Diotima's Fall Campaign Honors Wilfredo Lam's Femme Cheval

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Diotima, the fashion company founded by Rachel Scott, has launched its fall advertising campaign in collaboration with the estate of artist Wilfredo Lam. Lam's work incorporated Afro-Cuban symbolism, Caribbean spirituality, and European modernism, reflecting a strong political and cultural awareness.

Scott, the creative director, told WWD on Friday that Lam's art deeply influenced her and her upcoming fall '26 collection.“He's one of the most influential of my work and my life. The show was so special, and we kept thinking we needed to continue to honor this really important moment for me and my life and my work,” said the Jamaican-born Scott.

She explained that she drew inspiration from two pieces in Lam's“Femme Cheval” series.“I was really drawn to this image of the 'Femme Cheval,' who is this woman who is like maybe part human, part horse, mystical. She's quite erotic and powerful. And it escapes definition, escapes control and domination. And she really was a figure that stuck with me,” Scott stated.“And she is also the Diotima woman, quite honestly, and I realized that with this collaboration, we really wanted to try and capture her in a way that more people could have access to because the show was so special, but it was an ephemeral moment, and not a lot of people got to experience how magical that was,” she added.

Scott commissioned Jamaican artist Luca Khouri to photograph the campaign at the end of March, with styling by Marika-Ella Ames. The shoot took place at a former large operating plantation in Jamaica.“Already the collection was so charged with these moments of history that keep kind of echoing, and his [Lam's] work was very anti-imperialist and very anti-colonial and so it felt kind of right to reclaim this land that had this history that we did not have control over,” Scott noted. She also mentioned the interesting set, where ghost stories were shared during the shoot.

The campaign features three models, including Romae Gordon, who appeared in both Diotima and Proenza Schouler shows. Scott is also creative director for Proenza Schouler. Breana Carson and Julie Soimaud also modeled for the campaign. A short film accompanies the campaign, which was shot over several days. While the campaign shows models interacting with the world, the film offers a more introspective view of the models confronting their histories.“It's very powerful,” Scott commented. The campaign will be featured on social media platforms, the designer's website, and in various print publications.

Source: ARTnews

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