A showroom visit to La DoubleJ often comes with the bonus of JJ Martin dispensing pearls of wisdom, as her spiritual practice—which is also feeding her creative life—dictates. The usual showroom experience a reviewer endures of talking prints, hem lengths, and new shapes—which can often be utterly uneventful, to say the least—becomes a highly entertaining affair at LDJ headquarters. Scrumptious certified-organic cookies and hyper-healthy smoothies in the same high-vibration colors as Martin’s clothes are also served. A LDJ-clad massage therapist was in residence this season as well. The whole experience felt as restorative as a session at an expensive Ayurveda day spa, presided over by a high-styled priestess. Martin should definitely consider expanding her empire in that direction.
Meanwhile, her “mood-boosting and joy-sparking” collection is ever-growing. But the lockdown has proved tough even for the indomitable optimist that she is. “Everyone has been underground, bruised, broken, beaten up. In the next six months I guarantee you a lot of brands are going out of business. But now is the time to be ready to resurrect—and we are,” she said. “We’ve never been an extravagant brand, but we’re now ready to make changes adjusting to customers’ needs and behavior, which have obviously shifted.”
La DoubleJ’s core business has always been dresses, proposed in an array of styles and bolder-than-bold prints; now it’s expanding into new categories, taking into account the appreciation of comfort that lockdown’s WFH situation has put at the forefront of style. Hence the smart introduction of malleable fabrics like a jazzy fluid jersey (her words) for boxy T-shirts (which come with ruffled sleeves, broderie anglaise patches, and contrasting backs in silk twill for a dressed-up look) and for a fully-fledged sun-soaked (again, her words) swimwear and beachwear line, replete with matching bags, towels, and pareos. “We’ve energetically expanded our offering into two new vivid and versatile categories with a multipurpose approach,” said Martin. “They’re designed to take our great, gorgeous girls from beach to barbecue to black tie and beyond.” Where exactly, pray? We might consider joining.
