Jamaica-born designer Rachel Scott, founder of Diotima, has started her role as creative director at Proenza Schouler, marking her as the first Black woman appointed to such a position at an established fashion house. About five months into the job, she manages both brands from her office in New York. Her background in Jamaican craft and recent industry awards shape her approach.
Rachel Scott sits in her eighth-floor office at Proenza Schouler’s headquarters on lower Broadway in New York, roughly five months after her appointment. The brand, founded in 2002 by Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, now looks to her to build on its legacy following the founders' move to Paris and Loewe. Scott, 42, founded Diotima in 2021 amid the pandemic and George Floyd’s murder, using her savings to highlight Jamaican hand-stitched crochet by local women artisans. “Diotima is belowground work,” she says, distinguishing it from more visible efforts while emphasizing craft and narrative over overt politics. Diotima remains a small, break-even operation with few employees, housed in a Canal Street building where Scott recently called the superintendent about heating issues. Born in Jamaica, Scott studied at Colgate University after missing financial aid for NYU, later pursuing fashion in Milan, London, and New York, including seven years at Rachel Comey as vice president of design. She became a US citizen in 2020 and married Chaday Emmanuel Scott in 2024. Her accolades include CFDA emerging designer of the year in 2023, runner-up in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund that year, and womenswear designer of the year in 2024—the first for a Black woman. At Proenza Schouler, Scott draws from the archive, focusing on textiles and materials, aiming for clothes that balance cocooning softness with power. She manages a demanding schedule split between the brands, mindful of her Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
