Italian fashion and lifestyle brand La Double J has thrived during the coronavirus pandemic – by turning to wellness
- By taking the focus off sales and instead hosting free wellness webinars for loyal followers, founder JJ Martin created support for the brand in a tough year
- The vibrant prints and bold colours of La DoubleJ’s clothing and homeware are now taking pride of place in Hong Kong with a pop-up store at the K11 Musea mall
In March 2020, while Italy was under one of the strictest lockdowns in the world because of the coronavirus pandemic, the South China Morning Post caught up with a group of Milan-based independent designers to find out how they were dealing with the fallout from the crisis.
Fast-forward a year and the vibrant prints and bold colours of La DoubleJ’s clothing and homeware are taking pride of place in Hong Kong, where the brand has just opened a pop-up store at the K11 Musea mall in Kowloon.
The space will help with the label’s visibility in the city and brings Martin’s signature aesthetic to Asia, a region where La DoubleJ has already built a following on its e-commerce channel and online retailers such as Matches Fashion.
“Easy, fun, joyful and colourful” is how JJ Martin describes the vision behind her label on a recent Zoom call.
When she first established La DoubleJ in 2015 in partnership with her then husband, the company was an online platform that celebrated Italian creativity and sold vintage pieces.
These were mainly dresses and accessories from Martin’s own collection, built over almost two decades spent living and working as a journalist in Milan.
“It started with one dress,” says Martin. “We tested it for six months and got lots of requests and, at that point, we hired people for sales, but every year the business plan changes. We never had outside funding or investors, and were profitable from year two. Even during Covid-19, we were up 10 per cent.”
“That attitude, that frame of mind was essential – not only from a professional standpoint but also a personal standpoint because, over the last year, everyone went through their form of hell and difficulty and crunch and fear,” she says.
“I’m a big proponent of feeling your feelings. You have to get in there and understand what is so difficult for you, but at the same time you need to have an escape plan and that’s based on gratitude and joy and compassion.
“You have to move onto the love gear very quickly, otherwise you’ll sink.”
A follower of spiritual practices, Martin quickly realised that pushing products during the crisis wouldn’t be right. “At that point, nobody was selling anything and we were cutting and slashing orders for our collections,” she explains.
“On one hand, it’s wellness – but on the other, it’s philanthropy,” says Martin. “We as a company don’t have much money to give to charity, but we donate our time and also help the healers and teachers and give back by doing this.
“We in the fashion world tend to self-promote and always try to get attention, so why not try to do something that’s extremely useful rather than a dress, which is beautiful but not extremely useful?”
That connection with her followers also translated into more awareness and support for the brand. Martin singles out La DoubleJ’s homeware offerings as having been very successful during the crisis.
“Our homeware has always been about the bold prints, mix and match, and since then we’ve seen a lot of people come around and lots of copycats but La DoubleJ really has a signature – it’s just like the clothes, very joy-based, colourful, easy and fun.”
“It’s important that people know that every single thing we make is 100 per cent made in Italy,” says Martin. “Our product is 100 per cent Italian-made luxury and our prices are 30-40 per cent less than similar luxury. That’s part of being an honest company,” she says.
First on the list is the opening of her first bricks-and-mortar store in the heart of Milan. The boutique, located a stone’s throw from those of brands such as Bottega Veneta and Chanel, will also feature an antique bar and a section where she will host talks and wellness retreats.
“My goal is to find an incredible partner who will help me merge fashion, wellness, spirituality and let it catch like wildfire,” says a visibly excited Martin, who hopes to expand her retail footprint to markets such as the US and Asia soon.
Enthusiasm, determination and self-awareness are three of the qualities that have propelled Martin’s success since she started her entrepreneurial journey in 2015.
She also reveals a special affinity for the island of Bali in Indonesia, a place that she only discovered two years ago and that she’s visited several times since, even during the pandemic.
“So [to go for Christmas 2020], I asked the island to intervene. I asked all my contacts and the government and I said, ‘I need to be with you and you need to help me get there.’ I managed to get a visa and I must have had hundreds of airport checks between Milan, Doha [in Qatar], Jakarta and Denpasar, but I made it.”
This is just an example of Martin’s drive and passion – qualities that she also brings to her business, and that are helping her turn La DoubleJ into a success story with staying power.
