Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid celebrates the talent that makes fashion: from creation to image
The event will hand out a total of 13 awards and recognitions, as well as the programme to enhance professionalism and provide international expansion opportunities that strengthen its role as a driving force behind the Spanish fashion industry. Hannibal Laguna and Agua by Agua Bendita will receive the National Designer and International Designer awards at an edition celebrating talent in all its dimensions.
Fashion is far more than what happens on the catwalk. It is the sum of visions, careers, creative disciplines and talent capable of transforming a collection into a cultural language with global impact. With this approach, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid is launching a new edition that will consolidate an ecosystem of awards that exalt excellence in all its guises and cement the role of this fashion week as the major driving force behind Spanish fashion.
Against a backdrop of Spanish fashion continuing to expand its international influence, the fashion week organised by IFEMA MADRID in collaboration with Madrid City Council is reaffirming its commitment to supporting and developing the sector, as well as its role as a showcase for the talent shaping the present and future of fashion. This commitment is complemented by the edition’s various awards, which offer total prize money of more than €120,000.
Opening Dinner #MBFWMadrid x NARS: where talent becomes legacy
During the event, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid will present Hannibal Laguna with the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid National Designer Award. Presented with the support of Madrid City Council, the award comes in a particularly significant year for the brand, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. It recognises a career defined by creative excellence, innovation and a contribution to the promotion of Spanish fashion.
The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid International Designer Award, also presented with the support of Madrid City Council, will be awarded to Agua by Agua Bendita, a Colombian brand renowned for its ability to create a fusion of craftsmanship, cultural identity and a contemporary vision of design. The brand has earned a spot as one of Latin America’s most internationally promising labels and a leading name on the global creative scene.
One of this edition’s new features is the creation of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid Award for Best Makeup Creative Proposal by NARS. The award celebrates makeup as a fundamental creative discipline within the fashion world, as well as a key tool in shaping the visual narratives that accompany each collection on the runway.
The ceremony will also include the presentation of The Fashion Game Changers Award to the Latin American Fashion Awards (LAFA), in recognition of its contribution to promoting, raising the profile of and internationalising Latin American creative talent.
The awards presented at this edition will also boast a unique artistic dimension thanks to the work of sculptor David Vaamonde (Nîmes, France, 1976), who has created the pieces that will be presented to the winners. Made entirely by hand in his Madrid studio and carved from white Macael marble from Almería, the sculptures evoke essential elements of fashion’s visual language, from the silhouette and movement of fabrics to the forms of the classical body. True to a creative process rooted in ideas, drawing and execution in stone, Vaamonde brings the same pursuit of authenticity, excellence and personal expression to these works that defines the careers of the creators recognised by Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid. This dialogue between art and fashion makes each award a unique piece that reflects the talent celebrated by this edition.
From established talent to the new generation of designers
Throughout the week, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid will celebrate creative excellence with new awards recognising the edition’s most outstanding proposals.
The new closing party will host the presentation of the Mercedes-Benz Award for Best Collection, which returns for the Spring/Summer 2027 edition to recognise creative excellence and the value of Made in Spain. Following MANS’s success at the inaugural edition held in March, the award will go to the most outstanding collection among the participating established labels. A panel of experts will assess the collections according to criteria including craftsmanship and raw materials, technical precision in pattern cutting, creative concept and presentation.
The fashion week will also present the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid Award for Best Model, awarded by El Corte Inglés, recognising the talent and potential of one of the professionals taking part in the edition. In addition, the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid – NARS Icon Award will be presented to an individual whose career, vision or contribution has made a significant impact on and supported Spanish fashion. It will honour those who, from any profession or area of influence, have helped to strengthen, raise the profile of and enrich the sector.
The programme will also feature the awards developed in collaboration with Maison Pyramide and MP Showroom by Maison Pyramide. This initiative will raise the profile and support the growth of three selected designers, who will join the international showroom at Paris Fashion Week to explore their potential for international development and strengthen the links between creativity, distribution and the market.
Meanwhile, the day devoted to EGO will once again celebrate the new voices of Spanish fashion through the Showroom EGO New Brand and Pelonio New Talent awards. The latter, promoted by creative communications agency Pelonio, will recognise one of the six emerging designers presenting their collections on Saturday, 19 September. The winner will receive a cash prize to support the growth of their brand and the development of their next collection.
In addition, Pelonio will offer all six designers taking part in this year’s EGO programme a six-month mentoring scheme at its showroom. The initiative is designed to strengthen the visibility, commercialisation and development of their collections during a crucial stage in their professional careers.
A platform for creativity, business and international exposure
This commitment to emerging talent is complemented by Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid’s internationalisation programme and its collaboration with ICEX Spain Trade and Investment. The initiative will facilitate the attendance of international buyers and key industry professionals throughout the week. It is designed to create business opportunities, support entry into new markets and increase the international visibility of the participating brands.
With this latest development, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid reaffirms its commitment to an industry that brings together creativity, culture and economic activity. The fashion week continues to expand its tools for recognising talent, supporting the professionalisation of the sector and promoting Spanish fashion nationally and internationally, consolidating its position as a platform that generates genuine opportunities for those shaping the present and future of the industry.