Rachel Scott’s New Line, Diotima, exalts Jamaican Culture and Craft.

Rachel Scott spends her time between her main occupation – vice president of design at Rachel Comey – and her exciting new side project: Diotima. Born in Jamaica in 1984, Scott is a well-travelled and experienced fashion designer, and an Istituto Marangoni alumna who cut her teeth with Ennio Capasa at Costume National in Milan, before moving to New-York in 2006. Scott essentially rediscovered herself, creatively speaking, during the pandemic, and Diotima became the outcome of that journey.

Diotima pays homage to the designer’s Jamaican heritage as well as ennobling the age-old craft that is crochet, which is impossible to replicate with modern machinery. The new line’s purpose is to exalt the kind of sensibility that makes Jamaican aesthetic so unique, while “deconstructing the convergence of the Caribbean and European traditions.” The island’s famed uptempo export, otherwise known as dancehall, is a key element of the aesthetic language Scott wishes to create for Diotima.

Scott’s mission is to “confront, challenge, and relate to the complexities surrounding race, gender, and our relationship to work and labor.” Diotima teams up with Jamaican artisans to create its crochet pieces and woven garments (made of natural materials) are manufactured in New York City. The clothes do not shout, they whisper stories of Caribbean women who are both seductive and strong, but most of all, independent. Scott favours an unhurried approach to building a fashion company, suggesting a mindset and set of values many fashion designers exhibit across the globe in our post-pandemic reality. With a direct-to-consumer strategy, Diotima wants to connect with its audience, create conversations and open dialogues.

And in case you were wondering, Diotima’s named in honour of the ancient Greek priestess credited with conceiving philosopher Socrate’s method, as it appears in his student Plato’s Symposium.

Learn more about Diotima here