Feathers! Macramé! Crochet! La DoubleJ has never lacked imagination, and somehow the brand keeps dialing up the fabulosity. Textures pack extra pizzazz, silhouettes have more zhuzh, and the mood swings (literally) like the look book’s swing, where models perch as if joy were a sport. “It’s such a feminine movement,” quips La JJ Martin, holding court in her Milanese townhouse, where fashion and spirituality don’t merely coexist, they occasionally levitate. “This swing is all about freedom, and yes, a touch of femininity. Think of all those Rococo paintings: The gentle back-and-forth has always carried a subtly sensual charge. For us, it’s about letting loose. Whenever a swing enters the frame, the movement brings the energy I love. You can practically feel the joy wafting off the pictures.”
Martin’s collections read like technicolor love letters to divine playfulness: charming, crafty, and laced with cosmic mischief. And their versatility is bliss; there’s something for every woman, at every age and every shape. A draped-jersey tube top? A teenager can wear it as a minidress, while her mother slips it on as a beach-ready top. A breezy caftan with angel sleeves? Gorgeous loose and floaty, but just as striking cinched at the waist for a sculpted silhouette. In a crowded fashion marketplace where prices soar, La DoubleJ stands out as fairly priced, Made in Italy, and reliably mood-lifting.
To turn up the festive fun, Martin’s advice is to slip on a charming organza collar edged in ostrich feathers over a dress, or toss it atop a T-shirt for high-low swagger. The fringed capelets, flaunting their reversible printed linings, are equally game: flawless as elegant shoulder-covers at a wedding, or, if you’re feeling young and zingy, an eye-catching flourish over jeans.
Martin’s clever design instincts, and her blissful disregard for trends and social-media stats, are fueling a retail boom. After Palm Beach and Dallas, the next stop will be New York City, where she’ll open a Milan-style townhouse next spring, complete with yoga, meditation, sound therapy, and all manner of healing delights. Brace yourself, Big Apple: a La DoubleJ blast of energy is about to roll in.