Diotima designer Rachel Scott thought it was a mistake when she heard she was nominated for American Womenswear Designer of the Year at the 2024 CFDA Fashion Awards , which will be presented Monday night at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
“I screamed in the midst of an appointment because it was such a shock,” said Scott, 40, who is nominated alongside industry stalwarts Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, Thom Browne and Proenza Schouler, after launching her brand just three years ago — and winning the CFDA’s Emerging Womenswear Designer award just last year.
“I can’t believe I’m in that group of people who I have so much respect for and have had so much respect for my entire career — and who have multimillion- slash billion-dollar businesses,” said the designer, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica.
It was no mistake.
Bootstrapping her business using $30,000 of personal savings, fashion prize and grant money, 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.