Style

Salford Uni graduate to open luxury womenswear store in the Trafford Centre

After years as a successful online retailer, Forever Unique will open its debut store in The Trafford Centre later this year.

Daisy Bradbury Daisy Bradbury - 26th February 2021
Forever Unique

The Trafford Centre is home to some the country’s most successful stores – and latest to join the ranks will be Forever Unique.

This stylish womenswear boutique began from humble origins in 2008 as an online venture but has rapidly gained popularity in the 13 years since.

The brand, which is headed by Salford graduate and Real Housewives of Cheshire star Seema Malhotra, will soon have a new home in the North West’s biggest shopping centre.

Forever Unique has signed for a unit near Selfridges, ready for April 12 when non-essential retail is permitted to open.

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From growing up alongside her cousin who was always sketching dresses to constantly being surrounded by clothes, Seema always knew that she wanted to become a fashion designer.

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She studied BA Fashion and Design at the University of Salford and shortly afterwards met Sandeep Malhotra, who became both her husband and business partner in establishing Forever Unique.

Inspired by 1980s supermodels like Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford, Seema set out to reinvent this glamour for the women of today.

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Her luxury fashion brand aims to pave the way for more affordable designer fashion, offering an in-between of red carpets and the everyday.

Forever Unique’s collection ranges from elegant occasion clothing to everyday wardrobe staples, offering something for everyone.

Celebrities such as Amanda Holden and Ashley Roberts have been spotted donning some Forever Unique garments, with the local creations rapidly amassing popularity.

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Forever Unique
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Forever Unique’s debut store will open in The Trafford Centre later this spring.

In the meantime, their entire collection can be shopped on the Forever Unique website.

Style

Manchester City release new ‘The Decade Collection’ celebrating 10 years of Pep Guardiola

Danny Jones Danny Jones 10 years of Pep Guardiola The Decade Collection Man City clothing line

Manchester City and PUMA have just released a new clothing line celebrating 10 seasons of Pep Guardiola at the club.

Simply entitled ‘The Decade Collection’, the new PUMA range revolves entirely around Pep as he marks his 10th anniversary in charge of the Blues, focusing on minimalistic style.

Guardiola has always been a trendy bloke, often being highlighted for his fashion choices on the touchline – even some of the questionable ones…

But with a much plainer approach this time around, the Pep clothing collab

Debuting the lifestyle drop on Wednesday, 15 April, Man City wrote on social media, “Ten seasons on the touchline. Ten seasons of setting the standard.

“Introducing the Puma Football Decade Collection with the Pep Team – celebrating Pep’s ten seasons as our manager and inspired by memorable moments from his tenure at the Club.”

While it’s unclear how much (if any) of these new clothes the Catalan coach has helped design or had influence on, but given its exclusive nature, you can expect it to sell out pretty quickly.

They go on to add: “Created to honour a defining chapter that reshaped the club’s modern identity, this exclusive collection is available in limited quantities.

Starting at £30 for the cheapest item – a ‘P’ logo baseball cap – the most expensive part of the collection clocks in at £110: his special anniversary edition ‘Majesty Low Decade’ PUMA trainers.

You can see some more examples of what we’ve already seen him wearing, and what we’ll no doubt see him in pitchside very soon, down below.

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Obviously, City has plenty of other brand partnerships when it comes to both official sports apparel and more casual clothing, many of which we’ve already seen the 55-year-old football manager wear, but you can almost guarantee he’ll be donning them for the coming fixtures.

You can see Man City x PUMA x Pep Guardiola ‘Decade Collection’ in full HERE.

Speaking of which, up next for Pep and co is what could prove to be THE big twist in this year’s Premier League campaign, with his squad of serial winners taking on league leaders Arsenal at home.

Not only did the Gunners’ surprise loss to Bournemouth last weekend help City close the gap on the top spot, but with them refinding their form ahead of hosting the title hopefuls at the Etihad Stadium, it all looks to be shifting back in their favour at the moment.

With seven games left, and one in hand compared to Arsenal, do you see them beating Mikel Arteta’s side to another trophy?

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Featured Images — Manchester City Football Club (publicity pictures)

Style

The Speak In Code team ‘Double Down’ on their cocktail making craft with new basement bar

Danny Jones Danny Jones Speak in Code open new basement bar Double Down in Manchester

Just over on Jackson’s Row, an often overlooked side street in Manchester city centre, cult favourite late-night drinking spot and cocktail connoisseurs, Speak In Code, have just launched a new basement bar called Double Down, and it’s already living up to its title.

Taking that moniker seriously, not just in name but by nature, Double Down is an entirely new concept that is centred around just a few core but simple pillars: really good drinks, great service, and strictly “no gimmicks”; they save all that for behind the curtain.

Oh, and hip-hop – they love great, old school hip-hop, and it really does add to the overall levels of chill.

There’s a lot of focus and decades of expertise that go into this place, but fortunately, they’ve done all the work for you, and far ahead of time, meaning you don’t have to think; you can just drink.

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If you’ve been to SiC, it’ll feel familiar, but they’re taking things a step further (Credit: The Manc Group)

In here, cocktails aren’t just treated like part of the menu or even ‘an art’, as so many places claim these days: this is pure science and craftsmanship approached with the utmost calm and precision, and it shows in the whole experience.

From freezing and carefully cutting their own ice with a rather large state-of-the-art machine and batching their own mixes served on tap – you heard us right – to perfecting aromatics and distillates with chemistry set-ups that Heisenberg would be proud of, we were blown away by the attention to detail.

They’re even training up an ex-alum from another award-winning bar in Manchester to specifically become their ice expert, with each different type of cube, ball, oblong, crush, etc. adding its own effect.

Seriously, it’s the real deal in here…

For instance, all of their various and equally delicious mixes are kept at different pressures and temperatures on separate taps. It takes 28 hours in the full cycle, but just six seconds to pour, saving everyone time so they can crack on with the good times.

We’ve seen the ‘pornstar martini on draught’-type approach before, but nothing quite like this.

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There’s a whole workshop with chemistry flasks and beakers behind creating these. (Credit: The Manc)

As well as monitoring the gauges on a regular cycle like clockwork and preparing literal gallons’ worth of the stuff in advance, they’ve also got single lines for everything (yes, even the Guinness), so not a drop is anything less than perfection.

They still, of course, have very gifted bartenders making things in front of you for those who love watching magicians at work, but these batched drinks are designed not only to maximise flavour but also the amount of time you spend with your people, sipping your bevs and enjoying the truly charming room.

It’s also more than capable of turning the party levels up when called upon; the hope is that the capacity will soon jump up above 140, plus they’re already gearing up to replace some of the tables and chairs with extra comfy booths, bank seating and other 1970s-influenced flourishes.

Best of all, although this is a super stylish and laid-back, mid-century modern space, with low-lit vibes – not to mention the utmost lo-fi soundtrack you’ll find in town – you’re invited to take as much interest in the full process as you like.

They don’t just love this stuff; they live for it, and to repeat a phrase that the team themselves have taken to using, your job is simple: “Don’t think, just drink.”

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You’ll have to visit for yourself and walk over ‘The Well’. (Credit: The Manc)

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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