In celebration of Salone del Mobile, La DoubleJ unveils its dazzling new collection, “Solar,” in a striking retrospective of the brand’s entire homeware universe. This extraordinary exhibition, the brand’s most significant to date, is elevated by the imaginative eye of artist, filmmaker, and creative director Max Siedentopf, who has crafted the unique “Dancing Plates” installation. Inspired by the Eames’ “Solar Do Nothing” machine from 1957, Max’s installation features 16 synchronized machines balancing over 50 pieces from the new Solar Collection, reflecting the vibrant, joyous spirit of La DoubleJ.
DESIGN
Founded in 2015 by J.J. Martin, La DoubleJ has rapidly become a synonymous of luxury and vibrancy in both fashion and homeware. Starting with vintage items, the brand expanded into new clothing designs in 2016 and homeware by 2017, continually embodying a mission to “wrap the world in joy.” This latest collection, inspired by the illuminating energy of the sun and the Divine Masculine properties, showcases 36 pieces of porcelain, hand-blown Murano glassware, and Como-printed linens, designed to elevate the art of entertaining.
Set in the historical Palazzo Belgioioso, an 18th-century Milanese architectural treasure, the exhibition highlights the exquisite craftsmanship of La DoubleJ and pays homage to the beautiful spaces of Milan. This perfect blend of history, art, and modern design serves as a testament to the brand’s commitment to creating spaces of joy, creativity, and higher consciousness.
DSCENE Magazine editors Zarko Davinic and Katarina Doric sit for an exclusive interview with J.J. Martin, exploring the inspirations behind her latest collection, the unique collaboration with Max Siedentopf, and the ever-evolving journey of La DoubleJ.
JJ, congratulations on this stunning collection! Can you share with us how your brand began? – I launched the business and website in 2015, initially focusing on selling vintage items. In 2016, I began designing and producing a small selection of new clothing. By 2017, I had expanded to include homeware in my offerings.
It was actually very fast, from fashion to homeware, and you were always interested in interior and homeware? – Well, it was just something that I was naturally doing a lot of. You know, at home, I was always entertaining and having all these dinner parties, and it just always felt like that would be a natural thing to have happen.
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And you’re still personally involved even with the fashion collection, so I guess it must have been a completely new field to go into homeware, to research producers. You’re producing in Italy, right? – Yes, we produce all of these in Murano, and then we’re producing also in Verona. These are being made outside of Milan.
It’s really just a frequency. All these designs, they’re like sacred geometry. You just put them in a different context, and they give off a different vibe.
What inspired this collection, and how did the collaboration with Max Siedentopf come about? – It was really funny how it all began. The crazy thing is, downstairs in this building, there’s a sun mosaic on the floor. Did you see it? It’s a replica of the floor in this building. About a year and a half ago, we noticed it, and I thought, ‘I want to create a solar collection.’ From that idea, all the pieces in this collection emerged. We then started thinking about where to showcase it and who to collaborate with. Julio knew about Max’s work and brought me his portfolio. Julio came up with the idea to do this installation, which Max can tell you more about.
In the end, we had the entire presentation in the same building where the original artwork was. It wasn’t planned at all. It’s so nice when things align like that. It’s a very unexpected collaboration, isn’t it? – Totally.
The design process is a mix of things. It used to involve a lot of vintage items that we worked with and designed around. But now, with our designers and in-house graphics team, we’re creating a lot of fresh designs.
But it makes sense when you explain it. – People were saying this is an unexpected collaboration, but it turned out amazing. It’s always nice to take a print and put it in a different context and play with it.
Because it’s really just a frequency. All these designs, they’re like sacred geometry. You just put them in a different context, and they give off a different vibe. It’s amazing to think it all started from a mosaic downstairs.
Do you draw the designs yourself, or do you collaborate with others? – We have a whole in-house design team now. The design process is a mix of things. It used to involve a lot of vintage items that we worked with and designed around. But now, with our designers and in-house graphics team, we’re creating a lot of fresh designs. For example, that plate was a starting point, and then we developed an entire collection around it. It all evolves from there.
Beautiful work. You also ventured into wallpaper. Are you planning to expand further into that area? – We launched wallpaper last season, but production was really challenging, and there weren’t many requests for it. We did get some interest, but I feel like wallpaper needs a dedicated partner in the business. Ideally, we would collaborate with someone who specializes in wallpaper. It’s a beast of its own. I don’t think we should be running our own wallpaper business. But it was really fun to try.
Did you see the bathrooms last year? We wallpapered all the public bathrooms in Milan.
That’s a cool idea. – Yeah, because you know how most people have a crazy pattern in their guest bathroom? We thought, ‘Let’s do the bathrooms of Milan.’ It was fun.
Do you already know what you’re doing next year? – Not yet. But what’s nice about this year is that we’ve rented a new space for the first time. Usually, we have our presentations in our shop or showroom. Now, this is motivating me to play with the spaces of Milan. It’s more of a perk, you know? Milan has such beautiful spaces, and this looks amazing, really.
What’s also amazing about Milan is that it’s a small town, and everyone in the fashion design world knows each other. There’s a lot of friendship and kinship.
To go back to the collection, when you do homeware, do you also think about your fashion collection? To connect it somehow? – Sometimes. For example, there’s a lace tablecloth back there that we imagined. It looks quite summery, right? But then if you take this red and white plate and put it on the lace tablecloth with gold-trimmed glasses, suddenly it looks like a Christmas table. By the way, that lace is the same fabric we’re using for our clothing. I love the changeability.
That’s the moment when you can connect it to the fashion collection. We’ve done this with some patterns, using them in both worlds. For instance, one pattern was first used in Ready to Wear. It’s actually a vintage pattern from a painting I found in the Mantero Seta archives in Lake Como by a German artist named Suzanne Keinz from the 1920s. We used her artwork for Ready to Wear and now for accessories.
We also did some Ready to Wear in this pattern, including sweaters. Since the sweaters did so well, we got the idea to make knit pillows. It’s really cute.
Do you have your favorite pieces? – My favorite pieces right now are the ones we did with an Italian artist who lives in Turin. She’s an illustrator and a deeply spiritual person, which is something we connected on. Being spiritual myself, I talked to her about creating mystical creatures that could serve as magical protectors in your home, to use with mantras or meditations. We have an angel, unicorn, dragon, sphinx, and mermaid, each with different energetic properties. The angel is about healing, the unicorn represents purity and magic, and the dragon embodies power.
Do your interests in fashion influence these designs? – Absolutely. I just do what I’m passionate about. Looking at this collection, it matches so well with the space.
Any message for our readers to take, living in a moment we live in? – We all need to seriously work on building peace in the East. It’s crazy. Everyone just needs to switch off, get some sleep, eat something, show some love, and then we can talk. Rest, eat, bond, take a dip in the ocean, feel the water, massage, and then talk to people.
Keep up with JJ Martin and La DoubleJ on Instagram – @jjmartinmilan @ladoublej.
absolutely obsessed with JJ Martin and so happy she is in homeware as well! What beautiful graphics!