Rachel Scott Is Feeling More at Ease at Proenza Schouler

Rachel Scott Is Feeling More at Ease at Proenza Schouler — and It Shows

In a full-circle moment, Rachel Scott showed her Spring 2027 collection for Proenza Schouler Thursday at what used to be the Barneys women’s store — famously the very first retailer to carry the brand, then helmed by two recent Parsons graduates: co-founders Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez (now at Loewe).

For her second runway since taking over as creative director last year, Scott was inspired by New York women and the liberties they take when getting dressed. “I see women in the middle of the day with a gown on and it’s totally normal and admissible. And I find that really inspiring,” she shared backstage. Models aptly represented those women as they traversed the venue’s spiral staircase — just as the brand’s early customers likely did circa 2002.

During the show, several looks struck me as being unmistakably Proenza — this was likely heightened by the brand-new PS1 Walker, Scott’s reimagining of the brand’s iconic handbag style, which she designed in collaboration with Reed Krakoff. But the collection as a whole is also very Rachel Scott.

Her strongest outing yet, it artfully spotlights her obsession with materials and deep appreciation for handmade garments. For example, a tiger motif seen in several early looks may look like a print, but is actually something much more complex.

“It’s actually silk in two colors that’s sewn together in an intarsia pattern of the tiger, and then it’s placed, and then it’s bonded, and then it’s made into the garment,” she explained. “Handmade for me is the ultimate luxury. And so everything goes through these multiple layers of hand work and mediation of hand and craft as well as precise technology in garment making.”

View this post on Instagram

Since taking on this role, Scott has always spoken of the brand and its founders with thoughtful reverence, and her sincere efforts to understand the “Proenza Schouler woman” have paid off: In an interview backstage, she explained how last season she was focused on the “essence” and “signifiers” of the brand; and based on Spring 2027, she’s since settled into the role as beautifully as she could. This time, her designs are actually in stores, and feedback from customers and buyers seems to have provided some extra confidence.

During a “miraculous” half hour of free time on Monday (Scott has also been preparing for her brand Diotima’s Spring 2027 show), she ran to Proenza Schouler’s SoHo shop and observed two groups of women shopping: one drawn to Fall 2026’s blue-and-orange Donegal knit tailoring, the other to the collection’s closing printed dresses adorned with fringe and grommets.

“That made me really excited that those were the things they were drawn to. So it just makes me feel a little more at ease,” she said. “There’s a lot of responsibility to taking over someone’s legacy and I want to be respectful, but then also I want to do it good. So I feel a little bit more free.”

See every look from Proenza Schouler Spring 2027 below.