When Rachel Scott stepped into her new role at Proenza Schouler, the alignment felt almost preordained. The collection notes cited enduring house codes, color, precision, craft, proximity to art, and a city-honed edge descriptors that mirror the ethos Scott cultivated at Diotima. Over the past five years, the Jamaica-born designer has built a reputation for marrying razor-sharp tailoring with intricate crochet, foregrounding Jamaican artisanship while shaping a distinctly modern, feminist design language. Following the departure of cofounders Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez to Loewe, Scott arrives poised not to replicate, but to evolve.
Her opening statement, a peacock-blue maxi dress with twisted seams that rippled along the body immediately introduced a new softness to Proenza’s urban cool. There was movement where once there was rigidity; ease where there had been sharp restraint. Skirts swirled open at the back, buttons left tantalizingly undone as though the wearer had dressed in motion. Scott’s strength lies in designing for women whose lives refuse neat compartmentalization garments refined enough for daylight obligations, yet fluid enough for after-hours spontaneity.
Technically, the collection demonstrated formidable control. Featherweight silk habotai was crushed, pleated, and bonded into sculptural forms that hovered between structure and airiness. House signatures pleating, fringe were not abandoned but recalibrated. Knife pleats peeked through side cutaways, while grommets and half-cut fringe cascaded down finale gowns with deliberate asymmetry, amplifying tension between polish and disruption.
Perhaps the most surprising departure came in print. Known for velvet shibori tie-dye, Proenza entered new terrain under Scott’s direction. Photorealistic night orchids bloomed across dresses and separates, their edges intentionally retaining film-like borders and visible painterly traces. The interplay of digital manipulation and hand-applied motifs echoed Scott’s ongoing dialogue between technology and craft, urbanity and heritage.
Accessories reinforced this layered sensibility. Archival silhouettes returned, including the Hex bucket bag celebrating its tenth anniversary alongside a structured bowler and oversized clutch. Rendered in calf hair, cashmere suede, French calf, and supple kidskin in deep wine hues, they felt tactile and considered. Footwear embraced an offbeat “ugly-chic” direction: high-vamp pumps and kitten heels trimmed with ruptured fringe that flirted with irreverence while maintaining elegance.
