Yeah, Manchester proved exactly why it deserved a TN.

Hopping on the train up, hopes were high but we weren’t sure what to expect. All we knew was that Foot Locker was celebrating the launch of the Nike TN “Manchester” with a night at Renae’s, one of the Northern Quarter’s best spots.

Before heading on over, we caught a bite to eat at Beyond Yu, one of Chinatown’s finest eateries. One bowl of chicken and sweetcorn soup later, spirits were high so we made our way on over to NQ.

The faint glow of the orange vinyl shelf reflected off the queue, with the large Manchester TN logo beckoning off the glass walls. Heading in, we caught a number of locals and old friends, talking all things TN with Manchester royalty Ste.

Grabbing the hexagonal drink tokens, it was obvious that every detail had been thought of. Perched up on the shelves behind the DJ was the TN, looking very at home among Renae’s vinyl collection. Draped among the speakers were the limited-edition 0161 scarves, an item which you could see more and more people proudly wearing across their shoulders as the night went on.

We slowly headed upstairs to check out the customisation workshop that Foot Locker had set up. People were getting stuck in, adding dual-toned rope laces and lace charms to their new pair of 0161 TNs, but we thought our pair was beautiful as is, so decided to make some bag charms instead.

By the time we made it back downstairs, the energy had picked up even more. The place was a little more crowded, but spirits were high; people had turned up in their best, and you could tell.

A dance battle was cracking off in front of the booth, with none other than Big Zuu being in the centre of it. It was one heck of a double-take moment. Coming out for some air, we heard the grime MC saying, “that was some Step-Up 3 type sh*t right there”. He wasn’t wrong.

The high continued as J Hus’ ‘Friendly’ carried the crowd, everyone calling out his “I like my Fanta with no H’ice”, followed by the classic, “I can see that your chicken needs seasoning”. A line that has unfortunately become more relevant in my life.

Wherever you walked, the hexagonal print would look up you from across the floor, it's gold lines weaving in and out of the Tn's iconic palm TPU waves. This "Fireberry" Tn was one of the coldest pairs we spotted, an Air Max Plus hard to ignore, especially with the bright green laces added in.

Then Manchester MC Lady Ice turned up, spitting in front of an already energetic crowd. People were gassing her up; it was clear that Manchester loves to champion each other. This is exactly the reason why Nike locked in with Manchester — after all, a rising tide lifts all boats.

Shoutout Foot Locker for inviting The Sole Supplier up; it was a great reminder of what celebrating trainers should look like.