Entertaining at home is one of JJ Martin’s favorite social activities. “It’s also a big takeaway from COVID,” she quipped on a Zoom call. “The world has finally woken up to what the Milanese have been doing since the 16th century.”
For resort, Martin and her design team set their sights on the whirlwind of post-pandemic festive occasions awaiting us, be it hosting a candlelit dinner at home Milanese-style (i.e., with a thoroughly vaccinated guest list), or going out to a restaurant that has survived hardship and reopened. So strong and universal is the desire to socialize that any kind of party would probably do, even the proverbial opening of an envelope. Whatever the case, this resort collection is full of La DoubleJ fabulousness, with plenty of new prints, new silhouettes, and new additions to its already abundant offer of mood-lifting options.
For starters, Martin introduced a new shoe line, comprising a comfy pool slide with a squishy printed cotton upper and a fun silk-patterned slipper with a fluffy feathered lining. Martin explained proudly that the shoes are made by Roveda, a small artisanal shoe company founded in the ’50s, a choice which underlines LaDouble J’s ethos of supporting historic Italian suppliers and factories.
Shoe situation sorted, the hostess with the mostest will jazz up her at-home entertainment routine in the couture-inspired boom dress, a voluminous balloon-shaped affair in glossy printed faille, or in the one-shouldered boudoir dress trimmed with vibrant orange feathers. “When I’m receiving friends at home I want a lot of flow, a lot of sleeve action,” said Martin, pointing out a feather-trimmed pajama set with a slit-sleeved tunic and cropped palazzo pants. A printed silk twill caftan will look equally glamorous, helping “to usher guests to a lavishly-set table.” One of the golden rules of the haute hostess is not to upstage your friends with overly dramatic fashion choices; yet if she wears the sexy, sinuous Rita dress (Rita as in Hayworth) with “boob hugging drapings” (as per Martin‘s definition), no one will take their eyes off her.
Other enjoyable introductions in the expanding range are an all-black poplin capsule, a knit jacquard athleisure offer, and costume jewelry inspired by Martin’s love of astrology—a Saturn necklace, New Moon hoops, a Comet bag charm. “We like going galactic,” she said. The planets seem to be aligned for LaDouble J.
