When thousands of doors slammed shut during lockdown, digital gateways opened up instead. Gym classes, fresh pints, and haircuts were all temporarily banned whilst the country sheltered from a global pandemic, meaning that health, hospitality, and headwear all moved online instead.
Online exercise memberships and craft beer box subscriptions skyrocketed in 2020, whilst dozens of other new brands popped up to fill the void in retail – providing hats and caps to help people hide their dodgy lockdown dos.
One of them was HEX MCR.
But once the barbers and hairdressers did finally reopen, a funny thing happened. Nobody wanted to take their HEX hats off.
Luke Powell and Andy Gibson launched HEX as a way to stay busy when their own work in the construction industry dried up. But they actually ended up creating something that’s stood the test of time.
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HEX has now become one of Manchester’s most familiar and fastest-growing fashion labels – with the headwear and clothing being paraded by footballers and reality TV stars, including the likes of Aaron Wan Bissaka, Danny Simpson, Georgia Steel, Charlie Frederick and Jordan Defay.
Next year, company sales are tipped to top £1 million.
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Luke Powell and Andy Gibson launched HEX as a “pandemic project”
Whilst caps and heats remain the brand’s ‘bread and butter’, the company has continued to expand into a diverse unisex range of premium streetwear – all of which blends style with a casual feel.
Co-founder Luke thinks that coming from such a different background may be part of the reason why the fashion line has proven such a success.
“Our vision is different, we’re not from the style industry,” he explains.
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“Because our background is construction, we’re looking in with a different set of eyes. We’re not trying to re-engineer how the industry works or anything. We’re just in a different lane – taking a refreshing approach.
“We’ve been taking business skills from another industry and transferring them across.”
HEX started out with a line of hats and caps designed to hide dodgy lockdown dos – and is now one of the most exciting, stylish brands in Manchester
From the get-go, HEX has also strived to stay clear of fast fashion – ensuring all of the products are crafted ethically to quality standards. This careful philosophy seems to be stitched into the brand’s makeup, with the company committed to scaling slowly and making sure it takes the right steps at the right times.
“We’re not in profit mode – we’re not trying to rush anything,” Luke emphasises.
“We want to do it properly – running out a full campaign and getting models that suit our style.”
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Despite its unwavering commitment to standards, HEX has shown a fluidity since launching in November 2020 – tweaking its product offering whenever it feels suitable to do so.
A special product range was launched for the Euros, for example, and new items are introduced according to demand.
Now, the next step is determining where HEX sits in terms of wider culture. And Luke thinks he knows where that place is.
Plans are already underway to turn HEX into the clothing line of Manchester’s underground music scene – including collaborations with up-and-coming local artists.
The brand already has that urban feel to it, and after seeing a number of celebrities donning HEX gear, Luke says the brand is now working on striking agreements with those in the creative industry.
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“Manchester has got this historic music scene, and we’ve been having some exciting conversations with some big people in that world,” he explains.
HEX offers a range of items that blend premium with casual
In time, Luke says he wants the brand to go worldwide in a similar way to Madchester – pushing the HEX logo across continents.
But one thing about the brand that will remain intact is the focus on providing premium products.
Everything about HEX screams quality – from the design and fabrics used to the packaging in which the clothing arrives.
“We’ve always wanted to create this great user experience,” Luke says.
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“It’s not just about the product, but the packaging you get when you open the parcel.
“I think part of the power is in the reveal as well as the product. We get a lot of people sending our stuff out as presents because of that – it just looks good.
“There are no shipping costs for our customers, either. We want the user experience to be premium as well as the clothes.
“That will stay. We don’t want to sacrifice the user experience.”
The founders of HEX are hoping to take the brand worldwide in future
What started out as a “pandemic project” now has projected seven-figure sales in 2022.
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From absolutely nowhere, HEX is all set to become a seriously big player in the fashion market over the next few months.
The name is already splashed across the media and press pages. But as Luke testifies, this is only the beginning.
“Going worldwide is definitely our aim,” he clarifies.
“That’s where we want to take it. There’s lots of exciting things coming.”
View the full range of HEX MCR clothing on the brand’s official website.
Style
Images of latest Stone Roses x Man United collaboration kit leak online
Danny Jones
Images of the latest collaboration between Manchester United and The Stone Roses have been linked online.
Put simply, we think it looks mint, albeit very familiar.
Serving as yet another fitting tribute from his beloved football club, who already honoured the late, great, Manc musician at Old Trafford, it’s rumoured to launch later this year.
Snapped alongside United’s current third kit for the 25/26 season, the rumoured ‘lifestyle’ jersey is apparently coming very soon.
This pair of images has seemingly confirmed the claims made by trusted online kit source, Footy Headlines, who specialise in sharing pictures of the football shirts, boots and more, who had already reported on the release in 2025.
As you can see, not only does the design feature a striking blue take on the band’s iconic album art style (expanded from an original painting by guitarist John Squire), but if you look closely, it also features the band’s iconic song and overriding slogan, ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, built into the crest.
You can see the rest of the existing Stone Roses collection in full down below.
We’re sure there are loads of other little details besides the twist on the badge still to be spotted, but for now, all we know is that the world-famous sporting franchise is continuing to capitalise even further on The Stone Roses connection.
Since the last batch of officially licensed adidas x Stone Roses merch quickly became collector’s items, we can only assume that this latest shirt won’t be the only new addition.
For instance, one user already commented, ‘Where’s the bucket hat?’
As for Manchester United, they’re no doubt looking to generate as much revenue as possible after having to pay another sizeable severance package following the sacking of Ruben Amorim – the question is, who is going to be next?
Manchester has been ranked one of the ‘most influential cities’ in Europe
Danny Jones
As per a development that we’d consider so obvious it’s barely worth writing about (even though we are), Manchester has been ranked one of the most influential cities in Europe.
In other news, water is still very much wet.
While there’s plenty of it here in Greater Manchester, given our standard rainy forecasts, when it comes to anything besides the weather, we deliver in spades.
Let’s be honest: we know it, you do too, and apparently so do plenty of other folks – and there’s some concrete statistics to back it up.
Case in point – First Chanel, now Vogue… (Credit: The Manc Group)
You’ll find all manner of surveys, polls and studies diving into how Manchester ranks across various categories, but knowing we boast nods such as ‘the original industrial city’, the place that helped split the atom and the place that the first modern computer was born, we know all about our global impact.
With that in mind, when we saw that Sixt had recently named us as one of the most influential cities in all of Europe, we couldn’t ignore the well-deserved pat on the back.
That’s right, although you might not associate the car rental company with this sort of stuff, as part of their new exclusive ‘Sixt Ride’ offering (think a posh taxi service), they looked into which cities have the most luxuries, tourist attractions and other cultural bonuses to their name.
Per their recent research, Manchester city centre didn’t just break into the top 100 but found itself among the 30 most influential cities in Europe.
You can see the full rankings table down below.
#
City
Country
*Fortune 500 Companies
Fashion weeks
Film Festivals
International Airports
5-Star Hotels
High End/Luxury Shopping areas
Michelin Restaurants
1
Paris
France
10
6
77
2
122
11
134
2
London
United Kingdom
12
3
241
3
182
5
81
3
Milan
Italy
1
4
52
3
29
5
22
4
Rome
Italy
2
0
97
2
65
4
21
5
Stockholm
Sweden
0
3
14
2
12
2
13
6
Madrid
Spain
5
0
38
1
42
2
29
7
Zurich
Switzerland
6
0
10
1
12
4
18
8
Munich
Germany
5
0
10
1
16
4
17
9
Berlin
Germany
1
1
76
1
40
2
21
10
Hamburg
Germany
1
0
16
2
17
3
16
11
Amsterdam
Netherlands
4
0
24
1
29
1
30
12
Copenhagen
Denmark
1
2
12
1
12
2
20
13
Barcelona
Spain
0
0
45
1
47
1
31
14
Lisbon
Portugal
1
0
38
1
49
1
20
15
Athens
Greece
0
0
41
1
52
2
12
16
Vienna
Austria
1
0
24
1
24
3
14
17
Bucharest
Romania
0
0
22
2
12
2
0
18
Warsaw
Poland
0
0
22
2
17
1
3
19
Glasgow
United Kingdom
0
0
17
2
4
2
2
20
Lyon
France
0
0
9
2
7
0
16
21
Prague
Czechia
0
0
16
1
60
1
2
22
Brussels
Belgium
0
0
18
1
14
1
29
23
Oslo
Norway
0
1
8
1
6
1
11
24
Manchester
United Kingdom
0
0
20
1
7
3
2
25
Budapest
Hungary
0
0
16
1
24
1
7
26
Dublin
Ireland
2
0
16
1
11
0
6
27
Naples
Italy
0
0
34
1
5
0
22
28
Porto
Portugal
0
0
8
1
28
0
10
29
Turin
Italy
1
0
21
1
4
0
10
30
Sofia
Bulgaria
0
0
22
1
14
1
0
31
Helsinki
Finland
0
0
5
1
10
1
5
32
Belgrade
Serbia
0
0
32
1
9
0
1
33
Marseille
France
0
0
5
1
4
0
12
34
Birmingham
United Kingdom
0
0
12
1
4
0
6
35
Minsk
Belarus
0
0
11
1
0
0
0
Read it and weep; we Mancs landed 24th on the leaderboard, just behind Norway’s capital, Oslo, and ever so slightly ahead of Budapest in Hungary.
As you can see, to identify the ‘most influential European cities’, they broke down how the 35 most populous cities on the continent and here UK (barring Russia and Ukraine) and what noteworthy cultural touchstones they possess.
For instance, did you hear that our very own Warehouse Project recently found itself breaking into the top half of the best nightclubs on the entire planet?
Going on to analyse everything from the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city, their connections to film, fashion, fine-dining and more, they found that Paris, London and Milan were the most influential (no surprises there), but we’re glad to be keeping such good company.
After all, in the last couple of years alone, Manchester city centre has welcomed the Metiers D’art fashion show, opened one of the biggest indoor entertainment venues in all of Europe, and still takes eternal credit for giving the world Oasis and, therefore, the Live ’25 reunion. Again, you’re welcome.
What do you make of Sixt’s study, and do you agree with their findings on the whole?
It goes without saying that we’d probably put ourselves higher on the list if anything, but then again, maybe we’re getting too used to being told how brilliant it is to live in this region.
The Manc -
30th July 2021 
