Gran Canaria Swim Week Joins Forces with Guess and Fashion Weeks Worldwide

Every October, a volcanic island turned into a natural setting for swimwear fashion attracts designers, journalists and international buyers. In the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, the heat is not only measured by its warm weather throughout the year, but also by the pulse of an industry that works to transform the landscape and its trades into economic engines. This is the case of swimwear fashion, promoted under the umbrella of the Gran Canaria Swim Week. From October 22nd to 25th, the event celebrated its most internationally oriented edition, consolidating its role as a global hub for swimwear fashion and a meeting point between local talent and the international scene.

The event, promoted by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and the Moda Cálida program, maintains a budget of around €2 million, a figure that consolidates it as one of the events with the largest public investment dedicated to the sector in Spain. Its evolution leaves behind the stage of promotional catwalk to settle in a professional and commercial model. “The goal is to become the world reference swimwear catwalk,“ explained Minerva Alonso, Councilor for Economic Development of the Cabildo, insisting on the economic focus of the platform. “We have opted for sustainability, inclusion and diversity, but also for a model that generates employment and external projection for the island,“ added the head of the event.

In its 29th edition, Gran Canaria Swim Week brought together more than fifty brands and designers in four days of fashion shows that combined industry, culture and tourism. In addition, the event was attended by 40 buyers from European markets such as Portugal, Italy, Germany and Cyprus, who participated in a structured program of meetings and product presentations. This is the second edition with a commercial program, after a first pilot in 2024 with just eight attendees.

The result translates into agreements and new opportunities. Designer Pedro Palmas has closed his first deal with Portugal, while other names, such as Elena Morales and Agüita Swimwear, are in talks with buyers from Italy and Germany. The event also forged a network of institutional partnerships with several European fashion weeks, following in the wake of previous agreements with Copenhagen Fashion Week or Cfda, in the United States. On this occasion, Portugal will be the object of cross-promotion that will allow the presence of Gran Canaria in ModaLisboa, and with the Czech Republic, the participation of a Czech brand in the 2026 catwalk has been agreed.

Gran Canaria Swim Week has a budget of two million euros

In addition, the participation of Gran Canaria in the next Berlin Fashion Week is being studied through an innovation project in sustainable materials based on the development of vegetable leather made from banana fiber, one of the most abundant agricultural waste in the archipelago.

“Gran Canaria has established itself as the island specializing in swimwear fashion and as the great European pole of the sector,“ Alonso stressed. “This year we have not only shown collections, but we have generated real business, that is the most important step,“ reinforced the counselor.

The American Guess signed its second participation.

The growth of the event has also been spatial. For the second consecutive year, the catwalk was inaugurated outside the ExpoMeloneras fairgrounds, with an open-air fashion show in Pasito Blanco, the marina that has become the emblem of the event. On a 135-meter catwalk lined with golden mirrors, the sunset was the backdrop for a session of fashion shows that highlighted the island’s tourist and scenographic component.

“The port symbolizes the essence of the island: its climate, its light, its landscape,“ said Antonio Morales, president of the Cabildo; “ betting on outdoor stages is a way of projecting Gran Canaria internationally. The internationally renowned model Karolina Kurkova, ambassador of the event, opened the first fashion show in a day that combined national brands such as Gisela, Victoria Cimadevilla or Nuria González with the British Alexandra Miró.

The 29th edition of the event was attended by 40 invited buyers

On the following days, the activity moved to the ExpoMeloneras fairgrounds, transformed into an immersive space with large screens, a high-gloss black catwalk and a capacity for 600 spectators. On that stage, the American Guess signed one of the most anticipated parades of the week with a collection bathed in lurex, coral, turquoise and gold. The brand, with more than forty years of history, signed its second participation in the catwalk with a proposal faithful to its Californian aesthetics. Its presence confirmed the international appeal of the catwalk and the event’s ability to combine show, business and media visibility.

Nuria González was the star of the first day at Pasito Blanco.

Among the participating brands, some of them have turned their participation in the catwalk into a real tool for growth. The Asturian Victoria Cimadevilla, who has paraded three times in Gran Canaria, has managed to introduce her brand in luxury hotels such as Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental in Madrid, or the Ritz in Paris. His latest collection, inspired by the soirées of Truman Capote, combined neoprene and sculptural flowers in pieces ranging from 280 to 1,200 euros. “Now it’s time for me to take an important leap,“ explained the designer, who concentrates her sales in Miami and is studying her entry into international ecommerce platforms.

From Las Palmas, Elena Morales represents the evolution of the new Canarian design. She founded her brand in 2018 and has positioned it in the European market thanks to an artisanal and sustainable model. She produces locally, sells in her physical store in Gran Canaria and exports through her online store in five languages and has participated in fairs in Florence, Berlin, London and Milan. In 2025, it signed its first collaboration with Lancôme, with a capsule collection inspired by the French maison ‘s new fragrances, presented at the Hotel Santa Catalina. “Exporting is still complicated by customs and logistical costs,“ Morales acknowledged, recognizing that “it is part of the challenge of growing from an island.“

The toll of insularity is one of the challenges for local brands

The logistical challenge remains one of the main obstacles to the expansion of Canary Island fashion. Being an outermost region implies long times, added costs and complex customs procedures. For this reason, the Cabildo is studying the creation of a logistics center on the Peninsula to facilitate exports and reduce structural tolls for artisanal brands.

“Being an outermost region is not a disadvantage, it is an identity,“ Minerva Alonso pointed out. “Our strength is in the difference: we make fashion with landscape, with conscience and with a sustainable vision,“ she added.

Elena Morales was one of the winning brands of the last edition.

The closing of the catwalk and the awards reaffirmed the international dimension of the event. The French Banana Moon presented a collection that transferred the cowboy universe to the beach, while the historic Italian Miss Bikini was inspired by Brazilian culture. Italian-American designer Dan Ward received the award for best collection; Elena Morales, from the Canary Islands, for best sustainable collection; and the firm Mare Far Niente, for best emerging collection. Each of the brands will receive a cash prize of 3,000 euros.

“The project is taking more and more shape,“ says designer Carlos San Juan, a historic member of Moda Cálida. “We hope that this will be the turning point for a qualitative leap in the sector,“ he adds about the evolution of the event.

The closing ceremony confirmed the maturity of the project. “It has been the most international and commercial edition of all,“ said the president of the Cabildo, Antonio Morales. “The emerging designers have proved to be at the same level as the big firms, placing Gran Canaria as a benchmark of talent, innovation and external projection,“ concluded the political representative. From the Pasito Blanco dock to the Expomeloneras stage, Gran Canaria took a new step in consolidating its position as European capital of swimwear fashion, a place where sun and creativity merge in the same horizon.