The goddesses of Milan. From the young girl working at the gallery sporting a series of energetic patterns to the epic Milanese housewife layered in an ensemble of vintage accessories, they possess a sort of style that without drawing rules is a calling card for ubiquitous trends. J.J. Martin, designer and creator of Milanese ready-to-wear and homeware brand, La DoubleJ, after encountering the elegant sciuras and wildly cool creative Italian locals, was inspired to cultivate a line which speaks to a new commentary where modern American culture and old world Italian values live together in one arena. And just in time for summer holiday, J.J. Martin premiered her exclusive summer capsule at The Webster South Beach, featuring a kaleidoscope of eye-popping prints and playful designs, mesmerizing the Miami jet-set goer looking to escape in style.
Haute Living at down with J.J. Martin, to hear more on the release of her summer capsule collection, funneling traditional Italian culture through La DoubleJ, and a sneak peek into her upcoming September presentation in Milan.
Photo Credit: The Webster
HAUTE LIVING: Having recently celebrated the release of your exclusive summer capsule from La DoubleJ at The Webster South Beach, tell us about how you curated this wildly vibrant collection.
J.J. MARTIN: It’s all about picking our more classic and iconic pieces and reinventing them in different fabrics and prints, exclusively for The Webster. These are timeless pieces that work in all warm-weather occasions.
HL: The Webster South Beach is prodigious for their standout collections featuring bold silhouettes and groovy prints. What makes La DoubleJ’s most recent capsule ultra-unique?
J.J. MARTIN: La DoubleJ specializes in the kind of super eye-popping prints that you notice. We never have this problem where the print is too strong or it’s too bold because I think our clients all really love that. Maybe their whole closet isn’t like that from A to Z but they have a little section that’s nuts. So, it’s really saturated color. The prints are large. We don’t do the tiny light micro-prints. In general, they’re super strong, but that’s been the DNA for my business since I started.
HL: Many of the patterns chosen for your collection are inspired by vintage designs. Elaborate on the process.
J.J. MARTIN: Sometimes we print them, weave them or knit them. It’s not just printing. We’ve moved into lots of techniques. Everything we do is made 100 percent in Italy. We use historic Italian manufacturers for the clothes, for the handbags, for the furniture collaboration with Cartel, for the Murano glasses, and for the plates, we make in Verona. We’re always specializing in these historic producers, but we keep our prices 30 percent below Italian luxury brands.
Photo Credit: The Webster
HL: Introducing a European influenced homeware line, how did the legendary women of Italy and their tableside rituals motivate your designs?
J.J. MARTIN: First of all, they have such a flair for detail and style. They’re not afraid of color in their lives at all. They’re also very into layering their table. An Italian meal never comes out on one plate. It’s a series of dishes that are served one after the other. I also learned in Italy from some of these women to mix and match your table. So, I was seeing a lot of people who were using their vintage heirloom silverware but they would mix it with other silverware that was new. I loved that and we started doing a lot of that in the collection as well.
HL: Enthused by funneling traditional Italian culture through your Milanese brand, what first sparked your imagination to cultivate La DoubleJ?
J.J. MARTIN: I was a journalist for 15 years, covering fashion and design in Italy, and I was also a collector of vintage. I spent probably 20 years collecting vintage. And then I found this amazing collection of vintage jewelry in Italy that a woman wanted to sell. And so that also became a push for what I was doing. My husband at the time had an e-commerce company and said, ‘why don’t you try to sell some of this vintage?’ I told him if I’m going to sell vintage, I want to tell stories about women. So, I put together this website and it was quite new at the time because no one was showing vintage on real women and selling it and no one was mixing vintage with new clothes, which was what we were doing.
It got a lot of attention and we sold a lot. Companies started coming to me asking me to create digital content because our content was so rich. There’s a real playfulness with what we do. It’s meant to be done with a wink and a smile.
Photo Credit: The Webster
HL: Often referred to as an American living in Italy, how were you able to create a new commentary where modern American culture and old-world Italian values can live together in one space?
J.J. MARTIN: The modern part is that we’re digital. I do half of my business online. We’ve become a direct to consumer business in Italy. And we’re super-fast on reorders. We have a very modern business plan, but I’m doing things the old fashioned way with these old-school Italians. We also take the quality and the craft very seriously, but the attitude of the brand is very playful American—let’s have fun, be enthusiastic and funny.
HL: And as we enter the fall season, what surprises do you have in store for your upcoming presentation in Milan?
J.J. MARTIN: In September, we’re doing a presentation at The Four Seasons in Milan and we’re decorating their garden. We’ve designed all these fun tree ornaments made by artisans in Mexico. It doesn’t have to do with Italy, but its colorful, fun and light. I designed a collection dedicated to the Greek goddesses.
