J.J. Martin is a world builder. The writer turned fashion impresario’s life is one of retro prints, vibrant colors, and an unbridled joy, which she has brought to her collection of dresses, separates, swimwear, and homeware with an obsessive vigor and zestfulness. Her floating dresses are coveted by modern aesthetes and the literati, and rightfully so; not only are about 90 percent of her prints sourced from vintage fabrics and wallpapers, but 100 percent of her collections are made of the highest craftsmanship in Italy, setting her wares apart from other colorful, cutesy frocks of the moment. Because of her high standards, rigorous business practices, and strong brand identity—this is, after all, a collection entirely about Martin—she doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel season after season.
In the garden of the Four Seasons in Milan, Martin explained her approach for Spring 2020: weeding and pruning out what didn’t work from last season and tending to and shaping what did. She expanded on her tentlike shapes, some with pleats, others with ruffles, and also tried out some new materials and flourishes, like Sangallo lace (printed, of course), paillettes, and feathers. The swimwear has grown into one-shoulder and long-sleeve styles, while the separates are starting to challenge Martin’s dresses in fun and frivolity. There was also a shoe collaboration with Fabrizio Viti that brought the brand’s prints, baubles, and feathers to sandals and clogs, and a new range of cushions for the home that allows you to rest your La DoubleJ–clad body on some equally groovy pillows. Altogether, in the sunlight of midday Milan, the picture was clear: La DoubleJ is in expansion mode. What was most impressive is that in growing her business, Martin is losing none of her luster; she’s only illuminating new parts of her world.
