Bootstrapping her business using $30,000 of personal savings, fashion prize and grant money, Diotima designer Rachel Scott has created one of the most exciting new women’s luxury brands to come out of New York in years. With her authentic, nuanced and inclusive vision of Caribbean style rooted in tailoring, sportswear and knit dressing with handcrafted details, fringe and embellishment, she’s achieved the combination of everyday and extraordinary that fashion can’t get enough of right now. Her spring 2025 collection, shown in a movable presentation format, conjured Jamaican pocomania, prim-and-proper churchgoing and dance hall partying in a rush of sequins, fringe, palm frond embroideries and skin, and was universally praised as one of the best of the season across all cities, leading to pick up from additional retailers. She now has 25 accounts globally, including Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Net-a-porter. For spring, she has also broadened her range by offering her first denim, footwear and embellished bags. “It’s been a great year and we’ve grown — orders are up 30 percent from last year and 25 percent from last season,” Scott said at her studio on the Lower East Side…. “I think for a while we were missing a modernized, female-led, sensuality across the fashion collections at large. Diotima offers a sultry haven for the modern woman, inclusive of all the intricate qualities that come along with that, be it the desire to be more androgynous, provocative or intellectual,” said @marikaella.ames who styles the collection’s presentations, campaigns and look books, as well as creatively consulting for the brand. “Not to mention the fact that Diotima is also the first rising fashion house to come out of Jamaica, which is as historical as it is exciting. To see the anecdotes and nuances of Jamaica, its history and its culture, be so profoundly received throughout the industry is powerful.” My @wwd cover story about @diotima.world ahead of the @cfda awards on Monday where @rachelleighscott is nominated as Best Womenswear Designer of the Year.