Diotima Presents Its New Spring Summer 2026 RTW Collection: Bacchanal
Luxferity, 17.09.2025
Rachel Scott’s Spring Summer 2026 Women’s Collection, aptly titled BACCHANAL, is a masterful exploration of Carnival as both spectacle and subversion. Far from a mere celebration, the designer reimagines Carnival’s profound history as an anti-imperialist act — culture and creativity flourishing in defiance of colonial domination.
For Scott, beauty, sensuality, and joy are never ornamental; they are defiant declarations of resilience and power. Playing Mas, J’ouvert, and Bacchanal become radical rituals — transforming city streets into spaces of rebellion, rhythm, and freedom.
Monogram Embroidered Cotton Skirt
A Palette Alive With Friction
Color ignites this collection: vibrant magenta, guava, fluo lime, and grenadine red collide with cumin, passionfruit, storm grey, black, and white. The palette vibrates with tension and exuberance, echoing the energy of Carnival.
Scott draws inspiration from the spectral sketches of legendary Carnival designer Peter Minshall, evoking both exuberance and haunting memory. The collection is not a nostalgic reproduction, but a bold reimagining of Carnival’s traditional characters.
Embellished Pinstripe Pants (Black)
Reimagined Archetypes
• The “Bad-Behaviour” Sailors: Melted paillette-rimmed dusters, tubular chenille rib knits, and fringed bias tunics evoke unruly spectacle.
• The Baby Doll: Once silenced, now subversively reinterpreted in tailored tops, macramé skirts, and shredded textures.
• Dame Lorraine: Her dramatic form is reconstructed through feather-light petticoats, exaggerated décolleté tailoring, and fluid silk viscose — grandeur without restriction.
Signature innovations include crystal mesh knits re-envisioned for drop-crotch pants, hoods, and fully-fashioned rashguard swimwear. Footwear pushes boundaries with subverted court shoes, square toes, and playful thong mules embellished with hand-melted paillettes.
Printed Cotton Midi Dress
Carnival In Motion
Beauty and movement complete the world of BACCHANAL. Faces and hands appear splattered with J’ouvert pigments, styled by Kanako Takase (makeup) and Joey George (hair). Nails by Naomi Yasuda evoke rebellious chevrons and olive stains. The soundtrack, curated by DJ Jordss, weaves atmospheric steel pan into processional crescendos — a sonic bacchanal of its own.
Honoring Claudia Jones And The Diaspora
Rachel Scott dedicates BACCHANAL to Claudia Jones, the Trinidad-born activist who pioneered London’s Notting Hill Carnival, and to all displaced peoples who transformed repression into cultural expression. This dedication anchors the collection in heritage while propelling it into the future of luxury fashion.
Marchesa Orange Crochet Dress
With styling by Marika-Ella Ames, production by Bureau Betak, and the support of collaborators from CUUP to Nike, Scott’s vision is realized as a multidisciplinary cultural performance — a Carnival on the runway.
A Vision Of Radical Luxury
BACCHANAL is not just fashion; it is a manifesto of freedom, sensuality, and radical self-expression. Scott invites the global luxury audience to reconsider heritage not as nostalgia, but as revolutionary energy. In her hands, Carnival becomes couture.
Embellished Sequins Open-Back Dress
Stud Embellished Cady Dress
Flared Jacquard Pants
Stud Embellished Cady Jumpsuit
Absinthe Green Crochet Dress
Lace Up Cady Jumpsuit
Silk Shirt (Luscious Red)
Trim Embellished Cotton Midi Skirt
