Rachel Scott has beaten Michael Kors and Tory Burch to win American Womenswear Designer of the Year at the 2026 CFDA Fashion Awards. The Jamaican-born founder of Diotima received the award on Monday, 2 November, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where Lupita Nyong'o and designer Francisco Costa presented the prize.
The victory is Scott's second in the category after her 2024 win. She was selected over a shortlist that also included Catherine Holstein of Khaite and Wes Gordon of Carolina Herrera, placing her young label ahead of some of American fashion's most established names.
Burch was also honoured during the ceremony, receiving the Positive Change Award for her work supporting women entrepreneurs. The two awards recognise different achievements, while the womenswear result was decided by a voting body of fashion industry professionals.
Who Is Rachel Scott, the Designer Behind Diotima?
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1984, Scott grew up around design and retail. Her mother owned a clothing store, while her father made furniture. She studied art and French philosophy at Colgate University before continuing her fashion education at Istituto Marangoni in Milan.
She went on to work at fashion companies including Costume National and Rachel Comey, gaining industry experience before launching Diotima in 2021. Its name comes from Diotima, a figure in Plato's Symposium who teaches Socrates about love and beauty. Scott has since built a career that spans her own label and one of New York's established luxury fashion houses.
Jamaican Craft Meets New York Tailoring
Diotima combines intricate hand-crocheted pieces with structured tailoring, drawing on Scott's Jamaican background. The brand says its crochet is produced in Jamaica, with design and manufacturing taking place between the island and New York. Its collections also use British heritage tweeds and Italian fabrics, bringing different textile traditions into the same wardrobe.
The designer has described this approach as an effort to widen fashion's understanding of luxury. 'I advocate for a more expansive definition of luxury, one that is not exclusively centred in Europe,' she says on Diotima's official website. Her collections place Jamaican craftsmanship alongside tailoring rather than treating crochet solely as decoration.
Diotima pieces have previously been worn by rapper Doja Cat and actress Letitia Wright. Speaking about her creative process in an earlier CFDA interview, Scott said, 'I find inspiration in people, in the way they gesture, in their mannerisms and attitude, and especially in the way they interact with others.' She described these interactions as a visual language that continued to inspire her.
From Emerging Designer to Two-Time CFDA Winner
Scott's rise through the CFDA awards began with the American Emerging Designer of the Year prize in 2023. She won American Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2024, just three years after founding Diotima. In September 2025, she was appointed creative director of Proenza Schouler, the fashion label founded by Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez.
The appointment gave Scott responsibility for a second brand while she continued developing her own. At the time, she said she looked forward to 'bringing my perspective in dialogue with their legacy'. Her latest CFDA award, however, specifically recognises her work for Diotima rather than Proenza Schouler.
Accepting the 2026 prize, Scott spoke about the responsibility accompanying her success amid what she described as the systematic silencing of independent and marginalised voices. She said she felt 'extremely lucky and very, very responsible'. Her remarks came on the eve of the US midterm elections, and she told those gathered, 'And we have a lot more work to do, starting tomorrow morning. 'The win marks another milestone for a designer whose label is only five years old.
