Yahoo Lifestyle La DoubleJ Has a New Headquarter — and It Comes With a Gong
MILAN — If flashy banners and an eye-catching pop-up store weren’t enough indication, the colorful murals defining the entrance of a building in Via Vigevano 18 here assured visitors they were stepping into the mood-boosting world of La DoubleJ.
Founder J.J. Martin has a fond new, five-story home for her brainchild and is aptly showing it during Salone del Mobile.
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To be sure, for this edition of the design event, she’s not only presenting new styles as part of La DoubleJ’s homeware collection, but opening the doors of its new headquarters — or “The LDJ Starquarters,” as she defines them — by staging a rich schedule of consciousness-raising experiences and sound healing sessions throughout the week.
It’s in sync with the spirit Martin has conceived for the space. The new address had to unify in a single space most of the activities of the brand — from design to content production and showroom — but also become a point of reference and hub for its local community — or so-called Sisterhood — especially those seeking spiritual and well-being experiences in town, in addition to the ones the brand already provides remotely through its website.
The epicenter of this in-person experiential offering is to be found at the top floor of the building, an impactful windowed space dubbed “Galactic Deck,” filled with natural light and providing a 360-degree view on the city’s skyline and bustling Naviglio district. Those features came second only to the gong Martin installed in a separate area devoted to classes ranging from yoga to meditation and sound healings.
The custom-made, meteorite-encrusted gong is a work of art itself. Martin detailed how it was bathed by gong-maker Pauline Fabry in the sulfuric waters of the island of Vulcano under the full moon of the spring solstice, before being forged in a fire ceremony at Mount Etna.
To house the piece, Milan-based artist JoAnn Tan created an altar featuring painted wood and glass halo, hand-painted copper blooms and strings of oversize paper flowers. They complement the custom rug, mats and cushions splashed with La DoubleJ prints that guests can use during the spiritual sessions.
Martin and Fabry connected over a mutual friend in Ibiza two years ago, and instantly bonded. This week, they cohosted a pre-Salone del Mobile cacao ceremony and transcendental gong session, before kicking off the rotation of spiritual sessions open to all, which will add to the more than 200 wellness and spiritual activations Martin has staged in the past five years.
Many more are in the pipelines, as Martin said the plan is to schedule two sessions dedicated to employees and two open to public per week. Special events hosted by visiting healers and teachers will add to the weekly program.
“When we activated and initiated this space with my tight community the other night…all of us were talking about the ways in which we at La DoubleJ can support them,” Martin said while giving WWD a tour of the headquarters. “So it’s all about trying to give visibility and a bigger platform to these teachers and support as they try to build their communities. And also to normalize what they’re doing, because yoga and meditation are pretty normal, but the gong I have up there…has all these energetic properties going on that are a little bit uncommon.”
Martin has always tried to weave in the spiritual aspect into her entrepreneurial venture, but her commitment took shape in 2019 with the Goddess collection presented with Qi Gong energy healing sessions in London, and got deeper during the pandemic. “That’s when it really snapped. We didn’t have so much content [to post] on Instagram, so that’s when I was sharing my experience, tools and techniques to get through difficult moments and we were surprised by how that resonated,” said Martin, who has flanked her joyful printed fashions with the “Raise Your Vibration” motto ever since.
“Now it’s just great to be in creator mode and to be able to offer something that it’s truly a service not just to us but to our community and also to Milan. Because I’m actually shocked by how little consciousness there is in Italy in general but a city like Milan should have more [services like these],” said Martin, comparing the local offering to the one in her hometown, Los Angeles.
Incidentally, the editor-turned-entrepreneur was about to celebrate her roots and the brand’s 10th anniversary this year by opening La DoubleJ’s first U.S. store in Pacific Palisades, before the wildfires burned the location back in January. The brand is still committed to expand in the market, as proved by the opening of a store in Palm Beach, Fla., this week, which is part of a wider rollout, as Martin teased.
Since 2015, La DoubleJ has expanded its reach with new product categories and collaborations, swiftly turning a clothing line into a full-fledged lifestyle brand. For one, the rich homeware collection displayed at the showroom space on the fourth level of the building spoke of Martin’s commitment in the category.
“What we’ve been trying to do with Salone del Mobile is really consolidate ourselves as a proper homeware business. We’ve always had a homeware unit, but now it’s really starting to get a serious business. We’re much more organized,” Martin said.
As she walked through the seven tableware and home decor families, she underscored how “none of these is license — we’re overseeing all of the production and distribution.” She also stopped to mix and match different printed items here and there, explaining how the goal for the category is to “just give people options” by covering all demands and price points. These go from accessible plates to the high-end, made-to-order reeditions of Venetian artisanal stem glasses “Tipetti,” retailing around 3,000 euros each.
This week, the brand is introducing the new Napoli Rosa collection, reimagining the Napoli line in a more subdued, blush color palette compared to the original bold Mediterranean colors. The collection includes tabletop pieces and porcelains, as well as new items such as the Impero teapot and Espresso set, the Serving bowl and platter and the hardback Disk placemats.
Existing homeware families, such as Wildbird, were also expanded with new 18-karat-gold trimmed porcelains and table linens woven in Como. Martin additionally worked with artisans of Signa, Tuscany to craft handwoven raffia coasters and placemats that spotlight heritage techniques passed down for generations.
Still, the Napoli Rosa line is the main focus of the weeklong pop-up store installed in a small space next to the building. The brand’s candles, jewelry and the book “Mamma Milano” Martin launched in 2023 add to the offering, which includes free love fortune readings from a local tarot reader.
A preview of the “Fantastic Creatures” collection developed with Ecuadorian artist Beto Val and due to be launched in fall was also teased to press and industry operators in a separate area of the showroom.
Overall, La DoubleJ’s headquarters reflect Martin’s penchant for collaborating with creative voices and intertwining different media to her own fashion practice. For one, she tasked architect Silvia Vergani with the HQ project and tapped artisans at Pictalab to create the colorful, hand-painted murals at the entrance, which feature a jungle theme and some of Martin’s favorite spirit animals, like flying scarabs and snakes. The founder also placed sculptural kinetic installations to flank greenery at the rooftop terrace, repurposing artworks that made for the set of one of her past fashion presentations.
Yet the HQ is still a work in progress. With the space being revamped and opened in just four months, there are areas still to be unveiled and artworks to be placed. The building’s original 1930s Art Deco staircase will serve as a gallery of some of the most impactful sculptures that Tan has created for the brand over the years.
The two floors dedicated to offices — including Martin’s personal one — as well as a basement space destined to content production and the brand’s archives are also undergoing the finishing touches. A café titled “Solar Station” and delivered in a vibrant color-blocked design with a large central table is additionally set to be housed at the first floor.
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