The secret to going viral is a bit of good fortune. At least, that’s what many believe.
But when you look at Shrine, a company that continues to return to the trending section again and again, you start to think there might be a knack to going viral after all.
This Manchester cosmetic business blew up right at the beginning for launching the now-famous glitter boob and bum trend; went viral again when they shared their success story; and even managed to make headlines when the world went into lockdown for at-home hair dying products.
“We’ve always tried to be trendsetters,” Shrine’s Niamh Gillan tells The Manc.
“For us, it’s about being disruptive. We try to be original – and we communicate that across social media.
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“It’s what makes us different.”
Shrine is like the anti-corporation. Almost everything they do goes against the traditional business bible; and it’s worked a dream.
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Set up just a few miles outside of Manchester city centre near the Etihad, the Shrine team is 11-strong – all female, and all below the age of 28.
Each member of staff essentially runs their own little department, with key messages and updates communicated not via letters or emails – but through Instagram Live and TikTok.
Today, more than half a million loyal followers are sharing Shrine style ideas, ordering products and signing up for masterclasses.
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Even in this complicated climate, the company is generating millions.
“Everyone really gets along, it’s like a family here,” Niamh beams.
“We love working here, we love the products and the people we work with.
“We want people to know that.”
Back in 2016, MMU student Jenna Meek decided to invest her life savings on a business idea – setting up what was then known as ‘The Gypsy Shrine’ from her bedroom.
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She chose glitter and stick-on jewels as fashion statements, and these images struck a chord with students before being picked up by The Daily Mail and The Sun.
That summer, you couldn’t go to any live music event without seeing someone sporting the glitter boob trend. It was suddenly a fixture of festival fashion; like sunglasses, hats or hair dye.
Pre-festival popup stores in the likes of London and Los Angeles attracted enormous crowds – and within a matter of months the brand was collaborating with film studios and music giants.
World-renowned studio Warner Brothers selected The Gypsy Shrine to host a stand in support of their Wonderwoman film; recognising the brand’s focus on female empowerment.
Another collaboration for a Halloween and social collection followed, before the brand teamed up with festival Coachella to throw a Palm Springs party in 2018.
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Within two years of setting up, The Gyspy Shrine was synonymous with festival dress.
But the brand had ideas that went beyond fashion for wild weekends.
Dropping a couple of words from their moniker, Shrine began to broaden its offering to focus on more areas of lifestyle – moving into creative cosmetics and hair care.
It was good timing. The festival scene has temporarily collapsed due to COVID-19, but even when quarantine began, Shrine was as in-demand as ever.
“Over the past few months, there’s been lots of people ordering our at-home hair dye,” Niamh explains.
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“We launched it in February and it took off as we went into lockdown.
“From there, demand went up as people couldn’t go to hairdressers.
“We’re getting lots of inquiries about our hair dye dropping – it’s where you can drop the pigment into conditioner and use that to cover your hair.
“It’s semi-permanent and you can create your own shape.”
Founder Jenna still features heavily on Shrine’s social channels – hosting Q&As about particular products and even taking part in Instagram Live sessions with hair salons.
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The brand audience is bigger than ever before. And there’s plans in the pipeline to reach this ever-growing base of fans.
Shrine has dipped its toe in international waters before, but now it’s preparing to take the plunge and dive head first into the American market.
“We’re looking to launch in the US – that’s all in the works right now,” Niamh explains.
“We’re hoping to grow into being a key brand over there. That’s the plan for the next year – but the big aim is worldwide.
“Hopefully, we can keep this going and start to trade with retailers all over the globe.”
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Thousands of brands out there are still attempting to go viral. For many, it’ll be a case of good fortune.
But with Shrine, it just feels like a matter of time before that name starts trending again.
“We know our audience and they know us,” Niamh says.
Building this kind of special relationship is a rare thing. But Shrine has done it. And it sounds like there’s much more to come.
See what Shrine is offering right now by visiting the official website.
30 years ago, the IRA detonated a 1,500kg lorry bomb on Corporation Street in the heart of Manchester – here’s the story
Georgina Pellant
Today marks three whole decades since an explosion from the inside of a lorry parked on Corporation Street shattered windows and destroyed buildings across the city centre.
Causing an evisceration that stretched for miles, when the 1,500 kilogram IRA bomb went off in 1996, it was the biggest detonation in Great Britain since the Second World War.
Following the explosion, the city fell silent – leaving rack, rubble and ruin in its wake. Famously, one red post box was left standing – today fitted with a memorial plaque in remembrance of the tragedy.
It seems scary to think that back then, most people could only stand there, watch on and worry.
The bomb caused an estimated £700 million worth of damage to Manchester’s infrastructure and economy, and over a quarter of a century later, locals still tell the stories of where they were when it went off – and of the devastation it left behind.
Notably, one resident of the Cromford Court maisonettes on top of the Arndale – a 77-year-old RAF veteran suffering from the flu – didn’t even bother to get up when the telephone warning to evacuate hit, considering himself to have survived much worse feats during his time in military service.
Having been a rear gunner in a Lancaster in the war, he reportedly told police and authorities “he was buggered if he was going to let a small bomb affect him.”
In subsequent years, Danny O’Neill has become a part of an urban legend surrounding the bomb as his staggering story has been told time and time again.
Around 90 minutes prior to the detonation, the Provisional Irish Republican Army had telephoned in warnings – meaning that around 75,000 people were able to be evacuated from the area before the bomb went off from the back of a van.
However, the bomb squad were unable to defuse it in time, leading to over 200 injuries from people still left in the area.
Thankfully, despite those injuries, there were no fatalities, and many of those reported traumas came from the shattering of thousands of windows and other damage to buildings in which unsuspecting people were getting on with their days.
Several buildings near the explosion were damaged beyond repair and had to be demolished, while many more were closed for months for structural repairs, and this prompted the biggest regeneration of Manchester city centre ever – something that is still continuing to this day, arguably at a more rapid rate than ever.
The city lay dormant for days after the explosion, as people came to terms with what had happened and kept their distance. Many moved out of the centre for a period of time, while many more simply decided not to visit for fear of another incident.
It was a desolate place, eerily quiet, and in need of some serious TLC.
According to Home Office statistics, an estimated 400 businesses within half a mile (0.8 km) of the 1996 blast were affected, 40% of which did not recover.
Credit: Manchester Libraries
Market Street – near the explosion and at that time the second-busiest shopping street in the UK – was considered by some a “fearful” place, and one that was to be “avoided like the plague”.
The prospect of pulling Manchester’s bustling city centre out of its darkest depression was not casually approached by those in charge.
It was acknowledged as a mammoth task from the get-go, but Greater Manchester has never let anything get in its way. Despite how steep the hill is that we’re standing at the base of, we always manage to reach the peak, ready to go again.
Manchester City Council green-light new venue at Medlock Square, with Mamma Mia! The Party to open the immersive space
Danny Jones
The smash-hit ‘Mamma Mia: The Party’ is set to land in Manchester next year as the maiden event of another brand-new space set to open as part of the upcoming Medlock Square development.
Etihad Campus has seen a lot of moving pieces over the past few years, be it the building of Co-op Live, the ongoing expansion of Man City’s home ground, the soon-to-launch hotel attached to the stadium and now Medlock.
But those in control of the land are content with stopping there; this looks to be just the start of a whole new evolution for the East Manchester area, with an as yet untitled new immersive arts, experience and events venue also set to join the new slate of projects.
You see another glimpse of the purpose-built mini arena, of sorts, down below.
With plans having now been approved by the City Council, the ‘immersive’ space will be situated between the Etihad, Co-op Live and Medlock Square itself, holding up to 600 guests per performance.
Currently set to open in late 2027, following the rest of the square’s launch window being fully rolled out, we still don’t know the name of this next addition, but the structure itself will dovetail with the surrounding buildings and areas as part of seasonal activations, live shows and sports screenings, as well as pop-ups, brand collaborations and more.
Looping back, the interactive, multimedia extravaganza that is ‘Mamma Mia! The Party’ will finally be making its Manc debut as part of the 10th anniversary of the all-singing, all-dancing and even all-dining in-demand production.
As per an official press release from the Medlock Square media team, the show will combine “live music, theatre, food and storytelling” and “offer visitors an unforgettable night out.”
The original UK production at The O2 in London has now surpassed more than 1,500 performances, with a total of 700k guests attending these shows in 110 countries across the globe. Safe to say it’s rather popular.
As for Medlock Square and the surrounding Etihad Campus, Manchester City supporters have also been given another look at the soon-to-open, immersive hotel tie-in experience.
With a skywalk, rooftop bar, a new MCFC shop and various other bits set to spill out onto Medlock Square, it all feels like a period of wholesale changes over in the blue half of the city – especially with the football club bidding farewell to their manager Pep Guardiola after more than a decade.
Following the new and improved North Stand being named after him in the first of many tributes, the City Football Group (CFG) are also set to commission a statue in his honour over the coming months.
Meanwhile, Medlock Square is also due to open later this year, although an official completion date has not been confirmed.
You can stay up to date with all the latest on Mamma Mia! The Part’s Manchester shows right HERE.
Not forgetting a brand-new women’s football facility, too, there is so much stuff going on over at the Etihad that it can be hard to keep track, but here’s the latest look at some of the rooms set to feature in the hotel of the same name.
The Manc -
13th August 2020 
