busy this weekend (obviously, scrap your plans and come here), you’ll have plenty more opportunity to enjoy Manifest this year with the free music festival returning every bank holiday weekend throughout the spring and summer.
There’s also set to be an extra few Saturday Manifest dates this year which are still yet to be confirmed but we’ll keep you posted as and when we know more – see you there, Manchester!
And to keep track of the other latest music news going on here in Manchester, keep your eyes peeled over on The Manc Audio.
You can take the kids to meet Kung Fu Panda in Manchester this weekend
Emily Sergeant
If you’re looking for something a little different to entertain your mini Mancs this weekend, then how about taking them to meet Kung Fu Panda?
In case you hadn’t heard, the fourth installment in the beloved DreamWorks Animation film franchise, Kung Fu Panda, has just been released today, and there’s no better way to celebrate the long-awaited new flick than taking the kids down to meet the legendary Dragon Warrior himself right here in Manchester city centre this weekend.
Po will be setting some time aside from his busy schedule of Kung Fu mastery to make his way over to Manchester’s landmark entertainment complex, Printworks, this Saturday (30 March) for a very-special meet and greet.
He’ll be meeting his Manc fans every hour, on the hour, from 11am right through to 3pm, and families will need to head to the ‘Printworks Pumpyard’ to grab a selfie with the popular character.
You can also expect loads of FREE giveaways to be up for grabs throughout the day too.
“We are always looking for exciting new experiences for families at Printworks, and are thrilled to bring the fun of Kung Fu Panda to our venue,” commented Kristian Brennan, who is the Marketing Manager at Printworks, ahead of this weekend’s meet and greet.
“As part of the recent re-launch of Printworks following extensive refurbishment, Kung Fu Panda 4 has been the first commercial partner to take space on the giant ceiling screen amongst a host of unique content.
“This partnership will spark a whole host of entertainment, fun and adventure with our young visitors, and we can’t wait to welcome them this Bank Holiday weekend.”
And then, once you’ve met the main man (or main panda, we should say), you can even extend your bank holiday family fun by sitting down to watch the film itself, as Kung Fu Panda 4 finally arrived on the big screen at Vue in Printworks.
Manchester’s landmark entertainment destination Printworks is the place to meet Po himself / Credit: Printworks
It means that, for the first time in almost a decade, you’ll get to see comedy icon Jack Black return to his role as the world’s most unlikely kung fu master.
With regular screenings available to book throughout the Easter school holidays, families are encouraged to grab some popcorn, kick back, and get ready for a hilarious butt-kicking experience.