Diotima Fall 2026: Artistic Reverence
Rachel Scott has had a quite a week. She kicked off the official New York Fashion Week calendar with her debut at Proenza Schouler, then capped it off with her own Diotima brand. “We invent time,” she joked about splitting her time between the two collections, not an easy feat for a designer with all eyes on her.
At Diotima, she began with inspiration from the art of Wilfredo Lam, whose work, shaped by Afro-Cuban symbolism, Caribbean spirituality, and European modernism, carries a political and cultural consciousness. “There’s so much about his work that just resonates with me so deeply,” she explained a day before her show.
The collaboration with Lam’s estate — approached with research, care and reverence — felt momentous, with works such as “La Jungla,” “Femme Cheval” and “Omi Obini” informing the collection.
Craft, central to Diotima’s identity, became a vehicle for memory and meaning. She pushed her work to engage Lam, not reproduce it. Organza intarsia on dresses, all made by hand, was an evolution of an idea from spring, but here much more exaggerated and muted in color. Fine-gauge merino knits, jacquards, and wool-silk digital prints brought an austere depth. At times, color was deliberately withdrawn, her show notes explained — faces of fabric appearing drained, only for intensity to reveal itself on the inside of garments.
An emphasis on the body came through translucent textiles, revealing skin on dresses, knits separating and exposing. Pressed mohair with viscose lapels mimicked fur, while an equestrian language informed several silhouettes without tipping into costume. Riding jackets exaggerated the hips; elongated columns stretched the body; lines and fringe suggested mane and whip. Knit belts, twisted and taut, carried a quiet sense of power, as did several crystal mesh ideas — a house code fabrication — long-sleeve with high necks and exposed back, they advanced down the runway past a front row that included Rama Duwaji, wife of recently installed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Outerwear stood out in nubby, monumental coats — tactile, protective and deeply colored. Many were made in collaboration with Refugee Atelier in New York, further grounding the work, weaving in the skills and histories of women whose own experiences of displacement and resilience echoed Lam’s themes.
At its core Scott showed an intensely personal collection that didn’t retreat inward, but stepped confidently into the modern world.
