A story of Manchester’s creative scene told by [@Gramm0161] [@AK___Gramm]

MaThe UK’s creative scene is generally defined by London.

London is the heart of fashion, design, and music and for a long time, people forgot to look elsewhere. It wasn’t until artists like Bugzy Malone, IAMDDB and brands like Gramm and Sampaix Studio that Manchester was seen for its urban culture. Despite the fact that Manchester is home to a long line of British legends.

Urban culture in Manchester is nothing new, the city has always been prominent. In fact in history, the city of Manchester was one of the worlds first industrial cities. Therefore, Manchester really is the city where the modern world was born. Creatively, it was one of the first to open art galleries, museums, and music venues. Like all other cities, the creative scene was birthed from its people and architecture. The city is home for a diverse number of groups. Many people who have migrated to Manchester from 1971 to now include Irish, Caribean (particularly Jamaicans), people from Bangladesh, Ugandan-born Asians, Vietnamese, Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans, Rwandans, Zimbabweans, Somalians, Nigerians, Angolans, Bosnians, Kosovans, and Albanians.

Founder of streetwear brand Gramm, AK announced on Twitter that he will be starting a project titled ‘Made ere ‘ which will “ focus on Manchester’s creative scene from the music artists all the way to the photographers, capturing the rise of the city where streets remain hot when it rains.” Gramm founder AK also told i-D in 2017 that no one looked towards Manchester.  Therefore, we’ve decided to look into recent archives of Manchester. It’s important to not be limited to our space but find familiarity and new ideas from different places.

Photography Stefan Boness, Mishka Henner & Liz Lock