Steranko

Steranko - Selling Style with a Smile...

Oscar Wilde’s thoughts on funky, quirky clobber run thus: ‘Fashion is what one wears oneself: what is unfashionable is what other people wear’. Given Mr Wilde’s criteria for stylish individuality, exactly where in West Didsbury might such a trendy dandy fop care to shop?

Chic Unique

Almost as synonymous with South Manchester as sarcasm and drizzle, Burton Road’s Steranko has served as dapper dispenser for the area’s increasingly arty and beautiful residents for nearly two decades.

A complete one-off in Manchester, this highly regarded fashion emporium offers a variety of independent and mainstream labels, presenting a stylish individuality quite apart to the often generic ubiquity of many ‘alternative’ high street equivalents. As a result the clothing, footwear and accessories on offer are often unavailable elsewhere in the region.

Meet the Kerouac of Clobber

The store is masterminded by local favourite Pete Parry who, after years working with mercury in a chemical factory, felt constricted by the somewhat unglamorous high-visibility vests and steel-capped boots, (and increasingly uncomfortable with the constant threat of chemical poisoning).

In search of some good old fashioned job satisfaction Pete entered the clothing industry, often finding himself on the road across Europe in search of any interesting items that might be sought by the stylish Manc fashionistas at home.

In fact not much has changed in the ensuing 18 years, and Steranko is firmly established as a constant in South Manchester, seemingly impervious to the transience often associated with the fashions and styles of the industry itself.

In a Nutshell…..

“You know the phrase ‘mad as a hatter?’” asks Pete, somewhat unexpectedly during our conversation. With some trepidation I confirmed that I did. “People used to spray mercury onto top hats to stiffen them and the mercury often sent them insane. Hence the phrase ‘mad as a hatter’”.

It is exactly this unique fusion of fashion and inspired lunacy that sets Steranko apart from its contemporaries. Even the combination of cartoon frescoes (the shop is named after a Marvel comic artist, naturally) and black and white rock’n’roll stills means that even the décor is unlikely to be replicated anywhere else on the Burton Road, maybe even the universe.

Furthermore the option of online shopping now means that even the aforementioned Didsbury drizzle can’t stop anybody from peering cautiously into Pete’s magical looking glass of fashion and fun.

Visit www.steranko.co.uk for more information.

Words by Thomas Smith