Whilst we were boozing it up over Christmas, top Manc bloggers and fashion industry insiders Jordan McDowell (from Fashion Rambler) and Lynda Mojo (from Body Confidential) were busy awarding their 2011 Fashion & Beauty Awards - and we're chuffed to announce they awarded Gio-Goi the Menswear High Street Retailer Of The Year gong! Here's what they had to say about us...

"Born out of the Madchester movement to a tune of acid house and a Happy Monday beat, Gio-Goi burst onto the northern music scene in the late 1980s. By intermixing a love for late nights at the Hacienda with a thirst for style, the brand quickly became the major representative for a northern perspective on urban fashion. Fast-forward to 2011 and the brand opened their Manchester flagship in Manchester's Arndale Centre. The centre of the city and the original base for other northern success stories like JD Sports; Gio-Goi is in good company. The future can only be one illuminated by the bright lights of the DJ booth."

Cheers guys - we're making room in our awards cabinet and cracking open the celebratory beers as we type. Big congrats to all our fellow winners too - check out the full list here.

There's now up to a MASSIVE 70% off in the official Gio-Goi sale. Get involved: click here to shop menswear and here to shop womenswear.

With the Gio-Goi sale in full swing, we've gone and made things even sweeter by choosing our top five best sale buys. No bother...

1. Rover Sweat - was £54.99, now £27.50

The classic Gio-Goi hoodie, with our in-yer-face branding across the front. Not got one of these kicking about your wardrobe? Sort it out now.

Shop all sale sweats here

2. Jepper Jacket - was £49.99, now £15

To keep your cockles well and truly warmed, pair your new hoodie with this chunky puffa - take your pick from brown/yellow or blue/grey.

Shop all sale jackets here

3. Danger Cuff Jeans - were £74.99, now £37.50

There's no danger of going wrong with these twisted seam jeans with contrast stitch detail.

Shop all sale jeans here

4. Bovva Bag - was £8.99, now £2.70

We're practically giving away this nifty nylon gym bag, perfect for stashing your gear. It's no bovva, mind.

Shop all sale bags here

5. Bowes Trainers - were £60, now £30

Finish up your sale shop with a pair of our essential trainers. These crisp white Bowes with sharp green contrast are a classic.

Shop all sale footwear here

The Gio-Goi sale is officially ON, with savings of up to 50% to be had - think of it as an early Christmas present from us to you ('cause we're just nice like that). And as Xmas bonus, there's still time to order in time for the big day - just place your order before 2.30pm on Thursday 22 December (clicking on Express Delivery at checkout) to get your gear in time.

*Still* in need of some help getting sorted? Here's a selection of the best buys to put a smile on their face this Sunday...

Fill Yer, Erm, Stockings

For him: Nearmiss Hat - was £14.99, now £7.50

For her: Twostep T-Shirt - was £24.99, now £12.50

All-Rounders

For him: Bering Bag - was £34.99, now £17.50

For her: Forlorn Dress - was £49.99, now £25

Xtra Special

For him: Josser Jacker - was £119.99, now £83.99

For her: Jip Jacket - was £124.88, now £62.44

Shop all items in the men's sale here and the women's sale here

Since Gio-Goi's inception in 1988, our history has been an essential part of who we are. Click through now to be taken through our heritage timeline, from the Eighties rave scene in the North to standing alongside the biggest names in music today.

Our new Gio-Goi Official eBay Outlet is now live. Stocking past season styles at up to 50% off, this is the new insider trading tip to get your wardrobe packed with Gio-Goi. View Now.

Disorder Mag Interview with our Head of Design, Steve

Student populus of the North, we are throwing our first exclusive Student event at the Gio-Goi Manchester Store TOMORROW.

As well as a whopping 20% discount, we'll have beer on hand (what kind of student event would it be without our frothy friend) and white hot entertainment in the form of DJ duo Heavy Feet.

So get your mates, course pals, hall Bobsleigh team to the Manchester Arndale from 5pm-9pm.

Want to know what's going down in our Manchester store in real time? Head to the blue bird and follow the brand @giogoiofficial or the store @giomanchester.

The sun is shining and sale is running riot. What could be better?! With up to 30% off current season lines, and 70% off clearance lines, now's the time to jump in and give the man (or woman) in the mirror a wee spruce.

Shop Menswear Sale

Shop Womenswear Sale

The Citroen DS3 Racing & Gio-Goi Pop Up Shop, Brick Lane

Launching... Our Womenswear Lookbook AW11

Citroën and yours truly have come together in a unique partnership to create a limited number of high-spec high-tops based on Citroën’s DS3 Racing.

This one-off footwear collab takes inspiration from the DS3’s high quality materials and visual styling cues. Using black tumbled leather with waxy finish, rubberised sole and soft leather lining, these trainers are engineered to ensure they flex perfectly with the movement of the foot while driving. The DS3 Racing by Gio-Goi shoe is a strictly limited line of footwear with just 100 pairs being produced. These will be available online at Gio-Goi.com and at THE pop-up store in East London, which will be open on 13th,14th & 15th September, pinnacled by a party on Wednesday 14th September featuring an incredible line up. Sign up to our newsletter to be in with a chance of winning tickets to this amazing event AND be in with a chance of hot-wiring a pair of these high performance trainers.

http://www.gio-goi.com/newsletter/subscriber/?competition_id=11

Citroen DS3 Racing Shoe by Gio-Goi- Teaser Video

Shot at the infamous Collyhurst Boxing Academy, Mike Jennings can be seen training, sweating and styling out looks from the Autumn 11 drop of Gio-Goi Trakstar- a collection of sport-inspired, fluro urban lines for serious hard hitters.

School days.  They’re supposed to be fun, carefree, the best time of your life…  No, we don’t remember it like that either and neither does this guy. 

It’s tough.  One dodgy backpack and you’re screwed for the rest of your term days- which is where we hotstep in.  Our New Skool range aims to separate geek from chic in one swoop. Think simple stylish lines that look make the grade either side of those gates. 

First step – the bag.  Try the Bookee Bag for all your, erm, books or the Bering bag for something a bit bolder.  Team with a Deepa Tee and Kaos Knit and you have the foundations of student-style well done.

Cross your t's and dot the i's, by investing in a playground worthy Winter warmer. Check out the uber trendy quilted Squeeler Jacket or the Joser Jacket which comes in a freeze-rejecting wool mix and oversized pockets for storing protractors, calculators, illicit chewing gum stashes and the like.

Top off with a rousing re-enaction of Canned Heat in your next assembly, and you'll be destined for top of the class. Promise.

Get your rocks out as Fashot.TV jams out with Daystar, pops into Gio-Goi HQ and also interviews the co-founder of Barneys! All in the name of fashion. Enjoy!

Interview courtesy of PlanetNotion.com

The Gio Goi brand, who stand for what and who they are, has been a worldwide hit since it relaunched in 2005. Here we speak to Adam Ward, the footwear designer at the label, about drawing shoes in art class and how he wouldn’t change his job for anything, even Olympic championship.

PN: How did your career as a footwear designer at Gio Goi come about?
AW: My journey with Gio Goi footwear started just over 1 year ago, while working for an American brand, Pentland approach me about a young casual fashion brand they are in partnership with, with my passion of casual sports footwear and after meeting the team the energy and passion for Gio Goi was clear to see, which made my discussion to join the team easy.

PN: What influenced you to focus on footwear design? Is it a world that you have always been destined to work in?
AW: From an early age I have always loved sport and in every subject at school I would try and involve sport as much as I could. From as early as I can remember I used to always take shoes or trainers into my art classes to draw which I guess is where my passion for drawing shoes began to grow and develop. My main hobbies have always been sports and Design, while finally realizing I wasn’t ever going to be an Olympic champion the ideal option was to combined my 2 loves of design and Sport, which naturally lead me into footwear design. I don’t know if I was destined to be a footwear designer, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

PN: Tell us a little about Gio-Goi as a brand and how does this brand identity influence your designs?
AW: Gio Goi is a British fashion brand created in the 1980’s and has recently been re-launched in 2005. The Label has its roots in the Manchester band scene of the late 1980’s, which mixed indie rock and dance music. The Gio Goi brand oozes energy, passion and color. The brands image is young, fresh and original with the clothing and footwear teams working closely together we are trying to create a ‘Gio Goi look’ rather than individual products and the brands heritage has to be at the forefront of this.

PN: When designing the Collections do you have a particular type of consumer in mind?
AW: Gio Goi has three key DNA segments, CONTRABAND: the pioneer fashion label that fuses casual wear and denim with a rock ‘n’ roll spirit, GIO GOI MAIN: Engineering and considered urban casualwear and denim and TRAKSTAR: Young casual sportswear with a fresh twist. This DNA helps us identify a look and feel for what each consumer needs and desires our in each area, giving us a clear design brief for each consumer.

PN: The AW11 Collection consists of an eclectic mix of styles and colours- how would you describe it and what kind of things influenced the collection?
AW: The main influence has to be the brand and what we stand for and who we are, that has to at the heart of every collection. We also need to be aware of the key trends for the season which in this case was a very strong military theme, but giving that trend the ‘Gio Goi factor’. At the same time as looking at the key fashion trends I also make sure I look outside of footwear and clothing to see the handwriting of other brands in other industries such as product design and car designs as detailing is key in these areas.

PN: What is in store for Gio Goi over the next six months?
AW: The next few months will be very exciting for Gio Goi, with the launch of the Gio Goi footwear collaboration with the Citroen DS3 racing, as well as the Launch of its Manchester store which is a key market for the Gio Goi brand. Plus the launch of the new SS’12 range which takes on a new direct for Gio Goi footwear. Watch out for it!

Only a couple of months ago we opened our Gio-Goi doors in Glasgow, supported by an incredible opening gig from The Subways.

Fast forward a few weeks and some of the lines sported by the boys in the trio have been reduced in our incredible Gio-Goi Sale event with all styles at half price.

Take a swizz at the piccies here and see if any of these numbers catch your eye. With the tees at £13.50, the polo at £15 and the hoody at £25 it's a good time to stock up.

It's not every day you come into work to find your office astro-turfed, surrounded by make up artists, photographers and a mob of models.

So as you can imagine there's quite a buzz around Gio-Goi this fine June afternoon. And with the weather putting in a less than sterling effort these recent weeks, why not bring parklife inside?

So fast forward to Summer 2012 with these sneak preview behind-the-scenes piccies of our Gio-Goi shoot. Enjoy!

Soul popstrel Dionne Bromfield popped into our showroom last week to model the fruit of our S11 & A11 collection labours.

Famed for a voice beyond her 15 years and relationship with Godmother Amy Winehouse, debut single 'Yeah Right' was an incredible smash followed up with recent release 'Foolin'.

Keep your eye on this one...

Normally a subscriber to the ‘stuff crap into my jean pockets until a growth size bump appears’ philosophy, I, Sam Doyle have undertaken to tote around a dashing Gio-Goi bag for the day to see how it changes my life for the better/worse.

Generally I accept that women tend to have the skinny on the practical side of life, so I’m undertaking this task with an open mind.

7.30am   Wake up. Look at bag. Bag looks at me.

7.45am   Gleefully realize that my manbag will comfortably hold a man-size lunch which will help in my fight to stem the flow of non-existing funds. Am carving up a cheese ploughman club (white bread), adding in a yorkie and a can of coke. Into the Tupperware. Into the bag. So far, A+++.

8.00am   Leave the house. Forgot my bag. Sh!t.

8.05am   Leave the house Part 2, back in the habit. Bag contains Oyster card, lunch, fags and other essentials. However, can’t quite resist putting my keys in my pocket.

8.30am   Packed tube. Sweaty tube. Keys in pocket drilling a lock size hole into my arse. Wish I’d put them in my bloke-tote. Have I found man’s new best friend?

9.00am   Arrive at work. Couple of wolf whistles from well-meaning colleagues, assuring me of masculinity. Fellow femme-financier Jo has back ache- from the weight of her Mary Poppins size holdall. Consider asking for danger money.

12.30pm   Sandwich eaten. Satisfaction reigns.  Tupperware replaced into bag, at which point I notice a number of teeny tiny interior pockets in which to store the contents currently sitting like landfill at the bottom. Nice touch.

5.30pm   Long day, and it’s time to hit the bar downstairs. Is it me, or am I attracting some strange looks? Spot another guy in the pub garden crowd with a manbag. Our eyes meet. With an almost imperceptible nod, he acknowledges our similar sartorial choices. It’s like driving a mini.

6.30pm   Back on the tube. Nabbed a seat. Can’t resist casting admiring looks down at the new addition nestled on my lap. Look up and have cleared a 3m radius on an otherwise packed carriage. Apparently repeatedly staring at crotch is not the way to go.

7.00pm   Made it home. Passed Go. Collected £200 smackers. Am looking at the world through new accessor’eyes (geddit?).  Have to admit, there really is something in this Manbag movement, and apart from accidentally velcroing myself to the hosiery of a pensioner on the Northern Line it has been a successful experiment.

11pm   Smugly hang bag on back of bedroom door. Quite a jolly addition. Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen eat your heart out. Night night manbag.

7.30am   Wake up. Look at bag. Bag looks at me…

Interested in owning your very own piece of bloke-tote action? Check out our bags now. Or has this model, Briley caught your eye? Check out the Briley Bag.

For the full image gallery, check out our official facebook page.

It’s been a while, but The Subways are back on the scene. And what better way to kick off their UK tour than with a free gig for their Glaswegian fans – courtesy of Gio-Goi. Taking place at Stereo in the heart of Glasgow city, the celebrations were twofold as Glasgow’s first Gio-Goi store now graces Buchanan Street. Continue Reading

How do most 9 year olds spend their weekend?  Playing on the computer?  Kicking a football?  Not if you’re a member of The Dazl Crew, a cheerleading boy troupe from Leeds.  These young lads recently spent their free time shooting the latest music video for world renowned DJ Tiesto.  Not bad for a bunch of kids from some of the most deprived areas in the North. Continue Reading