{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1777748"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1777748/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PN5660/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PN5660/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2026PN5660","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1777748/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1777748","accessionNumber":"T.55-2024","objectType":"Dress","titles":[{"title":"Talisman","type":"assigned by artist"}],"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 dress hails from the Spring-Summer 2024 collection, entitled <i>Nine Night</i>. The dress is constructed from starched cotton crochet doilies, drawing on a century old Jamaican craft technique that emerged during the colonial era through Queen Victoria's reign over the British Empire. The Jamaican technique is thought to have its genesis in the Victorian art of crocheting that provided the lower classes with a substitute for fashionably intricate, but expensive, lace. Scott believes that sustainable practice stems from an honouring of the relationship between people and land as well as materials. She actively supports and amplifies artisanal communities in Jamaica through her use of local craft techniques such as crochet, widening understandings of sustainability beyond materiality by spotlighting the women she works with. Her crochet garments are all made from hand crochet doilies, runners and antimacassars worked by small groups of women in St Mary’s, Jamaica. By using these everyday, domestic items as they are, rather than briefing the women on what to make, Scott sets in motion a collaborative process that honours the skills of the individual women making the components. It is not unusual for the women to suggest to Scott that a particular doily or antimacassar  would be suitable for a particular style of garment. This philanthropic approach to design took root during the Covid pandemic, when Scott became aware of the impact that the loss of the tourist trade was having on local makers in Jamaica. Foregrounding craft and the slow, intricate processes associated with hand-making, Scott advocates for a more expansive definition of luxury, one that is not centred in Europe to the exclusion of the Global South, but one that promotes Global South autonomy. \r\n\r\n","physicalDescription":"Cream and black knee-length dress constructed from starched cotton doilies, crocheted by hand in Jamaica. Backless, sleeveless halter-neck style, unlined. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Rachel Scott","id":"AUTH335314"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Diotima","id":"AUTH392115"},"association":{"text":"fashion house","id":"x35890"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Caribbean","id":"THES286921"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2026PN5660"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"PHMN","id":"THES49194"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Womens ensembles","id":""}]],"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":"hand crocheted in Jamaica"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2024","earliest":"2024-01-01","latest":"2024-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"2023","earliest":"2023-01-01","latest":"2023-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Dress, 'Talisman', starched cotton, Diotima, Spring 2024 collection, 2023, Jamaica","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.55-2024"],"accessionNumberNum":"55","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":2024,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-20","recordCreationDate":"2024-04-05","availableToBook":false}}