The fashion landscape is currently dominated by conversations around artificial intelligence; from how it will affect jobs, to implications for the economy and the future state of the industry. Realistically, though, no machine could replicate the sense of human touch that is ever-present in the work of , a craft-centred label founded by designer Rachel Scott. “I have quite an obsession with craft and anything handmade.
For me, savoir faire is the most important thing – it’s true luxury,” Scott tells British from her studio in New York, where her loyal clientele regularly visit to witness the innovative techniques she has developed since launching in 2021. From a business point of view, Diotima became an official “brand” in 2021, but its spirit has existed for some time – and it all began with crochet. Rather than learning the craft through an oral tradition – bestowed on generations through families – Scott discovered her own fascination.
Her maternal grandmother passed away when her mother was young, and she only recently found out that her paternal grandmother crocheted, but not during Scott’s lifetime. “I had this kind of removed perspective,” she says of cultivating her personal relationship with the technique. After working in the fashion industry for over a decade, Scott founded Diotima in the midst of lockdown and worked with artisans in her birthplace, Jamaica.
“I’d been thinking about this for so long, and I’d started researching people.
