Diotima’s FW26 Show Was All Things Afromodernism-Chic

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By Kerane Marcellus ·Updated February 16, 2026 /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…

For designer Rachel Scott’s Diotima fall/winter 2026 collection, she was greatly influenced by the Afro-Cuban artist Wifredo Lam. Her label partnered with Lams’ estate. His colorful, surrealist art was a reflection of, as the show notes state, “Histories of displacement, resistance, and decolonization. To approach them demands care, research, and reverence.” And these works have stayed with Scott.

The modern woman leans slightly divine, femme cheval. She is willful and completely autonomous, and utterly chic. At the whimsical and soft sound of an orchestra audio, models walk down the runway in timeless silhouettes, framing the body. Textures of mohair, sheer knits, and fur-like viscose enter the runway. Lam’s works are tastefully featured on Scott’s designs, such as La Jungla, Omi Obimi, and Femme Chevel, the collection’s namesake. The horse-headed woman in Femme Chevel is featured on the body of a full-length skirt. “The woman who emerges in this collection is incandescent and intellectually free, elegant and insurgent. Her sensuality is not an invitation; she refuses domination,” Scott reflects.

Diotima’s FW26 Show Was All Things Afromodernism-Chic Model on the runway at the Diotima fashion show as part of RTW Fall 2026 on February 14, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Giovanni Giannoni/WWD via Getty Images)

Models continued to walk the runway in warm tones of greens, burgundys, and tans. Cool blues and grays also >Refugee Atelier in New York, a nonprofit organization that empowers and equips women refugees through skillful craftsmanship. This collection is not one devoid of meaning, as we’re in a polarizing political landscape. This collection is about “a woman who moves through it with radiance, force, and radical self-definition. Not in spite of the times, but within them.”