DIMO in partnership with AOD hosts Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Sri Lanka’s 1st International Fashio

Seated from left: MAS Holdings Deputy Chairman and JAAF Chairman Sharad Amalean Ministry of Finance Economic Advisor Deshal De Mel, AOD Founder/Managing Director Linda Speldewinde, State Minister of Finance and Mass Media Eran Wickramaratne, Diesel & Motor Engineering Chairman Ranjith Pandithage, German Ambassador Jörn Rohde and Hirdaramani Group Director and JAAF Future Leaders Head Aroon Hirdaramani

Sri Lanka’s automotive giant Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC (DIMO) recently announced its biggest collaboration yet – Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka. 

Hosted by DIMO as a joint initiative with AOD and Sri Lanka’s key apparel manufacturers, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is a massive undertaking that promises some remarkable benefits and opportunities to the local fashion industry.

AOD – Sri Lanka’s design innovator, over the last decade has been driving Sri Lanka’s mainly manufacturing based fashion industry which has now evolved in to a true creative industry, incorporating design and design led innovation. 

AOD has played a partnering role with DIMO in driving this from pioneering professional design education, supplying almost all of the design talent to industry, co-creating design requirements to hosting an annual event in partnership with the government and industry to showcase the fashion and apparel industry capabilities to international buyers, press and to a wide scale global audience. 

DIMO powering the first International Fashion Week in Sri Lanka supporting industry and young design talent

DIMO is the official custodian of the luxurious international automobile brand Mercedes-Benz in Sri Lanka. 

Mercedes-Benz is a name synonymous with style and glamour, and its internationally acclaimed fashion week series is known as a powerful platform that connects fashion to a massive global audience. 

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka is expected to present fresh fashion labels, established brands and emerging talent with opportunities for international growth and recognition, leveraging on the glamour and prestige of a worldwide icon for style. 

The event will be held presenting a twofold program which touches on fashion’s business aspect which provides cutting-edge business insights, strategy and fashion intelligence; this will be presented through forums, talks and runway shows that serve as effective product platforms for the local fashion business. 

The public program is a lighter curation of fashion intel, mini runways, pop-up stores, styling sessions and designer meet-and-greets that aim to elevate awareness and education on the role of fashion in modern lives. 

The event aims to highlight Sri Lankan fashion through the island’s massive apparel manufacturing industry and its impressive capabilities as it transforms to a value-added design to delivery full-spectrum service destination for fashion, along with events curated around showcasing the nation’s fashion heritage, emerging design talent and upcoming brands. 

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week aims to position Sri Lanka’s fashion industry at the forefront of technologically, creatively and sustainably sound fashion manufacturing, to build its reputation to establish Sri Lanka as the contemporary hub of design, fashion and innovation in South Asia. 

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka will be held throughout 27, 28 and 29 October at the Mercedes-Benz Centre of Excellence at Dimo 800.

DIMO Chairman Ranjith Panditage sharing insights at the recently held launch press conference of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

‘Mercedes is fashion’ – DIMO Chairman Ranjith Pandithage

The launch of the first ‘international fashion platform in Sri Lanka; the launch of the globally renowned ‘Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week’ in Sri Lanka and how it opens up a major opportunity for Sri Lanka’s apparel industry and its positioning as a catalyst for innovation in South Asia as a whole, opening up a much-respected portal to share the region’s fashion and apparel industries capabilities, design and innovation talent, business and other capabilities with the world.

For Sri Lanka specifically, it confirms the significance and relevance of the commercial, intellectual, innovative, creative and production fashion work that is happening in the country supported and lead by entities like Sri Lanka Apparel and AOD. 

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week aims to provide a powerful platform that fuels the future of apparel to help establish Sri Lanka as the centre of excellence for design innovation in South Asia with a fully integrated ‘design to delivery’ creative service industry.

Sharing his thoughts on this powerful new collaboration that DIMO has forged with Sri Lanka’s fashion industry, DIMO Chairman Ranjith Pandithage stated that the brand’s relationship with style and fashion has been a continuing one across the world: “We’re proud to represent Mercedes-Benz and present the biggest platform to recognise fashion talent and apparel industry capabilities in Sri Lanka. With Mercedes-Benz being a brand that plays a significant role in the development of fashion talent all over the world, we hope to extend the same support and opportunities to home-grown talent and brands along with the local apparel industry. This fashion week will present Sri Lankan fashion with a new link into the global fashion sphere through Mercedes-Benz’s international network, bringing in recognition and new business to Sri Lanka.”

The fashion week is also expected to raise the bar in the local fashion and apparel industry by pushing product and operational innovation. This in turn, propels the industry to deliver unique and valuable products to the end-consumer. 

Linda Speldewinde, the Founder of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka, stated that the importance of this event lies across several layers in the fashion business, from education, retail to thought leadership and innovation.

“Recognising and creating opportunities for innovation and unique talent coming out of the industry and independently, is essential in establishing a fashion, design and innovation hub here in Sri Lanka. We’re honoured to have such a prestigious style icon elevating Sri Lankan fashion to a worldwide network and we’re also thankful to the local custodian Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC for taking the leadership to initiate this event that contributes to positioning Sri Lanka as South Asia’s fashion, design and innovation hub,” she added.

As part of its international brand philosophy, Mercedes-Benz supports fashion innovation all over the world. This is what DIMO is bringing over to Sri Lanka in collaboration with AOD to jointly present an event from the world’s foremost chain of fashion weeks, in Sri Lanka. 

With the recognition and worldwide networks that Mercedes-Benz fashion weeks bring in, the event will attract a global audience of media, fashion opinion leaders, academics, designers and entrepreneurs. 

With this massive, international fashion grid, local fashion becomes part of a global network that brings about recognition and opportunities that were inaccessible before. For more information call 0115867772/3 or log on to www.mbfwsrilanka.lk.