Swim Week Colombo: Asia’s premier announces next season

Swim Week Colombo, Asia’s first fashion week dedicated to swimwear, returns for a new season, from 24 to 26 June. Swim Week Colombo is the first of its kind in Asia, showcasing every aspect of swimwear fashion.

Swim Week Colombo was established in 2015, with the vision of creating a global platform for swimwear and positioning Sri Lanka as a swimwear destinationin the world of fashion. Sri Lanka is renowned globally for its world-class swimwear manufacturing capabilities, which has engineered and produced swimwear for some of the world’s finest swimwear brands. This existing knowledge and expertise, along with Sri Lanka’s natural environment as a premium island destination with world-famous beaches and natural attractions, lends itself perfectly to become a global swimwear hub. 

“I’m very excited with Swim Week, its unique, refreshing and an interesting positioning of swimwear fashion and its link to Sri Lanka. This is a huge opportunity for Sri Lankan designers to make international impact. This will make the international fashion industry look at us with a new perspective. Swimwear is growing around the world and it presents itself as an interesting opportunity for Sri Lankan designers,” says Colombo Fashion Week Founder and President Ajai Vir Singh.

Last year, Swim Week Colombo featured several established and emerging Sri Lankan swimwear labels, who showcased their latest swimwear collections alongside reputed swimwear designers such as Sanchita Ajjampur (India), Shivan and Narresh (India) and Matthew Zink (USA). The impact of its inaugural edition was immediately featured in international media outlets such as ‘Fashion TV’ and ‘Swimfluent’, which recognised the platform’s potential to become one of the world’s foremost swimwear shows in the world. 

Over the last decade, swimwear has been identified as one of the strongest categories in the global fashion industry, with an estimated worth of more than $ 17.6 billion. Once a symbol of the elite, high-quality swimwear is now more accessible than ever due to the rise in the number of designers who are branching out to swimwear and the introduction of innovative fabrics and silhouettes that target a wider audience. The growing interest in beach culture, ease of travel to holiday destinations throughout the year and social media influencers have also lead to the rise of swimwear as a versatile, essential piece of clothing in the wardrobes of discerning fashion consumers.

Swim Week Colombo, in its newest season, will bring together leading Sri Lankan and international swimwear designers as well as industry experts, thought leaders and influencers to highlight the latest trends and innovations that are driving the swimwear industry today, both on and off the runway.

As swimwear continues to be a dominant force in the global fashion industry, Swim Week Colombo provides a unique opportunity to expand the body of work of Sri Lankan designers to venture into this growing category and reach an international audience. Armed with over 12 years of experience in strengthening and upliftingthe fashion design fraternity, Swim Week will further expand the scope for Sri Lankan designers with an aim to make global impact through a specific season.