British heritage brand Fred Perry is set to launch a new flagship store in on the ground floor of Manchester’s iconic Afflecks building.
Fred Perry – a brand adopted by generations of subcultures for over 60 years, with the Laurel Wreath remaining a symbol of “individuality and belonging” – is already a presence here in Manchester city centre, with a shop just off King Street.
But now the brand is set to relocate its retail unit and showroom to occupy a larger 2820 sq ft space in the double corner of Afflecks building on the junction of Oldham Street and Church Street.
“We’re delighted to be moving to the Northern Quarter,” said Fred Perry’s Managing Director, Richard Gilmore.
“The area has no shortage of strong associations to ground-breaking music and subcultural style – something we continue to champion – [but] our retail spaces aren’t just shops, and we’re looking forward to sharing what we do with the Manchester community as part of an exciting continuation of Fred Perry and Afflecks’ mutual commitment to heritage and innovation.
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“We now have a space we can be truly proud of in Manchester”.
Fred Perry | Afflecks
The new Fred Perry site – which is expected to open this summer – forms part of Oldham Street’s revival as a key destination for lifestyle and fashion retailers thats’ been happening in recent years. Having already attracted brands like Ace and Tate and Carharrt, as well as independent boutiques, Afflecks’ building managers, Bruntwood Works, have a vision is to invest in Afflecks’ presence on Oldham Street, with iconic names like Fred Perry complementing the small, independent traders within the building itself.
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Inspired by its new home at the heart of Manchester’s alternative cultural neighbourhood, the design of the Fred Perry store will appropriately take its cues from the theme of ‘Past, Present and Future’.
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“Fred Perry is a true icon, and we’re delighted to be welcoming them to the ground floor of our famous Afflecks building,” said Chris Middleton, Senior Retail Manager at Bruntwood Works.
“The addition of this much-loved brand will bolster the retail community in the Northern Quarter neighbourhood, building on Oldham Street’s offering as a lifestyle-led shopping destination [and] it feels particularly exciting to be announcing the news after what has been a challenging twelve months for retail,
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“We look forward to a bright future for Manchester City Centre.“
You can find more information ahead of the store’s opening this summer via the Afflecks website here.
Style
Manchester City finally release special Year of the Horse collection for Lunar celebrations
Danny Jones
Manchester City have officially launched their new ‘Year of the Horse’ kit, along with several other items in their latest lifestyle range.
The collection, which has been released as part of the Lunar New Year Celebrations, was leaked online in late 2025 before being officially teased earlier this year, but now Man City have fully unveiled the limited edition clothing items.
It follows the commercial success of their previous Chinese New Year-inspired kits and wider fashion lines over the last few seasons.
For anyone not up to speed on their Zodiac calendar knowledge, 2026 is officially (you guessed it) the year of the horse, hence this choice for the new ‘Capsule Collection’.
“Set in earthy, neutral tones, the limited-edition Year of the Horse Capsule Collection captures both the stillness of vintage Chinese portraiture and the motion of a team in full stride.”
Revolving around a grey and almost beige colour palette, the full drop includes a new pre-match ‘Anthem’ jacket, a dark graphic design tee, a baseball cap, as well as a soft horse plushie.
The focal point, however, is obviously the jersey itself – though it remains to be confirmed whether or not the special seasonal strip will be worn in any games this campaign as other one-off/special limited edition shirts have been in the past.
The price points range from £15 for the soft toy to £90 for the adult shirt, with the aforementioned Puma KING Anthem zip-up jacket already available in six colours.
What do you make of the latest lifestyle collection, Blues?
Somewhat fittingly, the Year of the Horse and other items finally debuted on the same day that their local rivals across the other side of town, Manchester United, released some new threads of their own: the second Adidas x The Stone Roses collection.
As for this years Lunar celebrations, the official plans for here in Manchester city centre have now been revealed. You can find out more down below.
Manchester United officially launch second Adidas fashion collab with The Stone Roses
Danny Jones
After several weeks of teasers, the latest fashion collab between Adidas, Manchester United and The Stone Roses has officially revealed.
We have no doubt this one will be lapped up just as quickly as the first.
Following images of the new Stone Roses x Man United kit and the focal point of this new collection being leaked online earlier this month, the second drop by Adidas has now been unveiled in full.
Releasing another stylistic video to the tune of the legendary Manc band’s famous anthem, ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, players both past and present from the men’s and women’s team star in the launch video.
As you can see, not only did the players get involved with the shoot as expected, but the clip also includes a snippet of archive footage featuring a young Ian Brown in a short but profound talking head.
The Stone Roses frontman, and indeed other members of the band, have never made their love of United a secret – none more so than the late, great Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield – and the supporters have also shared plenty of it back.
Be it through ‘This Is The One’ being chosen by Gary Neville as the official walk-out song at Old Trafford and various chants sung to Stone Roses tunes, to the previous collab back in February 2024, the two iconic cultural brands pretty much go hand in hand.
Besides the next multi-coloured paint-splashed shirt, which leaked first, as well as a new bucket hat (again, very era appropriate), there are scarves, a graphic design t-shirt, two sets of shorts and even two different pairs of shoes.
Images of the white Stone Roses trainers also popped up in leaks across various Man United fan accounts on social media, but few had seen the black ZX 600 Adidas trainers until now.
What do you make of the latest batch of lifestyle fashion from the club?
Meanwhile, with just days left in the transfer window, it remains to be seen whether new interim manager Michael Carrick will be rewarded for his first two wins against the top two in the league with any reinforcements before the end of January – but there are some rumblings…
Emily Sergeant -
12th March 2021 
