Northern Spirit:The Arts Guide

Agyness Deyn and Luke Worrall.

© Tim Walker

As Vogue heads north to celebrate a Fashion's Night Out first

in Manchester, we look at a city centre-stage on the cultural

map:

THE birthplace of the Gallagher brothers, Nick Grimshaw, Morrissey and Emmeline Pankhurst has never lacked in cultural clout - just ask Bet Lynch.But the city beloved of parka-wearing band groupies and football fans has enjoyed a cultural renaissance in recent years that has transformed its landscape.

Arguably, things changed in 2007 with the arrival of the Manchester International Festival, a biennial arts event with a mandate to showcase new work "made in Manchester - shared with the world".Manchester has already enjoyed world premieres of operas by Damon Albarn and Rufus Wainwright, and this summer was blood- and mud-spattered by Kenneth Branagh's site-specific Macbeth.Branagh's take on the Scottish play will transfer to New York - and no doubt beyond - next year.But don't forget where it all began.

The city is also enjoying greater reflected glory via its native son LS Lowry, currently the subject of a major exhibition of landscapes at Tate Britain (Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life, until October 20), and one of the first dedicated to the artist since his death in 1976.Often overlooked as a painter of "stick men" , this timely reminder of Lowry's technical skill and keen eye for detail has also underlined the city's dramatic social transformation in recent decades, and proved an illuminating timeline of an ever-changing culture.

© Getty

More Lowrys can be seen at the Lowry centre itself (which until recently was exhibiting a rather more risqué set of drawings by the artist), though the museum's most recent exhibition examines another side of the city's heritage - its musical roots.Defining Me:Musical Adventures in Manchester (Thelowry.com; until February 23) begins with the first performance by the Halle Orchestra, in 1858, and takes visitors all the way to 2013 via photographs, video footage and ephemera to draw a rich musical timeline of the city.Music is also at the heart of the first Performer as Curator exhibition (also at the Lowry, from October 19) for which singer-songwriter Alison Goldfrapp has collated favourite artists, paintings, photographs and film that have inspired her own creative vision.Featuring work by Anglo-Mexican artist Leonara Carrington and collages by John Stezaker, the show draws on the dark folklore and fairy tales that have inspired her acclaimed new album Tales of Us.If further proof were needed of Manchester's cultural domination, just ask John Cooper Clark.The beloved Salford-born punk-poet - and voice of McCain oven chips - is gigging his way around Britain right now (johncooperclarke.com).

© Getty

Everyone knows there's more to Manchester fashion than leopard print.But do they know there's currently a Dior exhibition at Manchester's Gallery of Costume (Manchestergalleries.org; until January 12)?Ever chic, the gallery is now showcasing its recent acquisitions, including a number of Dior outfits and a New Look suit once owned by Wallis Simpson.Meanwhile, over at the Manchester City Art Gallery, fashion and social mobility are stitched up in Grayson Perry's The Vanity of Small Differences.Featuring six tapestries interweaving class, clothes and culture, the works will be presented in all their technicoloured glory to visitors from October 24 until February 2, 2014 (Manchestergalleries.org).

Want to spend it like Beckham, instead?Interactive sartorial pleasures are found aplenty at Harvey Nichols in New Cathedral Street - proudly selling Manolos and Loubutins to Manchester's citizens since 2003.

So much sightseeing gives a girl an appetite.At the newly opened Manchester House (Manchesterhouse.uk.com), Aiden Byrne, the youngest chef ever to be awarded a Michelin Star, is serving up beer-can chickens, Boddingtons steak and ale pie, and warm Manchester pies.Traditionalists should undertake an ale-tasting session at the deliciously comfortable Oast House in Spinningfields (Theoasthouse.uk.com), while fusion foodies should head over to the pan-Pacific-inspired Australasia (Australasia.uk.com) for Tasmanian kingsfish and collingwood dinkies.In the local parlance:"It's totally sound."

See all the highlights from Vogue's Fashion's Night Out, held in Manchester tomorrow, in the gallery below:

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