JJ Martin Embraced The Italian Lifestyle And She’s Inviting You To Do The Same With Her Spirit- Raising Prints

Driven by her grit, gut and a sense of purpose, entrepreneur JJ Martin has created an ever-expanding lifestyle brand that bursts with colours, prints and most of all, joy

At the height of her 15-year fashion journalism career, including at US Harper’s Bazaar, JJ Martin chose to pivot. She switched sides, launching her ready-to-wear fashion label, La DoubleJ in the Italian fashion capital of Milan in 2015. Fashion insiders loved her designs immediately for their instantly recognisable bold prints and bright colours. Looks that made the perfect fodder for the concrete catwalk phenomenon that was blowing up at the time, thanks to the advent of social media. And ever since that auspicious start, JJ hasn’t lifted her foot off the gas, growing her business into a global brand that now includes a luxury home décor offering.

JJ’s success seems to lie in her ability to lean into differing socio-cultural values and harness them to her advantage. It turns out that her winning combination of gung-ho American tenacity, journalistic savvy and an innate vivacious spirit – the latter of which thrives under the Italian sun – uniquely positioned her to launch a successful business. La DoubleJ is now sold by the world’s top retailers including Net-a-Porter, Farfetch, Matches, Harvey Nichols and Bloomgindale’s UAE.

JJ is quick to say that the business came to fruition serendipitously and that she never dreamed it would become a lifestyle brand – especially since business models and premeditated growth projections weren’t a part of the picture. La DoubleJ seemed to ignite a spontaneous spark – spreading joy in its wake. The brand encourages women to be unapologetically bold and carefree and embrace exuberant prints and colours. And why shouldn’t fashion and home décor add colour to your life and raise your spirits?

Clearly, her aptitude at spinning a narrative, combined with her breezy persuasiveness and a touch of her can-do attitude, was all La DoubleJ needed to be irresistible to her Italian suppliers. Today she’s proud to say that her brand is 100 per cent produced by Italy’s finest manufacturers, and this includes her home décor pieces. From hand-blown glassware made in Venice to table linens from Como, and plates crafted out of porcelain from Veneto, the La DoubleJ homeware line has everything that is needed to create a quintessential domestic Mediterranean paradise.

Harper’s Bazaar Arabia (HBA): What challenges did you face launching a brand as a woman in Italy, where business remains generally a male-dominated space?

JJ Martin (JM): In Italy, they don’t really have that entrepreneurial spirit that Americans do. In America, we’re taught from an early age that you can be anything you want. I grew up in California with a mom who told me I could do anything. I think that the Italians were almost disarmed by a woman coming in and being like, ‘this is what we’re doing’.

Maybe they were surprised and very intrigued. There’s this beautiful exchange that happens amongst Italians. It’s a form of flirting, but it’s not disrespectful. It’s more just like banter and enjoying one another. I started really small and wanted to work with factories that don’t want to work with a small beans production that’s only producing 40 dresses. They only want orders of 400 or 4,000 dresses. So I learned quite quickly that just by being nice, having lunch with them and developing a relationship, you can get so much done in Italy. It’s a very personal place that’s based on relationships.

HBA: Why did you decide to expand into homeware?

JM: It was completely natural, intuitive and instinctive; nothing about this company from the start was business plan-y or logical. This entire company was a joy baby, a creation that came from things that I just truly loved.

I had done a dinner for Pomellato in Milan, for which we used our prints to create napkins, placemats and cushions, and we looked at the event [and] thought – this is so great! We should actually make these. So [we] went for it!

I’ve never had an investor. I’ve never had the pressure of a big company that’s marketing-driven. Everything that I do at La DoubleJ really comes from my own place of intuitive guidance.

HBA: Do you see fashion and home décor as one and the same when it comes to self-expression?

JM: Both are wonderful forms of creative expression. Fashion is much more temporary, spontaneous and quick. You’re always fluctuating – your hormones, moods, thoughts, emotions – so you can dress day to day. The home is your soul’s sanctuary, it’s where you come to land. Homes are reflective of states of consciousness. Whenever I’m creating a new home, I’m always growing from a consciousness standpoint. I’ll redo rooms when I’m ready for a mental makeover.

HBA: What would you say to women who aren’t comfortable wearing bold prints and vibrant colours?

JM:For a lot of women, it has to do with feelings of self-worth and being seen. They’re trying to blend into the background. When you wear colour and print, people notice you. So I would say ‘hey, maybe investigate that. And also, just try it and see how you feel.’ Colours have an energetic frequency; they can be very healing.

Also, there are different entry points and ways to opt-in. We are obviously a maximal brand, but I believe in degrees of maximalism. So even those minimalist girls, they can have a printed silk blouse while wearing a black suit – or have printed napkins on an all-white table. Then you layer in the placemat, then the tablecloth, then the printed porcelain plates. I think that everyone needs a little bit of this juice. My goal is to wrap the world in joy. And that’s what prints and colour do.

HBA: To what do you attribute your success in the Middle East market? What speaks to the women here about your brand?

JM: I think that we’re positioned well here. The heat and the proximity to the water in general makes human beings more prone to enjoying colour. They’re outdoors; they’re under the sun. There’s a love of colour here. There’s some exuberance. I did a collection inspired by my trips to Egypt – it’s coming in August. We always start with just images of things and then we transform them and transmute them. Re-colour and redesign.

And I think that they really appreciate fine quality. We’re 100 per cent made in Italy. Our factories are producing for many of the luxury brands. So everything is top luxury quality, but wrapped up in a casual package.

And then I would say the third thing is that we have pieces that provide a lot of coverage. It was funny when we were talking with a potential partner here. They’re like, you guys already do modest dressing, you don’t even need to change the silhouettes or anything like that for the Middle East.

HBA: How does size inclusivity factor into your designs?

JM: I’m always trying to do silhouettes that work for all different shapes, ages and times of day. In several models, we go up to a triple XL. I’m always asking my friends who are plus-size models or influencers, which designs work for them. Obviously, not every cut is going to work for curvier girls, but many do.

HBA: You’re nearing your 10-year anniversary since your launch back in 2015. What has been the highlight of the journey so far?

JM: Opening the boutique in Milan was really exciting. It was the first time that all of the puzzle pieces came together. I always just imagined that everyone knew what DoubleJ meant. But I didn’t realise how important it was to anchor it into a physical manifestation.

HBA: Your brand is all about embracing La Dolce Vita. How do you keep this theme fresh season after season?

JM: I guess joy is everywhere. I’m always uncovering new rocks and letting the bubbles of joy come out. This homeware collection that’s on this table right here was based on a trip we made to Naples and Amalfi. We went into all these churches and looked at all the amazing painted ceilings and the tiled floors. There are so many sources of inspiration. But the idea is always something that just gets my heart beating and toes tapping. It doesn’t always have to be about Italy, but it frequently is. And I would say that Italy is almost like the mothership of joy and pleasure, and brightness and bounciness. And so we always come back to that home base.

Photography: Efraim Evidor. Styling & Words: Imogene Legrand.

Make-Up: Tilly Newman. Hair: Sisters Beauty Lounge.

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s July/August 2023 issue.