La DoubleJ doubles down at haute couture

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jan 22, 2020

One Italian fashion house enjoying a golden streak is La DoubleJ, a beaming and bouncy brand created by the most energetic American lady in Milan JJ Martin.

 
JJ, as she is universally known, celebrated her brand’s first proper showroom in Paris with a cocktail party, or Aperitivo Milanese, in a plush top floor, corner apartment at the western end of rue de Rivoli, offering superb views over the Tuileries and all the way to the Eiffel Tower.
 
La DoubleJ is very much a print-driven business, and made exclusively in Italy, with a mixture of revamped retro prints and densely colourful modern ideas. The look is located somewhere between Mary Katrantzou and Zimmermann, though with less pain at the cash register concerning the price tag.
 
Last year La DoubleJ broke annual turnover of €10 million, retailing in 85 doors worldwide, though with nearly 30% of sales via the company’s own e-commerce business.
 
“We are very much about Made in Italy, our silk dresses come from Como, and our knits are made in Tuscany,” underlined Martin, a skilled journalist at an earlier stage of her career, when she was the scoop merchant Italian correspondent of Fashion Wire Daily.
 
Hard-charging Martin has collaborated with everyone from Kartel for upholstered armchairs to Murano glass for her colourfully festive glassware. The brand ranges from convertible couches to mega useful totes. 
 
“Raise your vibrations,” responded the designer when asked to define the brand’s DNA.
 
A slew of fashion insiders showed up for the showroom opening, like Petra Winter, editor-in-chief of Madame in Germany, author Natasha Fraser and Indie magazine editor Elizabeth von Guttmann. Glasses raised, just as the Eiffel Tower lights suddenly went on at 6pm, in what felt like a very positive omen for this brand.