Underground – a subculture champion that was born out of a love of renegade style….

It began in Manchester, 1981. A city in the North of England, Manchester at that time, was bleak, poverty-stricken and depressed from industrial decline. Yet, there remained a defiant relentless creativity from the true melting pot of sub-cultures that co-existed there. Punks, Post Punks, Gothics, New Romantics and Football Casuals – and even remnants of Northern Soulers all co-habited in the city. Up until that point – and even up to the current day – it was an anomaly to find that number of sub-cultures in one place, at that one time. You could say that Underground was born at the exact right moment, in the exact right place.

From what then seemed a doomed landscape, Underground’s beginnings stem modestly from a small store in the heart of Manchester. We reached out to footwear, apparel and sportswear brands to acquire stock for the store, only to find ourselves being shunned for being too small and too ‘unorthodox’. The reaction to rejection was to push further, and sure enough, our true spirit was forged. This rejection provided the perfect motivation for the non-conformist, punk-minded Underground.