Diotima’s spring presentation was a mesmerizing spectacle. The room, adorned with lit red candles on sand and concrete blocks, felt like a series of intimate altars. As models circled the tableau, their movements were hypnotic, drawing the eye to the collection’s focal point: Rachel Scott’s vision of womanhood.
Scott’s signature crochet dresses, adorned with sequins, paillettes, and intricate embellishments, were a breathtaking display. A standout piece was an intarsia knit dress in cream and wine, meticulously mapped out on a model’s body to create a perfectly enveloping silhouette. However, this and other extraordinary pieces were absent from the lookbook. This season, Scott focused her attention on everyday wear, a deliberate expansion of her design philosophy.
Over the years, Scott has meticulously broadened the scope of her offerings, while simultaneously refining her design vocabulary. This evolution is driven by both a natural creative instinct and a desire to make her pieces accessible to a wider audience. “So many of the things I do are time-consuming and intricate, and therefore expensive,” Scott explained at her presentation, “I want to find a way to do things in a more approachable way.” She spoke about her love for combining crochet with woven fabrics, highlighting the inherent “fluidity and undoneness” that she sought to translate into new materials.
This ethos is evident in the collection’s key pieces. Loose-fitting jeans feature delicate broderie anglaise insets on the legs, while a finely woven cotton shirt with an elastic waistband creates a subtle balloon effect. A standout suit, inspired by the classic Morning Coat shape, boasts a high-low hem and is paired with drop-crotch wide-leg Bermuda shorts. Scott’s signature embellishments are present in the form of metallic paillettes melted and used to adorn the edges of a wrap linen skirt, which is paired with a thin striped turtleneck featuring a crochet high collar. A draped dress in mint green and gray super fine Japanese jersey features a black crochet appliqué on one side, evoking the ocean in its swaying curves while remaining approachable thanks to the familiarity of its fabric.
The collection is a testament to Scott’s evolving artistry, demonstrating her ability to blend intricate detail with wearable silhouettes, making her signature crochet accessible for everyday life.
