Casuals culture didn’t start in Manchester but Manchester is where it grew up. The story is well documented now. The lads following Liverpool to away games in Europe in the late 70s and early 80s came back with continental sportswear nobody else in England could get hold of. Adidas SL76s from a sports shop in Munich. Sergio Tacchini tracksuits from Milan. Lacoste polos from Paris. The look spread across the north on the back of European football and by the mid 80s every match-going lad from Liverpool to Newcastle had absorbed it. Manchester was a key chapter, particularly the United and City home and away crews of the early to mid 80s.
What’s specific about Manchester is what happened next. The casuals look survived the 90s into Madchester, where bucket hats and Adidas Sambas became the Hacienda dress code. It rolled into the 00s and 10s through Stone Island and CP Company adoption by the indie crowd, the football crowd and eventually the mainstream. By the time Drake started wearing Stone Island goggle jackets in his videos in the late 2010s, the casuals look had gone fully global, and Manchester was still its spiritual home in the UK.
This page is the full guide. The brands, the history, where to buy now, and how to wear it without looking like you’ve just discovered Stone Island via TikTok.
The Brands That Matter
Stone Island (founded 1982, Italy)
The single most important casuals brand. Founded by Massimo Osti, the brand built its reputation on technical fabrics, garment dye processes nobody else could replicate, and the compass badge that became football casuals’ unofficial flag. The 90s and early 2000s pieces are now collector territory (junk-tagged Stone Island is grail tier). The current line carries on the technical legacy with the Marina line and the Shadow Project.
Where to buy in Manchester: END (King Street) has the deepest current-season selection. Selfridges Trafford menswear floor stocks a smaller core selection. House of Fraser Deansgate has occasional pieces. Vintage Stone Island appears at Cow and Affleck’s traders.
CP Company (founded 1971, Italy)
Massimo Osti’s other brand, founded before Stone Island, lower-key in the casuals scene historically but increasingly central. The goggle jacket is the brand’s signature piece (originally designed for the Mille Miglia rally). Current-day CP runs slightly more design-led than Stone Island.
Where to buy in Manchester: END (King Street) is the main stockist. Selfridges has a smaller range.
Adidas Originals
The casuals trainer brand. SL72, Trimm Trab, Gazelle, Samba, ZX 500, Munchen, Hamburg. The terrace casuals built their wardrobes around these models in the 80s and they’ve never left. The 90s ZX line has had several reissues. The Originals line generally is what you want, not the Performance line.
Where to buy in Manchester: Size? on Tib Street for the deeper drops and collabs. JD Sports for the standard line. Adidas’s own stores at Trafford and Arndale for the full range.
Lacoste
The casuals polo brand. The Lacoste polo is the original casuals shirt and the brand has stayed essentially unchanged for sixty years, which is exactly the point. Vintage Lacoste from the 80s and 90s is regularly worth more than the current line.
Where to buy in Manchester: Lacoste’s own store at the Trafford Centre. House of Fraser Deansgate. Vintage at Cow and Blue Rinse.
Fila
The Italian sportswear brand the casuals adopted after Tacchini. The Settanta tracksuit (still made today) is the original Fila casuals piece. The current Fila line does a strong job of not betraying the heritage.
Where to buy in Manchester: JD Sports for the mainline. Vintage Fila at the NQ vintage shops.
Sergio Tacchini
The Italian sportswear brand the casuals adopted in the late 70s and early 80s. The Dallas tracksuit (the McEnroe one) is the holy grail piece. Vintage Tacchini is now serious money.
Where to buy in Manchester: JD Sports for the modern reissues. Vintage at Affleck’s traders.
Fred Perry
The mod casuals crossover brand. The twin-tipped polo is the canonical piece. Fred Perry sits between casuals and mod, which is perfect for Manchester where the two scenes have always overlapped.
Where to buy in Manchester: Fred Perry’s own store on King Street. House of Fraser. Pretty Green stocks adjacent pieces.
Pretty Green (founded 2009, Manchester)
Liam Gallagher’s brand. The mod-influenced casuals brand of the 2010s. Paisley-lined parkas, polo shirts, harringtons, Crombies. Stocked in the King Street flagship.
Marshall Artist (Manchester)
Manchester casuals brand making polos, knits and outerwear in the terrace tradition. Worn heavily by the current 30s and 40s casuals crowd in the city. JD and online.
Weekend Offender (Manchester)
The other Manchester-rooted casuals brand of the modern era. Took terrace style mainstream without losing the plot. Stocked at JD and online.
Other brands worth knowing
Henri Lloyd (Manchester roots), Ellesse, Diadora, Australian (the L’Alpina-collab brand), Belstaff (waxed jackets), Massimo Osti Studio (the heritage brand), and Stone Island Shadow Project (the technical sub-line). Plus the UK casuals brands of the modern era: Albam, Edmmond Studios, Stan Ray (US but adopted), and the vintage workwear crossover into Carhartt WIP and Levi’s Vintage Clothing.
The Manchester Heritage
The 80s United and City crews
The Cool Cats (United, mid-80s) and the Young Guvnors (City, late 80s and early 90s) were two of the better-dressed match crews in the country, by all accounts of the time. Adidas Trimm Trabs, SL76s, Stone Island when it started getting hold of, Pringle knitwear, Burberry shirts, Sergio Tacchini tracksuits. The look that became known as the casual was lived in around Old Trafford and Maine Road every other Saturday.
The Hacienda crossover
What’s specific to Manchester is how casuals merged with the rave and indie scene at the Hacienda from the late 80s. Bucket hats (the Reni hat after Stone Roses’ drummer), Adidas Sambas, Joe Bloggs flares, oversized T-shirts. The casuals grew baggy and the look became Madchester. The same lads who wore Stone Island to Old Trafford on Saturday were in oversized T-shirts at the Hacienda on Friday. The two looks coexisted and informed each other.
The 90s into the 00s
Casuals never went away in Manchester. The 90s saw the look continue through Stone Island, CP Company adoption (still niche then), and the Henri Lloyd jacket as a Manchester signature. The 00s brought wider Stone Island acceptance, helped by Aspecto’s Manchester store stocking it heavily before it was easy to find elsewhere, and by Liam Gallagher wearing it through the Beady Eye and solo years.
The current era
The last 10 years have been Stone Island’s biggest period commercially, helped by hip hop adoption (Drake, Skepta, Stormzy all wear it heavily) and by the mainstream finally catching up to what Manchester lads have known for forty years. Prices have gone up. The 90s archive pieces have become collectible. New buyers have come in. The scene has stayed roughly the same in Manchester though, slightly older, slightly less interested in the showy new-season stuff, more interested in the considered archival pieces.
How to Wear Casuals Without Looking Like You’ve Just Found It on TikTok
One brand at a time
Stone Island goggle jacket plus a CP Company hoodie plus Adidas SL72s plus a Lacoste polo all at once is hat-on-hat. Pick one statement piece and let it be the statement. The rest of the fit is plain.
The polo and the jacket
The original casuals fit was a Lacoste or Fred Perry polo, dark jeans, Adidas trainers, and an outer layer that mattered (Stone Island parka, Henri Lloyd jacket, Burberry shirt). Get this right first. Everything else is variation on the theme.
Don’t overpay for current season
Current Stone Island is fine but the 90s and early 2000s pieces are where the brand’s genuine character lives. Vintage Stone Island at Cow, Affleck’s traders, and online via the casuals resale community is a better long-term buy than another current-season hoodie.
The trainers matter most
Get the trainers right and the rest follows. Adidas SL72, Gazelle, Samba, Trimm Trab. Fila Disruptor. Asics gel-Lyte III. Reebok Classic Leather. New Balance 990 series. Avoid the mainstream chunky sneaker (Yeezy, Balenciaga Triple S). Casuals run leaner.
Read the books
Phil Thornton’s Casuals is the foundational text. Steve Redhead’s wider work on terrace style is academic but worth a look. Gary Aspden’s Adidas SPZL (now SPEZIAL) line is the modern continuation of the heritage and his interviews are the best primer on what the scene means now.
Where to Buy Vintage Casuals in Manchester
Cow Vintage (NQ)
Regular Stone Island, Lacoste, Fred Perry, vintage Adidas. Prices reflect demand but fair compared to the dedicated casuals dealers online.
Affleck’s traders
Mecha (second floor) for designer and casuals crossover. Various ground floor traders for vintage Adidas and Lacoste. Worth a wander.
Stockport Old Town
2000s Threads specifically for the Y2K casuals era (Diesel, vintage Stone Island, vintage CP). Echoes of the Past for the older vintage.
Online from Manchester
The Manchester casuals reselling community on Depop, Vinted and Instagram is one of the best in the country. Search Manchester sellers in the casuals tags. The good ones authenticate, the bad ones don’t, and the difference is obvious within a few items if you know what you’re looking at.
The Casuals Decoder
Six questions, find out which casuals tribe you fit. The 80s purist, the 90s baggy crossover, the 00s revivalist, the modern Stone Island head, the dadcore comeback. Tells you what to wear, where to shop, what brands to follow.
Further Reading
- Best Streetwear Shops in Manchester – END, Size?, Hervia and the indie scene
- Madchester Style Guide – the Hacienda crossover
- Manchester Fashion History – the long view
- Back to the Fashion Hub
