The bright clothes and home accessories of La DoubleJ have made headlines and attracted fashionable customers since its launch in 2017. But the success story of what is today one of the hippest lifestyle brands, started already in 2015. And it is also the story of the incredible founder and creative director, JJ Martin. In an exclusive interview after her recent trip to Egypt, JJ, which stands for Jenifer Jane, gives a true insight on how to grow a passion into a sustainable business with still ample opportunities to grow.
Q: Within 3 years you succeeded in developing from an online store selling vintage fashion to a rtw brand and a home accessory brand. What is the secret?
JJ: I started the business in 2015. So the past seven years have been quite a journey. i always say i started very naively. I had my dreams, lots of motivation and inspiration and a very clear vision of what i want, and what excites me, such as my love for the Italians and their lifestyle and the chic Italian women. I started with selling vintage clothes online. This was difficult to sustain as a business, because to source, to find products that are genuine good quality vintage was not easy. So i had to change, and I am not one to be nimble, but flexible and able to change. To bring in new products and creativity we started with one dress, then a shirt, and by 2017 it had developed into a small collection. But as from the very start, always developed out of a genuinely joy of what we are we doing, rather than looking into the profitable angle, but which of course is important.
Q: Before you launched your business you worked for Calvin Klein, a very minimalist brand. But you are a maximalist! What did you take from that work experience into your business
JJ: I worked at CK in 1999 and 2000 and i moved to italy in 2001 . Until 2015 i was a free lance journalist at Harpers , Wallpaper, The Financial Times. So I don’t thnk i took so much from CK. Its a very large company, that is very structured, and doesn’t leave much room for much flexibility. We are a very flat company of a circle of people that run all over the place, with a lot of chaos. I think it was my career as a journalist that influenced me most and impacted my style.
Q: Stylish Italian women are your muse. How similar are Arab women?
JJ: I don’t have a lot of experience with Arab women. Besides my two trips to Egypt i have only visited Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai for very short trips. And even in Egypt i havent really had the opportunity to meet many women. We were mostly with our male tour guides. But what i noticed in general is that Middle Eastern people, especially Egyptians are very warm and open and in this sense they are very similar to Italians. I also really appreciated their sense of joy and i noticed they really like colors and patterns.
Q: How do you convince women who feel more comfortable within a minimalist style, to go for bold patterns and vivid colors?
JJ: I think many women are conscious of how other people look at them. They feel judged and it makes them nervous. So wearing plain, monochrome colored clothes are attracting less attention. It is as if they are protecting themselves. What´s fun is when you get them to try on color and print. They really get transformed, and you can feel a happyness and lightness that comes with it. With some it takes more time and comes gradually. I might just convince them to start with one colorful printed napkin set to add to their table.
Q: You were recently in Egypt, a trip which you retell in full and call ” the best trip of your life” on your website. Can we expect new patterns inspired from Ancient Egypt in the coming season?
JJ: Absolutely. We are already working on our new collection that will be shown during Milan fashion week next February. We have developed prints that feature the Bast Goddess cat and the Scarab as well as an Ankh print.
Q: What has been the best seller for La DoubleJ?
JJ: Our very first dress , the Swing dress. I think because it really represents our philosophy; it fits most women, body shapes, takes you from morning to night, office to the weekend, sunday coffee mornings with friends and dressed up to a wedding. it comes in our fabulous silk twill, 100% made in Como, Italy, because we like to support local craft . It is reintroduced in different prints every season.
Q: What is next for a brand with that kind of speed in expansion from a fashion brand into a lifestyle brand and product diversity? Is there something that you really still want to do within La DoubleJ, or even as a new project?
JJ: There are definitely areas we want to expand in within the product offerings, such as for example athleisure wear and sneakers. We also want to grow our product range of sunglasses, jewelry and handbags. We also are working on opening another store very soon in Sicily and maybe New York. But I really want to start to build on our sisterhood initiative. I already planted the seeds to create that community of like minded women, to raise awareness about the feminine energy and bring it into the working world. in the cave of our Milan store I commissioned an artist to paint the walls with 7 symbols, one of them Goddess Isis, the “divine mother”.
Q: La DoubleJs take on sustainability?
JJ: I care about the planet, but it is hard for a small brand like us to implement sustainable production. The production supply chain has not moved to it yet. So for now our contribution is our production done 100% in Italy, where we are sure workers are paid fairly and enjoy fair working conditions. It also enables us to avoid having our merchandise being flown in big planes across the world. We are working with recycled polyten and have created a sustainable robe.
Q: How do you feel on being bought up to expand?
JJ: Until now we have been able to grow independently, so as long we are able to do that we do not need to be part of a bigger group and I think we should stay independent. But then i look at our company as its own entity, so we are open in some way.
Q: Who is the La DoubleJ client?
JJ: There is really no demographic i can pin point. I would say women and men from 17 to 70 that share our joy.
Q: How do you promote your brand?
JJ: We do a lot on social media, insta, fb, tiktok, as well as our newsletter to our subscribers. We also do a lot of events around the world, such as dinners, press events and pop up shops to get us out there. We also have digital influencers who wear our products and tag us, but we never pay. We are still a small brand, and we already have a lot of women who wear us and tag us.
To get to know JJ Martin even better visit her blog on the website.
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