Photo: Courtesy of Proenza Schouler
Rachel Scott, the celebrated CFDA-winning designer behind Diotima, will soon be at the helm of New York cult label Proenza Schouler. Scott succeeds Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, who founded the brand but departed earlier this year to lead design at Loewe.
Scott grew up in Jamaica and draws inspiration from her upbringing in her work. I love the subtlety and not everything red, yellow, and green,” she told Mecca James-Williams earlier this year. “I think it gives a bit rounder and fuller expression of who we are and opens it up to more people. Like, I don’t want Diotima to be niche. I want it to be universal.” Scott is known for her handcrafted pieces like crocheted dresses and sequined knits. Scott joined Proenza Schouler earlier this year as a consultant working with the brand’s design team to shape creative direction. This partnership led to the forthcoming collaborative spring-summer 2026 collection. Her first solo collection will be presented in February 2026.
“It is with great excitement that I join Proenza Schouler, a brand at the heart of American fashion, and one I have long admired. I hold deep respect for the beauty and world Jack and Lazaro so brilliantly crafted, and I look forward to bringing my perspective in dialogue with their legacy,” Scott said in a press release. In that same release, McCollough and Hernandez lauded the designer, calling her “impressive” and noting the two are excited to see how she will “embrace and evolve the legacy and spirit” of what they started.
According to a representative, Scott, who makes up a tiny faction of female designers in the industry, will stay on at Diotima as well. In an interview with Vogue on the occasion of her announcement, the designer said she believes the Diotima woman and the Proenza woman are “aligned.” “They’re both intellectual,” she said. “It feels like different sides of me.”
