Rachel Scott's Sea-Inspired Diotima Collection Plays With Our Expectations of the Brand

The depths of the sea — both literal and figurative — were on Rachel Scott’s mind as she began working on the Spring 2027 collection for her brand, Diotima, for which she was just nominated for a CFDA Award. (She showed her Proenza Schouler collection the previous week.)

“The water has always been really important to me, but after last season, I had quite mystical experiences with the water and specifically the water in the Caribbean,” Scott, who was born in Jamaica, said backstage after the show. “It reminded me of, obviously the beauty and the density of it, but also the fact that this is a site where mystical and also quite awful things happen. It’s a burial ground, essentially.”

She considered how much the water changes over centuries, and then “all of the women that existed across time” throughout the Caribbean archipelago, from someone working on a colonial plantation 200 years ago, to an anti-colonial poet like Suzanne Césaire, to a woman there today.

The resulting collection doesn’t necessarily appear tethered to any specific time period, but there’s always a distinct modernity to Scott’s work and the innovative ways in which she layers and manipulates materials. A prime example is the voluminous, almost fluffy-looking fabric on dresses, tops and skirts: strips of organza cut up and reapplied to garments. It appears dense and voluminous, but is also lightweight and airy; Scott sculpted this and other materials in unique ways to evoke water, undulating waves and sargassum. The collection’s color palette — deep blues, muted greens, sand tones and browns — also nod to the sea and its evolution over time on our warming planet.

“The Caribbean is so often imagined through crystalline blue water, but the sea is never only one color,” read the show notes. “As the waters warm and sargassum gathers at the surface, the colors and textures of the sea change. These changes are not only environmental. They touch communities, knowledge and living traditions.”

It feels like a deeply personal collection for Scott; while continuing to helm two brands, she sees Diotima as an opportunity for experimentation. “I’m quite rebellious in that, if I think people expect something from me, I want to do something else,” she shared. “And so instead of having a collection that was embellished all over or all crochet, I really wanted to think about form and I really wanted to think about tailoring… I think what’s really nice about Diotima is that there is this freedom to play. The only expectations I have are to myself.”

See every look from Diotima Spring 2027 below.