{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1766902"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1766902/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PN6148/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PN6148/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2026PN6148","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1766902/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1766902","accessionNumber":"T.54-2024","objectType":"Ensemble","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Diotima was founded in 2020 by creative director Rachel Scott. Diotima garments are designed and made between Jamaica and America, and in 2023 Scott became the first designer from Jamaica to be shortlisted for the LVMH Prize. Scott's designs spotlight craft and sustainability, produced on a made-to-order basis using socially and environmentally responsible processes. Diotima is known for it's contemporary, wearable fashion, often mixing relaxed, menswear-inspired tailoing with artisanal techniques that honour Scott's home country. Indeed, Scott's creative practice is steeped  in Jamaican cultural references, as she seeks to shift the perception of Jamaican culture beyond familiar stereotypes. Garments incorporating or constructed entirely from starched crochet have become a Diotima brand signature, inspired by traditional Jamaican doilies. Much of Scott’s work is research based, taking inspiration from everyday life across the different geographies that she encounters, having lived and worked in Europe, New York, and Kingston. \n\nThis ensemble hails from Diotima's Resort 2023 collection, entitled <i>Batty Jaw. </i>Through this collection, Scott explored the longstanding cross-cultural exchanges between the Caribbean and Britain. The wool suit with its crochet trim visually references the creolised aesthetics of the Windrush Generation. Cut from British made Harris Tweed, the suit references the cultural dialogue that was born out of the mid-twentieth-century Jamaican diaspora experience in Britain. Scott cites the docking of the Windrush as an inspiration point - the smartness and swagger of the Caribbean men in their British wool suits. But the Diotima suit is not a classic suit. Instead, the cut of the jacket is interrupted by a crochet panel around the waistline, and the trouser has shimmering contrast fabric at the front, punctuated by a red crochet belt around  the middle. The laminated basketweave cloth used on the front the trousers was developed by Scott in collaboration with an Italian mill. This texture mimics the texture of the traditional crocus bags found across the Caribbean. The crocus bag, or 'cruckuss' bag in Jamaican English, was a sack used for carrying produce to and from plantations and marketplaces. These sacks, ubiquitous in everyday life, were typically woven from  horsehair, hessian, cotton, flax or jute. They are also known as croker/crocus sacks, burlap sacks, tow sacks, gunnysacks, grass sacks or barley sacks, depending on the geographical context. In  rural communities of the Caribbean, including Jamaica, everything was recycled. During the enslavement period, for example, crocus sacks were repurposed by plantation workers who made them into serviceable garments that offered protection against the heat, dust and insects once official clothing allocations had worn out. Well into the twentieth century, finely woven white flour sacks were washed and used  to make shirts, pillowcases, bedspreads, and underwear. Here, Scott’s elevation of a humble recycled cloth, activating its memory through a basketweave texture, simultaneously shifts assumptions about luxury fashion.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n","physicalDescription":"Ensemble consisting of jacket, trousers, top and belt. The jacket is single breasted and slightly oversized, cut from a grey Harris Tweed wool. A wide, decoarative panel of black crochet extends around the waist. The trousers are tailored for a relaxed fit, sitting low on the waist, with a loose cut through the leg and front-pleats. Made from two different materials, the trousers are grey Harris Tweed at the reverse, with a contrasting front cut from laminated basketweave cotton. Wide belt loops secure a woven red and white striped belt. The sheer, long-sleeved top is made from black nylon net, with densely grouped micro-sequins in shades of orange, blue and green arranged in an all-over diamond mesh pattern. The top is cut with a relaxed fit and drop-shoulders, with black contrast piping delineating the neckline and shoulder seams.    ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Scott, Rachel","id":"AUTH335314"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"AAT25198"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Diotima","id":"AUTH392115"},"association":{"text":"fashion house","id":"x35890"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"wool","id":"x40131"}],"techniques":[{"text":"crochet","id":"x30546"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Harris Tweed, wool, cotton, nylon","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Caribbean","id":"THES286921"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2026PN6148"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"PHMN","id":"THES49194"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES385565"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES385565"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES385565"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Jacket","id":"THES398689"}],[{"text":"Trousers","id":"AAT209935"}],[{"text":"Top","id":"THES259505"}],[{"text":"Belt","id":"AAT210002"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Jamaica","id":"x30045"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Jamaica","id":"x30045"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"crocheted elements handmade in Jamaica"},{"place":{"text":"New York (City)","id":"x29030"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2022","earliest":"2022-01-01","latest":"2022-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Ensemble of 'Rupture' tweed jacket, 'Beckford' wool trousers, 'Devon' net top, and belt, Diotima, Resort 2023 collection, Jamaica","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.54:1-2024","T.54:2-2024","T.54:3-2024","T.54:4-2024"],"accessionNumberNum":"54","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":2024,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-06-02","recordCreationDate":"2023-10-06","availableToBook":false}}