Why Italians didn’t get vintage style, and what American fashion editor JJ Martin did about it
Martin, who recently launched LaDoubleJ.com in Italy to introduce a retro culture there, talks about the difficulties of selling vintage and how she made her website fun
Journalist turned e-commerce entrepreneur and eternally sunny street-style favourite, JJ Martin talks about her passion for, and the problems with, vintage.
When did you become a vintage hound and what are the best places to hunt?
I got into vintage fashion while I was living in New York in the 1990s and went to the Chelsea Flea Market every weekend. I could pick up beautiful fur coats for US$40. It was real fun. Miami has some of the best vintage stores – vintage is everywhere. Los Angeles is good, and when I go home I visit the Rosebowl Flea Market in Pasadena.
It is terrible. That is why I wanted to launch my website LaDoubleJ.com, because in Italy they don’t have the culture for wearing vintage. They find it strange that you would want to wear someone’s old clothes. It is a very American and English phenomenon. It is starting to change and now the Italians think it’s just funny. We launched the website in January 2015 selling real vintage clothing and jewellery that I have collected over 18 years, things from my personal archive.
