Diotima’s Rachel Scott cops fashion’s biggest award in NYC

Daughter of Jamaican soil, Rachel Scott, the founder of Diotima, the NYC-based fashion brand was last evening christened the American Womenswear Designer of the Year.

You would remember Scott from the January 2024 Loop News interview where she was fresh on home soil to produce an editorial among other content for the brand, while simultaneously designing the Fall/Winter 2023 collection.

The CFDA Fashion Awards were held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on October 28.

CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year 2024, Rachel Scott. In a photoshoot at her NY-based atelier, Scott was seen photographed alongside models Courtney Benboe (L) talent Kareen Taylor (R). (Photos: via Instagram/@diotima.world)

The annual event celebrates the achievements of designers and other influential figures in American fashion, gathering some of the biggest names in the industry under the museum’s iconic blue whale display for an unforgettable evening.

The evening was as unforgettable as it was emotional for Scott, who just released her Spring/Summer ’24 collection, dubbed Déjà vu in February.

She’s undoubtedly reeling from excitement. This is her second CFDA win in three years of establishing Diotima.

In 2023, Scott received the Google Shopping American Emerging Designer of the Year, and what a year she’s had since. She’s released seven collections and has steadily become the poster girl for American womenswear.

Like one of her muses, Laura Facey, Scott has etched her way into a ‘you can’t ignore me’ space. Though she may detest the ‘cool kid’ title, she is indeed a part of the hot and now in fashion, especially in New York City.

For the CFDA win, Scott bested peers such as Marc Jacobs, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez for Proenza Schouler, Thom Browne, and Tory Burch.

Unassuming, she approached the stage to accept the awards, and as she spoke – to roaring applause – her acceptance speech was laced with gratitude.

She thanked her mother, Ruth, her wife Chaday, stylist and creative consultant Marika-Ella Ames, and the close-knit Diotima tribe of family and friends that keep her going.

Following her acceptance, Scott partied in her BedStuy neighborhood at reggae/dub club Lovers’ Rock to much aplomb and equal applause from industry peers and loved ones.