Renaissance Women
An interview with J.J. Martin, founder of La DoubleJ, plus Springtime news from Paris and beyond.
In this edition:
J.J. Martin of La DoubleJ on Joy and Rebirth
Thoughts on Dries Van Noten and Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli’s departures
News about Whitney Hawkings of Flowerbx, Maria Sole Ferragamo of So-Le Studio, Aurélia Stouls and India Mahdavi
Whenever I see women in joyful, sexy dresses or pants ensembles—the sort of fashion that catches your eye, yet amplifies the beauty of its wearer, rather than distracting from it—and I ask who made it, the answer is almost always the same: La DoubleJ, a Milan-based fashion company founded a decade ago by former style journalist J.J. Martin.
La DoubleJ is centered around silks printed in loud and cheerful patterns, like Marimekko wallpaper, and in a dozen or so flattering shapes—long columns, A-line shifts, capri pants, sometimes trimmed with fluffy plumage. The clothes are unquestionably modern, but there’s a tinge of 1960s retro about them, too. They are light as air, take little space in a suitcase, and are easy to wear. And when you clock it on someone, you nod knowingly. Ah, yes, another member of the sorority.
“Raise Your Vibration is our motto. This is feel-good fashion.”
Martin now has two stores—in Milan, on Via Sant’Andrea, and in Taormina, Sicily; shop-in-shops in Fondaco de Tedeschi department in Venice, Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, El Corte Inglés in Madrid, and Harrods and Harvey Nichols in London; and sells online at ladoublej.com and on Net-a-Porter.