City of Dreams Sri Lanka to host Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka with AOD and DIMO

City of Dreams Sri Lanka, South Asia’s entertainment hub, will host Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka from 7 to 11 October 2026, in partnership with AOD and DIMO, bringing designers, buyers, media and creative talent from across South Asia and beyond to Colombo.

The shared aim is to position Colombo as South Asia’s cosmopolitan design city, a place where the region’s capabilities are presented to the world and seen through a uniquely Sri Lankan lens.

For City of Dreams, the week brings together the destination’s hospitality, dining, entertainment and event spaces with one of the region’s most established fashion platforms.

Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts Senior Vice President-Colombo Hotels and Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams Sri Lanka General Manager Kamal Munasinghe said: “City of Dreams is designed to bring together entertainment, culture, fashion and business in one connected destination, and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka is a natural fit for that vision. With AOD and DIMO bringing together designers, industry leaders, media and guests from across the region, this is an opportunity to showcase Colombo as a city that can host and engage with the region’s most exciting creative and cultural moments. We are delighted to be part of that story and to welcome everyone to City of Dreams.”

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka has been conceptualised and presented by AOD and powered by DIMO since its launch in 2017. Now in its ninth edition, it sits within the international Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week network that stretches from Berlin to Tbilisi to Prague. Together with City of Dreams, AOD and DIMO are using that global standing deliberately to position Colombo.

AOD Founder and Chairperson Linda Speldewinde said: “Think about what London Fashion Week does for London. It is not only a series of shows. It tells the world that London is a fashion city, and it brings designers, buyers and media into the city because of that. That is the role we want Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week to play for Colombo, and our partnership with City of Dreams Sri Lanka has been central to positioning the city as a place where people fly in, stay and experience Colombo.”

A city people fly into

Designers from India, Bangladesh and Bhutan are choosing Colombo as their international stage, and international media are following, with Vogue Italia among the titles flying in this year. City of Dreams Sri Lanka gives them one address for the week, with the runway, hotel stays, dining and entertainment all under one roof. Five days of fashion become full stays and real room nights for Colombo, and the buzz carries well beyond the venue.

“Cities can be positioned by their events,” said Speldewinde. “Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week carries international credibility, and we are using it intentionally to put Colombo on the global fashion calendar. We want an international editor, buyer or designer planning their year to see Colombo in October as a fixed date.”

Luxury as a way of living

The partnership rests on a shared idea of luxury. “Mercedes-Benz has never been only about the car,” said Speldewinde. “It is a lifestyle, and a lifestyle cannot be bought off a lot. It is something you belong to. The experiences, the people, the culture, the sense of being part of something larger.”

City of Dreams Sri Lanka brings that same sensibility to the city itself, an international, polished Colombo where fashion, hospitality and entertainment meet. During the week, the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Lounge at City of Dreams Sri Lanka becomes the social heart of the event, and on 10 October it hosts the invitation only launch of She’s Mercedes in Sri Lanka, conceptualised by AOD and powered by DIMO.

On the runway

The 2026 program features five distinct runway formats, including The Colombo Edit, Future Craft and Destination Island, presenting South Asian talent through a distinctly Sri Lankan lens. A young Sri Lankan designer can sit at the same table as an established name from Delhi or an editor from London, and that is where commercial and editorial relationships genuinely form.

“Sri Lanka is a place the world already wants to see,” said Speldewinde. “With a global platform like Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week behind it, and a partner like City of Dreams Sri Lanka, Colombo can be the international gateway where the region meets the world.”

The ninth edition also builds momentum toward the tenth anniversary of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka in October 2027.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka 2026, by AOD and DIMO, runs from 7 to 11 October at City of Dreams Sri Lanka.